Employment Statistics

2010 | Historical

JD and JD-MBA Class of 2010

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 data 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.

Employed at Nine Months Out	Number	Percent
Employed	268	94%
Seeking	5	2%
Not Seeking	3	1%
Enrolled in Academic Program	6	2%
Status Unknown	3	1%
Total Class Size	285

Employment by Type	Number	Percent1
Law Firm	166	62%
2-10	5	2%
11-25	1	<1%
26-50	3	1%
51-100	8	3%
101-250	13	5%
251-500	21	8%
501+	115	43%
Unknown size	0	0%
Judicial Clerkship	29	11%
Business/Industry	26	10%
Public Interest/Government	27	10%
Academic	2	<1%
Law School Funded (Short-Term)	8	3%
Other Short-Term	9	3%
Employer Type Unknown	1	<1%
1Employment percentages based upon the total number of graduates known to be employed

Employment Requirements	Total	Full-Time	Part-Time
Bar Admission Required/Anticipated	225	223	2
JD Preferred	36	26	10
Professional - Other	6	5	1
Non-Professional	1	0	1
Employment Type Unknown	0	0	0

Judicial Clerkships, 2009 - 2010 Hiring Season (321 Students, 18 Alumni)	Number
U.S. Supreme Court	1
Circuit Court of Appeals	18
Federal District Court	18
State Trial Court and Appellate Court	4
State Supreme Court	4
Bankruptcy Court & Article 1 Federal Court	3
International	2
1Includes three clerkships coming 2011 or later

Employment by Geography

Geographic Distribution of Recruiters

Salary Information	Number	Percent
# of Employed Reporting Salaries	233	88%

Known Salaries of Employed	Number	Percent
Less than $40,000	21	8%
$40,000 - $59,999	18	7%
$60,000 - $79,999	27	10%
$80,000 - $99,999	4	1%
$100,000 - $119,999	10	4%
$120,000 - $139,999	10	4%
$140,000 - $159,999	10	4%
$160,000+	133	50%
Employed and Not Reporting	35	13%

Salary by Selected Job Sectors1	25th Percentile	Median Salary	75th Percentile	# Reporting Salary
Law Firm	$160,000	$160,000	$160,000	160
Solo	N/A	N/A	N/A	0
2-10	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	3
11-25	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	1
26-50	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	2
51-100	$116,250	$152,500	$160,000	8
100-250	$120,000	$145,000	$160,000	11
250-500	$145,000	$160,000	$160,000	21
500+	$160,000	$160,000	$160,000	114
Unknown size	N/A	N/A	N/A	0
Judicial Clerkship	$60,000	$60,000	$60,000	28
Business/Industry	<$40,000	$95,000	$112,500	19
Public Interest/Government	$40,000	$45,500	$53,400	18
1Salary calculations based upon reported salaries

Bar Passage Rate	Percent
Bar passage	96%

For updated information and analysis of the current legal marketplace, please visit our Market Trends page.