Center for Career Strategy and Advancement
Levy Mayer Hall, Room 124
375 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611-3069
career-strategy@
law.northwestern.edu
Phone: (312) 503-3498
Fax: (312) 503-5128
Employment Statistics
JD and JD-MBA Class of 2011
In order to assist prospective students and others, we strive to portray our employment results in a highly detailed and comprehensive way. The following tables outline the initial employment outcomes and detailed salary statistics of our graduates. We also provide 5 years of historical data (2010; 2006-2009) so that you may consider the relative impacts of significant economic changes.
On this page, we also have provided a link to our "Market Trends" web page. As a service to our students and alumni, our Career Strategy Center staff analyzes and summarizes the substantial trends occurring within the legal services industry on this page.
The Princeton Review again ranked Northwestern Law as the best law school for career prospects in 2011 – a position we have held for 5 of the past 7 years.
We hope you find this information helpful.
Employment Status |
Number |
Full-Time |
Part-Time |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number Reported |
% of Reported |
Long-Term1 |
Short-Term |
Long-Term |
Short-Term |
|
| Employed (Total) | 266 |
92.7% |
247 |
2 |
9 |
8 |
| Bar Passage Reqd | 235 |
81.9% |
221 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
| JD Advantage | 27 |
9.4% |
22 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| Professional | 3 |
1.0% |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Non-Professional | 1 |
0.3% |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Job Type Unknown | 0 |
0.0% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Pursuing Grad. Deg. FT | 5 |
1.7% |
||||
| Unemployed (Total) | 13 |
4.5% |
||||
| Not Seeking Job | 2 |
0.7% |
||||
| Seeking Job | 11 |
3.8% |
||||
| Status Unknown | 3 |
1.0% |
||||
| Total Graduates | 287 |
100% |
||||
| 1 A "long-term" position is one that either has no definite term or a term of one year or more. A "short-term" position is one that has a definite term of less than one year. | ||||||
Employment Type |
Number Reported |
Full-Time |
Part-Time |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long-Term |
Short-Term |
Long-Term |
Short-Term |
||
| Law Firms | 184 |
182 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Solo | 2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2 - 10 | 7 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 11 - 25 | 5 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| 26 - 50 | 5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 51 - 100 | 11 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 101 - 250 | 15 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 251 - 500 | 22 |
22 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 501+ | 116 |
116 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Size Unknown | 1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Business & Industry | 29 |
25 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Government | 8 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Public Interest (incl. Public Defender) | 5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Judicial Clerkships | |||||
| Federal | 23 |
23 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| State & Local | 3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Academia | 3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Law School Funded1 | 11 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
5 |
| Employer Type Unknown | 0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Total Employed | 266 |
247 |
2 |
9 |
8 |
| 1 "Law School Funded" includes all graduates working in positions funded by the law school. The ABA only requires that graduates working on a short-term basis be reported as law school funded and the ABA placement summary includes such individuals within the totals for the employment type category in which they were working. In order to portray increased transparency we have denoted all law school funded individuals in a standalone category regardless of long-term or short-term status. Therefore, individuals in this category have been backed out of the totals for the employment type category in which they were employed. | |||||
| Judicial Clerkships, 2010 - 2011 Hiring Season (30 Students, 23 Alumni) | Number |
|---|---|
| U.S. Supreme Court | 1 |
| Circuit Court of Appeals | 21 |
| Federal District Court | 25 |
| State Trial Court and Appellate Court | 4 |
| State Supreme Court | 1 |
| Bankruptcy Court & Article 1 Federal Court | 1 |
| International | 0 |
Employment by Geography |
|---|
 |
| Salary Information | Number |
Percent of Employed |
|---|---|---|
| # of Employed Reporting Salaries | 231 |
87% |
| Known Salaries of Employed | Number |
Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Less than $40,000 | 17 |
6% |
| $40,000 - $59,999 | 9 |
3% |
| $60,000 - $79,999 | 29 |
11% |
| $80,000 - $99,999 | 5 |
2% |
| $100,000 - $119,999 | 13 |
5% |
| $120,000 - $139,999 | 13 |
5% |
| $140,000 - $159,999 | 19 |
7% |
| $160,000+ | 126 |
47% |
| Employed and Not Reporting | 35 |
13% |
Salary by Selected Job Sectors1 |
25th Percentile |
Median Salary |
75th Percentile |
# Reporting Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Law Firm |
||||
Solo |
<5 reported |
<5 reported |
<5 reported |
0 |
2-10 |
<5 reported |
<5 reported |
<5 reported |
3 |
11-25 |
<5 reported |
<5 reported |
<5 reported |
4 |
26-50 |
<5 reported |
<5 reported |
<5 reported |
3 |
51-100 |
$92,500 |
$105,000 |
$142,500 |
11 |
100-250 |
$117,500 |
$152,500 |
$160,000 |
14 |
250-500 |
$145,000 |
$160,000 |
$160,000 |
21 |
500+ |
$160,000 |
$160,000 |
$160,000 |
114 |
Unknown size |
<5 reported |
<5 reported |
<5 reported |
0 |
Judicial Clerkship |
$60,000 |
$60,000 |
$60,000 |
26 |
Business/Industry |
$103,750 |
$122,500 |
$134,750 |
14 |
Public Interest/Government |
$50,000 |
$57,500 |
$63,000 |
10 |
| 1 Salary calculations based upon reported salaries. | ||||
| Bar Passage Rate | Percent |
|---|---|
| Bar passage | 94% |
For updated information and analysis of the current legal marketplace, please visit our Market Trends page.
