84.6% of Class of 2025 law graduates landed jobs requiring or anticipating bar admission, a record under NALP’s current classifications, while the overall employment rate slipped 0.6 point to 92.8%, second only to 2024.
About 2,700 fewer entry-level legal jobs were available than a year earlier, but a smaller graduating class cushioned the hit despite economic uncertainty, federal hiring disruptions and shifting employer demand.
60.9% of employed graduates entered private practice—the highest share since 1990—and more than one in five worked at firms with over 500 lawyers; roughly one in four started in BigLaw when 251-500-lawyer firms are included.
Public service’s share of jobs fell to 31.0% from 32.7%, led by a 37% drop in federal government hiring to about 690 graduates; Washington, D.C., hiring declined 13.2%, steeper than the 7.7% national drop.