A Career in Law

In recent years, the outlook for finding long-term employment in the legal field has improved markedly. Nationally, 87.5% of students who graduated in 2016 had achieved full-time employment by March 15, 2017. Of those working full time, 67.7% have jobs for which a J.D. is required, and 14.8% have a job for which a J.D. gives them an advantage in getting hired. You can find more information about legal employment at www.nalp.org.

The graph below tracks the range of salaries being paid to new law school graduates in New York City, and the percentage of new hires at given salary levels. As you can see, the data skews heavily toward the upper portion of the range. The current peak is at $180,000, since the leading law firms have raised their starting salaries in the past year. However, there is extensive competition for these jobs from graduates of law schools across the country. Furthermore, law firms account for a declining percentage of new legal jobs, as other businesses have increased the hiring of new law school graduates, especially in the area of compliance.

Whether a student should embark upon the path to a J.D. is a decision that must be based on a wide range of factors. The improvement in the market for law school graduates does not mean that a law degree is a ticket to a lucrative and successful career.  You are invited to contact Touro's pre-law advisors and let them help you figure out if this is the right path for you.