UVA Law Grads Are Best Employed in Nation, According to New Data

Graduates at the University of Virginia School of Law lead the nation in obtaining elite jobs, according to new American Bar Association data.

The ABA released employment information in April about members of the Class of 2023 nine months after graduation, and the Law School was again No. 1 in the country for graduates in full-time, permanent jobs that require bar passage, with 97.18% doing so — a feat reported by Reuters. The Law School’s Class of 2022 had also claimed that national title, with 95.4% obtaining such jobs, which are considered the gold standard for law graduates’ employment.

Kevin M. Donovan, senior assistant dean for career development, told Reuters that legal employers recognize Virginia’s graduates are “uniquely prepared, both intellectually and in the more human sides of the law.”

No matter how you slice the data, graduates in the Class of 2023 have been highly successful. They are:

• No. 2 in the percentage of graduates working in full-time, long-term jobs in the top 100 and top 500 American Lawyer firms, or in federal clerkships. (Behind only Chicago)
• No. 3 in the percentage of graduates working in full-time, long-term jobs in the top 500 American Lawyer firms.
• No. 5 in the percentage of graduates working as federal clerks, and No. 4 in such clerkships over the past three years.

In the Class of 2023, 99.3% had jobs overall — 74.1% with law firms, 15.6% as judicial clerks, 7.1% in public interest roles and 3.2% in a government position. The 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles for private-sector salary were all $225,000.

“Our sole focus as a career counseling team is on helping our outstanding students further their career goals, wherever they want to go,” Donovan said.

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