NEW YORK. - According to new data released by the American Bar Association, only 57.2 percent of law graduates from various New York law schools in 2011 have been able to secure full-time legal employment requiring bar admissions.
The survey consisted of 15 law schools - Touro, Syracuse, NYU, Columbia, CUNY, Pace, Hofstra, St. John's, Albany, Brooklyn, Buffalo, New York, Fordham, Cornell and Cardozo. Of the 4,702 students, only a little over half were able to secure full time -long term legal positions. According to the survey the top three schools that were able to procure a high placement rate were Columbia at 94.1 percent, N.Y.U at 90 percent and Cornell at 74 percent. The bottom three schools consisted of Pace with 36 percent, CUNY with 36.9 percent and Hofstra with 40 percent.
The survey made a clear distinction between long-term, full employment that requires passing of the board admissions and part-time, legal related jobs.
According to the New York Law Journal, this was the first time the ABA made such a distinguishing categorization in an effort to provide a more precise and accurate picture of the legal market for future law graduates.
The national statistics for the category of full-time legal employment is 54 percent, which is slightly lower than the New York rate. The survey does not include details about salary.
The employment market for recent law graduates seems to be in line with the fate of graduates in other fields. The Atlantic reported that in the past year 53 percent of college graduates were unemployed. The current unemployment rate of the nation is over eight percent.
