For government and public interest jobs, these law schools are tops

By Karen Sloan

April 29 (Reuters) - The City University of New York School of Law has retained its position as the top pipeline into public interest and government law jobs, a Reuters analysis found.

CUNY Law, as the Queens school is known as, sent more than 55% of its 2023 juris doctors into those jobs within 10 months of graduation—more than 10 percentage points higher than any other school, according to employment data released last week by the American Bar Association. Among the school’s 206 graduates, 88 took public interest jobs, while 26 went into government positions, according to the ABA. CUNY Law also posted the highest percentage of graduates in those jobs in 2022.

Next was the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, with nearly 43.75% of 2023 graduates going into government or public interest jobs, followed by Albany Law School at 36.36%. Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law took the No. 4 spot with 34.58%, while the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School was fifth with 33.12% of recent graduates landing public interest or government positions.

The ABA data show that the JD class of 2023 graduated into a strong job market. Among the 34,934 newly minted JDs last year, 85.6% landed full-time, permanent jobs within 10 months of leaving campus that either require bar passage or for which a JD provides an advantage. That’s the highest percentage in the past decade. There were 863 fewer JD graduates in 2023 than in 2022, meaning there were fewer people competing for jobs.

Overall, 11.1% of 2023’s JDs nationwide went into government jobs, while 8.9% took public interest positions. Government jobs include positions in local, state, and federal entities as well as the military, but do not include judicial clerkships. Public interest jobs include public defenders, labor unions, and positions at organizations funded by the Legal Services Corp.

Some law schools send significantly higher percentages of their alumni into government and public interest jobs than the national average. Reuters analyzed the ABA data to determine which schools are major pipelines for those positions.

CUNY Law did not immediately respond to requests for comment on its public interest and government jobs placement rate. University of the District of Columbia Law Dean Twinette Johnson said Monday that her school’s strong public interest and government employment reflects its “longstanding mission to train lawyers who are equipped with the practical knowledge, passion, and dedication to make meaningful contributions.”

Read more:

These law schools ranked tops for jobs in 2023

These law schools sent the most graduates into Big Law jobs in 2023

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(Reporting by Karen Sloan)

((Karen.Sloan@thomsonreuters.com;))