Employment and salary reports

Within nine months of graduating, 91.3 percent (264 of 289) of the class of 2010 who were seeking employment were employed. This employment percentage includes graduates employed full-time or part-time in any capacity and does not include graduates who were not seeking employment. Twenty-five of the 289 graduates who were seeking work (8.7%) were unemployed nine months after graduating from law school. Detailed employment data (including the nature of employment, full-time/part-time breakdown, etc.) can be found below.

Of the 133 graduates from the class of 2010 who chose to report salary information, the average starting salary was $63,336.

We encourage prospective students to review all of the employment statistics on our website. Please feel free to contact the Office of Career and Professional Development with questions (contact Jane Crow at jane.crow@wmitchell.edu or 651.290.7526). In addition, information on employment patterns and trends in the legal profession can be found on The National Association for Law Placement website.

Full report contents (below)

Employment Summary

2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
Total in Class 300 327 318 345 321
Total Reported 300 327 317 344 317
Employed 264 281 289 321 287
Seeking Work 25 20 9 11 14
Not Seeking Work 10 22 16 8 5
Enrolled in a Full-Time Degree Program 1 4 3 4 1
Unknown 0 0 1 1 4
Percent employed (of those seeking work) 91.3% 93.4% 97.0% 96.7% 92.3%
Of those who reported FT vs. PT employment status 242 265 289 314 283
% Full-Time 87.6% 85.3% 93.8% 93.9% 91.5%
% Part-Time 12.4% 14.7% 6.2% 6.1% 8.5%

Employment Setting

2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
Total for whom Employment Setting is known 250 251 284 309 285
Private Practice 43.6% 45.8% 51.8% 39.8% 45.6%
Business & Industry (including In-House Legal) 28.4% 25.1% 26.1% 32.0% 25.3%
Government 10.4% 10.4% 6.7% 7.1% 10.2%
Judicial Clerkships 9.2% 9.6% 9.5% 13.6% 11.2%
Public Interest 5.2% 5.6% 3.5% 7.1% 5.6%
Academic/Education 2.0% 2.8% 1.4% 0.3% 0.7%
Military 1.2% 0.8% 1.1% 0.0% 1.4%

Private Practice

43.6% of those for whom employment setting is known

2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
Total 109 115 147 123 130
Solo Practice 20 21 15 6 10
 2-10 attorneys 53 55 71 57 53
11-25 attorneys 11 10 26 19 22
26-50 attorneys 3 2 8 10 15
51-100 attorneys 3 2 8 8 12
101-250 attorneys 10 13 13 15 12
251-500 attorneys 6 3 1 3 2
501+ attorneys 0 3 3 4 2
Firm Size Unknown 3 6 2 1 2

Business & Industry (Including In-House Legal Counsel)

28.4% of those for whom employment setting is known

2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
Total 69 63 74 99 72
Accounting Firm 1 1 4 4 8
Legal Temp Agency 6 6 19 23 18
Investment Banking Institution/Financial 3 4 9 7 3
Insurance Company 6 1 6 3 6
Management Consulting Firm 2 0 1 4 1
Publishing House 13 11 8 10 6
Business/Industry (Other categories) 28 31 25 41 26
Technology/E-Commerce 10 7 1 6 3
Unknown 0 2 1 1 1

Government

10.4% of those for whom employment setting is known

2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
Total 26 27 22 22 33
Federal Level 4 4 8 3 7
State Level 18 16 7 11 20
Local Level 4 7 4 8 6
Other 0 0 3 0 0

Judicial Clerkships

9.2% of those for whom employment setting is known

2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
Total 23 24 27 42 32
Federal Level 0 3 0 1 2
State Level 23 20 25 41 28
Local Level or Level not designated 0 1 2 0 2

Other

2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
Public Interest 13 14 10 21 16
Academic 4 7 4 1 2
2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
Total 33 42 47 61 47
In-house Legal 11 13 8 12 8
Temporary Attorney Work 6 12 19 23 13
Management 5 6 8 8 8
Business Development/Sales & Marketing 4 6 5 7 7
Human Resources 1 2 0 0 0
Consulting 4 2 2 7 4
Temporary Law Clerk or Paralegal 0 1 4 2 4
Self-Employed 2 0 1 2 3

Bar Admission

Report of jobs requiring bar admission vs. those that do not

2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
Total who answered Bar Admission Question 253 276 289 321 287
Positions where Bar Admission is Required 72.7% 67.0% 79.9% 74.8% 77.0%
Positions where JD is preferred or enhances position 14.2% 17.0% 11.8% 16.8% 12.5%
Other Professional positions 11.5% 10.5% 7.6% 7.8% 9.8%
Non–Professional positions 2.0% 5.4% 0.7% 0.6% 0.7%

Salary Data

2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
Total for whom salary is known 133 176 213 233 217
Overall Average $63,336 $58,687 $63,761 $62,227 $63,634
Private Law Practice Average $74,941 $67,242 $71,793 $75,663 $71,333
Business/Industry (including in-house counsel) Average $68,167 $56,462 $63,744 $61,029 $74,602
Judicial Clerkship Average $47,236 $48,532 $44,857 $42,546 $41,783
Government Average (non-clerkship) $55,511 $45,978 $50,713 $54,374 $49,437
Public Interest Average $40,056 $39,580 $42,622 $47,468 $50,892

Salary Data: Most Recent Class (2010)

N=number for whom salary is known; where N is less than 10 only an average is provided.

N 25th Percentile Median 75th Percentile Average
2-10 attorneys 24 $40,500 $46,000 $50,000 $48,317
11-25 attorneys 5 $68,800
26-50 attorneys 2 $127,500
51-100 attorneys 3 $102,500
101-250 attorneys 10 $109,500 $110,000 $120,000 $112,600
251-500 attorneys 5 $96,000
Business/Industry (including in-house counsel) 33 $43,000 $67,000 $86,000 $68,167
Judicial Clerkships 23 $44,000 $44,035 $50,467 $47,236
Government (non-clerkship; non-military) 14 $48,375 $55,000 $63,738 $55,511
Public Interest 8 $33,000 $39,500 $49,793 $40,056

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Career & Professional Development Office

William Mitchell College of Law

875 Summit Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55105

651-290-6326
1-888-962-5529
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careers@wmitchell.edu

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