Law School Class of 2010 ABA Employment Data Released

If you've been following the law school news over the past several months, you've likely read that some law schools have attempted to inflate their employment statistics by hiring their own graduates.

In an attempt to cut down on the shenanigans, the ABA has required law schools to report the number of graduates they employ nine months after graduation.

The ABA's 2011 Placement Survey was just released this week in spreadsheet format. It provides some interesting findings, as you can see in the graph to the top-right.

So, which law schools have more than 15% of their graduates in school-funded positions?

The City University of New York School of Law  - 19%
University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law - 18%
University of San Francisco School of Law - 17%

CUNY School of Law Dean, Michelle Anderson, suggested that the reason CUNY's percentage is high due to the school's LaunchPad for Justice program. (A press release announcing the program says it "train[s] recent CUNY Law School graduates to provide free legal services to civil litigants who cannot afford an attorney.")


Further reading:

TaxProf Blog provides the percentages for the 50 schools with the highest number of graduates in school-funded positions.

The ABA Journal provides the background story on the data with plenty of further details.

The ABA's 2011 Placement Survey provides comprehensive employment details for the law school class of 2010 for all ABA-accredited law schools. (It's available as a downloadable spreadsheet.)