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Class of 2020 moves jobs, has less debt and is concerned about mental health, study says

By Julianne Hill

July 25, 2024, 10:29 am CDT

Law school graduates from the class of 2020 who started work during the pandemic are moving jobs, less in debt and still concerned about their mental health, according to the Law School Alumni Employment and Satisfaction study.

The study from the National Association for Law Placement and the NALP Foundation, released Wednesday, showed 70% of all graduates held two or more jobs in the three years after graduation, up from 69% of the class of 2019, which was surveyed a year earlier. Mobility rates for men, women and graduates of color are now dovetailing, according to the release. Only 13% reported looking for a new job, the same as last year.

Data was collected from 1,415 alumni from 35 ABA-accredited law schools between November 2023 and January 2024.

Working situations fostered by the pandemic are waning. The majority—54%—of the graduates’ jobs are on hybrid schedules, but slightly less than the 57% the class of 2019 reported last year. More new lawyers are working in the office full-time, 36%, compared to 30% for the class of 2019.

“Despite the difficulties of graduating during that first pandemic summer, the data suggests that, broadly speaking, these attorneys were able to overcome the unique challenges they faced in starting their practices during that uncertain time,” NALP Executive Director Nikia L. Gray said in a release.

Mental health continues to worry recent graduates, with 36% of female and 31% of male graduates saying the pandemic continued to impact their well-being. Female graduates were more likely than their male peers to say that “better support for mental health and well-being” drove their job changes, 33% compared with 22%.

This is “a clear sign that many individuals continue to need support in this area,” Gray wrote.

Average educational debt levels dropped slightly to $95,286 for all graduates from $105,546 for the class of 2019, according to the release. Still, 42% reported owing more than $100,000 three years out of law school, while 33% reported owing nothing. But graduates of color had a higher average debt at $122,697, according to the release.