The American Bar Foundation has released the latest set of findings from the first national study of lawyer careers.
The new data confirm the widespread view that young lawyers often change jobs and demonstrate that they are satisfied with their careers and in their decision to become a lawyer.
The study points to the fact that many are working in business and that women, more than men, have sought more flexibility in their careers and work in part-time settings, or are now unemployed.
The results are contained in After the JD II: Second Results From a National Study of Legal Careers, which has tracked nearly 5,000 lawyers who passed the bar in 2000.
The results, jointly published by the ABF and the National Association for Law Placement Foundation, mark the culmination of the second of three phases of a examination of lawyers’ careers and factors that influence their career choice and pathways.
The project examines key aspects of the life course of young lawyers, investigating the jobs they have taken, the hours they work, their fields of specialty, income, patterns of mobility across jobs, dimensions of satisfaction and personal choices such as getting married and having a family.
The study confirms the widespread view that young lawyers are extremely mobile, with more than one-half of graduates changing practice settings between 2003 and 2007.
However, the results contradict reports of high levels of dissatisfaction, as more than three-quarters of them reported they are satisfied with their decision to become a lawyer.
Other findings track diversity in the legal profession and show that women and minorities had made enormous progress and that women are more likely than their male counterparts to be unemployed or work part-time.
ABF Director and Northwestern Professor Robert Nelson, a principal investigator on the study, said “the second wave of results demonstrates the enormous variety of and increasing
“Among the more striking patterns we see is the departure of law firm associates for positions in business as inside counsel,” he said. “And although we still see some differences in the job choices of women and minorities compared to other lawyers, we find more convergence in careers across these groups than we would have predicted based on prior research.”
It will be interesting to see, Nelson added, “whether these patterns hold up in the next wave of data collection, as these young lawyers reach the time in their careers when they will make partner or be forced to find other employment.
“We will have an historic opportunity to examine the impact of the recent financial collapse on the careers of young lawyers.”
The research team includes prominent scholars, both nationally and internationally, who are recognized for their research on the legal profession.
The study is still underway with the third and final phase now in progress and expected to be completed in 2012.
The completed project is aimed at providing unprecedented information on an entire generation of lawyers.
The American Bar Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization created to advance the understanding and improvement of law through research projects into important issues around the world.
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