Employment Statistics for 2021

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.

Per Interpretation 509-2 of Standard 509, law schools may choose to publicize additional employment outcome data beyond what the Employment Protocols require. This additional data, per Standard 509, must be “complete, accurate, and not misleading to a reasonable law school student or applicant.” Law schools are expected to use “due diligence in obtaining and verifying such information.” The following additional employment outcome data has not been, and will not be, audited by the ABA. It is meant to supplement the annual ABA Employment Summary Report, which reflects the employment status of members of each graduating class as of the annual Graduate Employment Status Date of March 15. Please reference the 3 years of employment outcome data posted on the ABA Required Disclosures webpage of each ABA-Approved Law School or at www.abarequireddisclosures.org.

ABA Employment Summary for 2021 Graduates

EMPLOYMENT STATUS FULL TIME
LONG TERM		 FULL TIME
SHORT TERM		 PART TIME
LONG TERM		 PART TIME
SHORT TERM		 NUMBER
Employed - Bar Passage Required 163 1 0 0 164/75.22%
Employed - JD Advantage 11 0 0 0 11/5.04%
Employed - Professional Position 1 0 0 0 1/.45%
Employed - Non-Professional Position 0 0 0 0 0/0%
Employed - Law School/University Funded 30 2 0 0 32/14.67%
Employed - Job Category Undeterminable 0 0 0 0 0/0%
Pursuing Graduate Degree Full Time         7/3.21%
Unemployed - Start Date Deferred         1/.45%
Unemployed - Not Seeking         1/.45%
Unemployed - Seeking         0/0%
Employment Status Unknown         1/.45%
Total Graduates         218
EMPLOYMENT TYPE FULL TIME
LONG TERM		 FULL TIME
SHORT TERM		 PART TIME
LONG TERM		 PART TIME
SHORT TERM		 NUMBER
Law Firms         92
Solo 0 0 0 0 0
2-10 1 0 0 0 1
11-25 0 0 0 0 0
26-50 2 0 0 0 2
51-100 1 0 0 0 1
101-250 4 0 0 0 4
251-500 6 0 0 0 6
501+ 78 0 0 0 78
Unknown 0 0 0 0 0
Business & Industry 6 0 0 0 6
Government 19 1 0 0 20
Public Interest (incl. Public Defender) 39 1 0 0 40
Judicial Clerkships **         48
Federal 42 1 0 0 43
State & Local 4 0 0 0 4
Other 1 0 0 0 1
Education 2 0 0 0 2
Employer type unknown 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 205 3 0 0 208

** Figure represents graduates in clerkships on March 15, 2022. As of that date an additional 43 graduates had
reported clerkships that commence after March 15, 2022.

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 22 1 0 0 23
Employed - J.D. Advantage 8 1 0 0 9
Employed - Professional Position 0 0 0 0 0
Employed - Non-Professional Position 0 0 0 0 0
Total Employed by Law School/University 30 2 0 0 32

* All 32 graduates reflected in this section were awarded highly competitive one-year public interest fellowships. Each fellow receives a salary of $50,000 for the year and benefits. Click here for information about YLS public interest fellowship opportunities. 

Employment Location State Number
State with largest employment New York 66
State with second largest employment District of Columbia 46
State with third largest employment California 26
Number employed in foreign countries   8
Geographic Destinations of Employed Graduates Class of 2021
Northeast
(CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)		 6.7%
Mid-Atlantic
(NY, NJ, PA)		 36.1%
East North Central
(IL, IN, MI, OH, WI)		 4.3%
West North Central
(IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, SD, ND)		 1.9%
South Atlantic
(DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV)		 25%
East South Central
(AL, KY, MS, TN)		 1.4%
West South Central
(AR, LA, OK, TX)		 4.8%
Mountain
(AZ, CO, ID, MT,NV, NM, UT, WY)		 2.9%
Pacific
(AK, CA, WA, HI, OR)		 13.0%
U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico) 0%
Foreign 3.8%
Full-Time Salaries of Employed Graduates Class of 2021
Total Employed Graduates 208
Number of Salaries Reported 197
25th Percentile $66,573
academic --
business --
judicial clerk $67,094
private practice $215,000
government $50,000
public interest $50,000
Median $94,000
academic --
business --
judicial clerk $71,697
private practice $215,000
government $60,000
public interest $50,000
75th Percentile $215,000
academic --
business --
judicial clerk $74,702
private practice $215,000
government $92,000
public interest $60,000
Mean $136,943
academic --
business --
judicial clerk $71,313
private practice $212,830
government $73,923
public interest $55,767

A minimum of five salaries is required for each salary analysis.