2007 Highest New Lawyer Year in 20 Years
 July 7, 2008

Talk of layoffs comes after what was the strongest year ever for law school graduate hiring.  In 2007 43,518 people graduated from 197 accredited law schools.  Of those, 37,123 are employed.  55.5 percent (20,603) are in private practice, 9.8 percent are in judicial clerkships, 14.1 percent are employed by businesses and 10.7 percent by government.  91.9 percent of graduates have found employment but 16.3 percent of grads accepted jobs that do not require a law degree.