Key points:
- At least seven law schools reported their largest-ever first-year classes this fall.
- Harvard Law enrolled its biggest first-year class since 2011.
- National applicant pool rose 18%, building on last year’s growth.
- Experts warn of potential oversupply of lawyers by 2028 due to AI-driven market shifts.
- Some schools highlight opportunities in underserved legal markets despite concerns.
U.S. law schools are reporting their largest incoming classes in more than a decade, with some institutions setting all-time records. The surge in enrollment follows an 18% jump in applicants, the sharpest increase since the pandemic-era spike of 2021.
The enrollment boom is evident across the country. Elon University School of Law reported a nearly 10% rise in first-year students across its two campuses, while Harvard Law enrolled 579 first-years, its largest class in more than a decade. Other institutions, including Rutgers, Pace, Liberty, Faulkner, and the University of New Hampshire, also set records.
The growth builds on a strong 2024, when first-year enrollment reached nearly 40,000 nationwide. Still, numbers remain below the 2010 high of 52,000 first-year students. The American Bar Association is expected to release official data in December, but early reports suggest crowded classrooms and increased demand for student services.
Legal employment trends, however, raise questions about whether the market can absorb the influx of new lawyers. Nikia Gray, executive director of the National Association for Law Placement, noted that firms are already projecting lower demand for entry-level associates due to efficiency gains from artificial intelligence. “The unknown here is how quickly that change will happen across the whole market and whether the impact will be felt before or after these students graduate,” Gray said.
Despite concerns about a potential oversupply, some educators emphasize unmet legal needs. At Southern Illinois University’s Simmons Law School, where the first-year class grew 23% to 134 students, Dean Hannah Brenner Johnson pointed to underserved “legal deserts” across the U.S. as areas of opportunity. She argued that while market shifts are difficult to predict, demand for lawyers in rural and underrepresented communities could absorb some of the increase.
The last enrollment spike in 2021, fueled by the pandemic, prompted similar concerns. But the class of 2024 posted a record-high 93% employment rate within 10 months of graduation. Whether this fall’s record-setting classes will see the same outcomes depends on how the legal market evolves over the next three years.
