New law school graduates excelled in the 2023 entry-level job market, achieving record employment rates and salaries, according to newly released data from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP). However, NALP officials caution that future classes may not see the same success.

Historic Employment Rates and Earnings

Many 2023 law graduates were hired in 2021 and 2022 when law firms were aggressively competing for new associates and lateral hires. Starting associate pay at many large firms increased from $205,000 to $215,000 in 2022, with firms offering multiple bonuses to retain associates.

Among 2023 J.D. graduates, 92.6% secured jobs within 10 months of graduation—up by 0.5 percentage points from 2022 and the highest rate since NALP began tracking this data in 1974. More than 82% of graduates were employed in positions requiring bar passage. The unemployment rate was 5.8%, the lowest since 2007.

The national median salary for new law graduates reached a record high of $90,000 in 2023, up from $85,000 in 2022. For those in private practice, the median salary increased from $150,000 in 2022 to $165,000 in 2023, the NALP data shows.

Other Highlights

• The unemployment rate for the Class of 2023 was just 5.8%, the lowest since 2007.

• 82.1% of graduates obtained jobs requiring bar passage, an all-time high since 2001.

• 58.2% of employed graduates secured positions in private practice, the highest since 1992.

• Median salaries by firm size ranged from $75,000 in firms with 1-10 lawyers to $215,000 in firms with over 500 lawyers. Despite large firms increasing first-year associate salaries to $225,000, fewer than 16% of all law firm salaries were at this level.

• The proportion of law firm jobs in firms with over 500 lawyers rose to 34.3%, a record high, while jobs in firms with 1-10 lawyers dropped to 27.0%, the lowest since 1989.

• Public service jobs accounted for 32.2% of positions taken by graduates, up from 30.7% in 2022.

• Only 7.3% of employed 2023 graduates were seeking different jobs, a record low.

• Nearly 65.3% of employed graduates worked in the state where they attended law school.

Challenges Ahead for Future Graduates

Despite the strong performance of the Class of 2023, the legal job market is cooling, with law firms scaling back new associate recruitment. “The Class of 2023 did indeed do well. However, even with these incredible outcomes there are suggestions in the data that the market is starting to contract and that future classes may not fare as well,” said NALP Executive Director Nikia Gray. “In sum, the Class of 2023 graduates are likely to be the final benefactors of the talent wars.” 

Earlier this year, NALP noted that law firm recruitment activity hit an 11-year low last fall, with fewer summer associate offers due to reduced demand for transactional practices. The average number of summer associate offers by law firms dropped from 28 in 2022 to 22 in 2023, with a 19% decrease in offers compared to 2022.

With fewer summer associates recruited in 2023, fewer full-time positions are expected for the graduating class of 2025. Additionally, the Class of 2024 is about 12% larger, increasing competition for jobs, which may lower employment rates for 2024. Employment data for the Class of 2024 will be available in spring 2025.

NCBE Hiring Graduates for NextGen Bar Exam Trial

The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) is offering $1,500 to law graduates to participate in a trial of its NextGen Bar exam, set to debut in July 2026. The NCBE seeks about 2,200 participants from the 46,000 bar exam takers this week to test the new exam in 32 states in October.

Researchers will compare results from the prototype and current exams to develop a new national score scale. The trial will also test the effectiveness of individual questions and help jurisdictions set their own passing scores. The NCBE is recruiting graduates from both American Bar Association-accredited and non-ABA-accredited law schools, as well as first-time and repeat bar takers.