ATL: starting salaries circling the drain, with NALP graphic Forum

[sunynp]

http://abovethelaw.com/2012/07/starting ... -the-drain

Yes it is based on 2011 data but:

We know that the overall employment rate for the class of 2011 is lower than it’s been in 17 years. But even members of the class of 2011 who managed to secure employment have been screwed. Median starting salaries for new law school graduates have dropped by 35% over the past two years.

AND

That looks pretty bad. To emphasize the point, let’s look at THE MOST IMPORTANT CHART for prospective lawyers: the bi-modal salary distribution curve. This chart shows that the median and mean salary statistics severely overstate the likely salary for law school graduates. Instead of getting the mean, this chart shows that a lucky few students will spike a Biglaw salary around $160K, while the vast majority of law students will end up making significantly less than the median or mean.

Sorry I couldn't copy the chart for some reason - you have to go to the ATL article.
http://www.nalp.org/classof2011_salpressrel

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ ... _figure_d/

New law grads in private practice are no longer taking home median paychecks in the six figures.

The erosion in BigLaw jobs is depressing the salaries for all class of 2011 law graduates, according to new statistics from NALP–The Association for Legal Career Professionals.

Law grads from the class of 2011 are earning median pay of $60,000, a 5 percent drop from 2010 and a 17 percent drop since 2009. Average pay is $78,653, a 15 percent drop since 2009. The figures are for grads who found full-time employment in jobs lasting at least a year.

The drop in starting pay is even more pronounced when only private practice jobs are considered, according to a press release. Median pay for 2011 law grads in private practice is $85,000, an 18 percent drop from 2010, when the median was $104,000, and a 35 percent drop since 2009, when the median was $130,000. Average pay in private practice is $97,821, a 15 percent drop since 2009.

"This drop in starting salaries, while expected, is surprising in its scope," NALP executive director James Leipold says in the press release. "Nearly all of the drop can be attributed to the continued erosion of private practice opportunities at the largest law firms."

Starting pay of $160,000 is still the norm at large law firms, but the share of BigLaw jobs has dropped, putting downward pressure on the median, the press release says. In addition, some large law firms are hiring new grads in staff attorney positions at salaries less than $100,000.

Nearly 60 percent of 2011 law grads who obtained jobs in private practice were working in firms of 50 or fewer lawyers, compared to 53 percent of 2010 grads, and 46 percent of 2009 grads. (The figures don't include grads in solo practice.) Meanwhile, only 21 percent had jobs in firms of more than 250 lawyers, compared to 33 percent two years ago. The private-firm employment figures include both part-time and full-time jobs, permanent and temporary jobs, and those that do not require bar passage.

[sunynp]

Also more data on the class of 2011 from NALP. BOLD added below about the number of school paid jobs - 5% of all students and 30% of all academic jobs were research/fellowship that is school funded.

ADDITIONAL FINDINGS FOR THE CLASS OF 2011

As reported in June, the overall employment rate for Class of 2011 graduates for whom employment status was known was 85.6%, a figure which has fallen 6.3 percentage points from the recent historical high of 91.9% for the Class of 2007. A closer look at the employment profile for this class reveals a number of additional weaknesses in the job market.

Of graduates whose employment status was known, only 65.4% obtained a job for which bar passage was required. Moreover, with about 8% of these jobs reported as part-time, the percentage employed in a full-time job requiring bar passage is even lower, 60%. Because some of these jobs will last less than one year, the percentage employed full-time in jobs requiring bar passage that will last at least a year is only 56.7%.

Part-time jobs, almost 12% of jobs overall, were found in all employment sectors, but were especially prevalent in academic and public interest settings, where part-time jobs accounted for 43% and 24% of jobs, respectively.

Almost 7% of jobs were reported as both part-time and lasting less than a year.

New information collected on funding for jobs with a fixed duration reveals that almost 5% of jobs were reported as funded by the graduate's law school. Although over 70% of these jobs were reported as bar passage required, about two-thirds were reported as part-time, and most, 89%, were reported as lasting less than a year. Most of these jobs were in public interest, government, and academic settings. The number of public interest jobs, which includes jobs in public defender and legal services offices, has grown by over 700 since 2008; the number of academic jobs is up by over 200. Fully 30% of academic jobs were reported as being research assistant/fellow position funded by the law school.

Of employed graduates from the Class of 2011, nearly one-quarter (24.6%) were seeking a different job, a nearly 2 percentage point increase compared to the Class of 2010, and sharply higher than the 15.9% figure reported for the Class of 2008. This is the highest figure since NALP began collecting this information with the Class of 1994. The extent to which employed graduates are seeking a different job varies by the kind of job held and by graduate demographics. For example, graduates who attended law school part-time were much more likely to be seeking a different job than were graduates who attended law school full-time — 32% and 24%, respectively.

Relatively more employed graduates are setting up their own solo practice after law school. For 2011, 3% of all jobs, and 6% of law firm jobs were reported as solo practice. The figures were about half that in 2007 and 2008.

The number of graduates working for a legal temp agency ticked up dramatically in 2011, and is at its highest level since NALP began tracking this kind of job in 2006. About 2% of employed graduates were reported as working for a legal temp agency. In 2009 and 2010, the percentage was about half that.

http://www.nalp.org/classof2011_salpressrel

[RVP11]

How can a "vast majority" of graduates make less than the median?

[lawyerwannabe]

How can a "vast majority" of graduates make less than the median?

It's simple lawyer statistics, bro.

[20130312]

How can a "vast majority" of graduates make less than the median?

I believe they meant mean, but just LOL at the thought of the vast majority making less than median. C'mon, lawyers. Do math.

[Aberzombie1892]

Well the fact that the NALP chart only accounts for about ~37% of all first year salaries plays a role. If we assume that people with the highest salaries are more likely to report (or their law schools are more likely to report for them), then the overwhelming majority of law school graduates made less than the median/mean provided by NALP.