The Class of 2024 has posted the highest employment rate ever recorded by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), achieving 93.4% job placement within 10 months of graduation. This figure marks a 0.8 percentage point increase over the 2023 class, despite initial concerns that the larger cohort size—driven by a COVID-era enrollment surge—would flood the legal job market and suppress hiring outcomes.

More than 84% of graduates were employed in positions requiring bar passage, a 2.2 percentage point increase from the previous year. Just 5.1% of graduates were unemployed, marking the lowest rate in the NALP survey’s history, which dates back to 1974. The data was reported by Reuters based on NALP's findings.

Nikia Gray, Executive Director of NALP, emphasized that the job market met the challenge posed by the 11% enrollment spike that began in 2021. “It turned out to be over 3,700 additional jobs they needed to source compared to the Class of 2023, but the 2024 graduates—and the NALP community—met that challenge,” Gray stated.

The upward trend aligns with data from the American Bar Association, which similarly found historically high employment rates for the same cohort. The market appears to have absorbed the influx of new legal professionals without displacing existing hiring patterns.

New lawyer compensation also improved. The national median salary for the Class of 2024 rose to $95,000, up from $90,000 a year earlier, according to the NALP press release. While regional and firm size variations persist, the overall upward salary trend reinforces continued strong demand for junior legal talent.

For law firms, particularly BigLaw employers, the data offers a snapshot of a stable hiring environment, even amid broader questions about legal tech disruption and shifting client demands. For corporate legal departments, it suggests a still-competitive landscape for attracting junior in-house counsel—especially those with litigation or regulatory exposure early in their careers.