57 Percent Of 2016 Indiana Law Graduates Have Full-Time JD-Required JobsMarilyn Odendahl for www.theindianalawyer.com
A little more than half of the 2016 graduates of Indiana law schools have full-time, long-term jobs where bar passage is required, according to American Bar Association employment statistics.
In total, 771 individuals graduated from Indiana’s four fully accredited law schools in 2016 and, as of 10 months after graduation, 442 – or 57 percent – have full-time, permanent positions that demand a license to practice. Comparatively, the Indiana Class of 2015 had 765 graduates with 466 – or 61 percent – having full-time, long-term bar passage required jobs.
Nationally, 37,124 individuals completed their legal studies in 2016 across the country. Of this, 62 percent have full-time, long-term jobs that require bar passage.
Selected stats from Indiana law schools for full-time, long-term jobs are as follows:
Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law
248 graduates
204 employed
121 bar passage required
66 J.D. advantage
Indiana University Maurer School of Law
191 graduates
160 employed
133 bar passage required
24 J.D. advantage
Notre Dame Law School
172 graduates
141 employed
131 bar passage required
5 J.D. advantage
Valparaiso Law School
160 graduates
84 employed
57 bar passage required
22 J.D. advantage
The ABA data also breaks down the employment numbers by job type. For IU McKinney, the public sector was the biggest employer of its 2016 graduates while the largest segment of IU Maurer graduates were evenly divided between the government and business & industry jobs. Notre Dame and Valparaiso sent more graduates to law firms.
Top three providers of full-time, long-term jobs for graduates of Indiana law schools are:
IU McKinney
Government – 46 graduates
Business & industry – 45
Law firm with two to 10 attorneys – 42
IU Maurer
Government – 29
Business & industry – 29
Law firms with more than 501 attorneys – 19
Notre Dame
Law firms with more than 501 attorneys – 39
Government – 19
Law firms with two to 10 attorneys – 15
Valparaiso
Law firms with two to 10 attorneys – 24
Government – 21
Business & industry – 14
Around the country, the bulk of law school graduates — 44 percent — secured positions with law firms. This was followed by 14 percent who went to work in business and industry and 12 percent who worked in the government.
Also nationally, 9 percent of the 2016 graduates had clerkships in state and federal courts. Comparatively, IU Maurer and Notre Dame led Indiana law schools with 17 and 16 graduates, respectively, getting clerkships. IU McKinney had six members of the Class of 2016 take clerkships and Valparaiso had three.
The ABA did not have any data on the 2016 graduates of Indiana Tech Law School, which is scheduled to close June 30.
To see more employment statistics, click here.
