Legal Education Data Deck

AccessLex prepares the Legal Education Data Deck for the use of the legal education community, policymakers, and others interested in the latest law student trends organized around our three driving principles: access, affordability, and value. The Data Deck is a living document that is updated periodically, and we are happy to announce the most recent version is now available. The updated deck illustrates snapshots and trends on scholarships, employment outcomes, salaries, and more for today's law students and graduates. Notable updates include the following:

• Aided in part by a slightly smaller graduating cohort, the proportion of recent J.D. graduates obtaining bar-passage required employment increased by one percentage point in 2023, reaching a new peak of 80%. The proportion of unemployed (seeking) graduates remained unchanged at 5%.  
• The share of recent J.D. graduates taking jobs in the business sector fell by two percentage points, from 10% to 8% in 2023. The decrease corresponds to single-percentage-point gains in the proportions of graduates taking jobs in the government and public interest sectors.
• The real median salary for lawyers in private practice increased by $6,000, to a peak of $165,000, from 2022 to 2023. Real median salaries remained relatively unchanged in other sectors.
• Although the nominal salaries for overall, bar-passage required, and non-professional employment increased for the class of 2023 compared to the class of 2022, these gains have not kept pace with the rate of inflation. The inflation-adjusted median salaries for overall, bar-passage required, and other employment decreased by $100, $1000, and $3,500, respectively.
• Over one-fourth of law graduates in 2020 were not aware of income-driven student loan repayment (IDR) programs.

The data contained herein exists thanks to the work of the Law School Admission Council, the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the National Association for Law Placement, the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Department of Labor. We thank these and other organizations for making such data available.

AccessLex Institute uses these data as the basis for the presentation, analysis, and commentary contained herein, and takes sole responsibility for the quality and accuracy of such presentation, analysis, and commentary.