Employment Statistics for 2017

Yale Law students are among the most sought after in the nation by employers of all types. Our alumni are prominent both within and outside of the legal profession. They work in private practice, ranging from one-person offices to major firms: in federal, state and local government, including Congress, the Office of the President, and the judiciary; in law teaching and administration; in public service settings; for corporations and businesses; and for nonprofit organizations.

EMPLOYMENT STATUS FULL TIME
LONG TERM		 FULL TIME
SHORT TERM		 PART TIME
LONG TERM		 PART TIME
SHORT TERM		 NUMBER
Employed - Bar Passage Required 168 1 0 0 169/75.45%
Employed - JD Advantage 19 1 0 0 20/8.93%
Employed - Professional Position 1 0 0 0 1/.45%
Employed - Non-Professional Position 0 0 0 0 0/0%
Employed - Law School/University Funded 22 0 0 0 22/9.82%
Employed - Job Category Undeterminable 0 0 0 0 0/0%
Pursuing Graduate Degree Full Time         6/2.68%
Unemployed - Start Date Deferred         2/.89%
Unemployed - Not Seeking         2/.89%
Unemployed - Seeking         2/.89%
Employment Status Unknown         0/0%
Total Graduates         224
EMPLOYMENT TYPE FULL TIME
LONG TERM		 FULL TIME
SHORT TERM		 PART TIME
LONG TERM		 PART TIME
SHORT TERM		 NUMBER
Law Firms         77/36.32%
Solo 0 0 0 0 0
2-10 1 0 0 0 1
11-25 0 0 0 0 0
26-50 1 0 0 0 1
51-100 0 0 0 0 0
101-250 8 0 0 0 8
251-500 8 0 0 0 8
501+ 59 0 0 0 59
Unknown 0 0 0 0 0
Business & Industry 9 0 0 0 9/4.24%
Government 13 0 0 0 13/6.13%
Public Interest (incl. Public Defender) 29 1 0 0 30/14.15%
Judicial Clerkships **         79/37.26%
Federal 66 1 0 0 67
State & Local 9 0 0 0 9
Other 3 0 0 0 3
Education 4 0 0 0 4/1.90%
Employer type unknown 0 0 0 0 0/0%
TOTAL 210 2 0 0 212

** Figure represents graduates in clerkships on March 15, 2018. As of that date an additional 32 graduates had
reported clerkships that commence after March 15, 2018.

LAW SCHOOL/UNIVERSITY FUNDED POSITIONS* FULL TIME
LONG TERM		 FULL TIME
SHORT TERM		 PART TIME
LONG TERM		 PART TIME
SHORT TERM		 NUMBER
Employed - Bar Passage Required 16 0 0 0 16
Employed - J.D. Advantage 6 0 0 0 6
Employed - Professional Position 0 0 0 0 0
Employed - Non-Professional Position 0 0 0 0 0
Total Employed by Law School/University 22 0 0 0 22

* All 22 graduates reflected in this section were awarded highly competitive one year public interest fellowships.
Every fellow receives a salary of $47,500 for the year and benefits. Click here for a list of all 2017-18 YLS
fellowship recipients.  Click here for information about YLS public interest fellowship opportunities.

Employment Location State Number
State with largest employment New York 70
State with second largest employment District of Columbia 33
State with third largest employment California 28
Number employed in foreign countries   8
Geographic Destinations of Employed Graduates Class of 2017
Northeast
(CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)		 9.91%
Mid-Atlantic
(NY, NJ, PA)		 33.96%
East North Central
(IL, IN, MI, OH, WI)		 4.25%
West North Central
(IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, SD, ND)		 .94%
South Atlantic
(DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV)		 20.28%
East South Central
(AL, KY, MS, TN)		 3.77%
West South Central
(AR, LA, OK, TX)		 4.25%
Mountain
(AZ, CO, ID, MT,NV, NM, UT, WY)		 2.83%
Pacific
(AK, CA, WA, HI, OR)		 16.04%
U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico) 0%
Foreign 3.77%
Full-Time Salaries of Employed Graduates Class of 2017
Total Employed Graduates 212
Number of Salaries Reported 207
25th Percentile $60,210
academic Less than five salaries reported for this category.
business $127,500
judicial clerk $61,000
private practice $180,000
government $47,500
public interest $47,500
Median $70,000
academic Less than five salaries reported for this category.
business $140,000
judicial clerk $66,440
private practice $180,000
government $63,328
public interest $47,500
75th Percentile $180,000
academic Less than five salaries reported for this category.
business $151,250
judicial clerk $68,666
private practice $180,000
government $90,000
public interest $50,023
Mean $108,605
academic Less than five salaries reported for this category.
business $135,313
judicial clerk $65,254
private practice $178,247
government $69,575
public interest $50,570