Class Of 2010 Still Hard-Up For Law Jobs

A study of how the law school class of 2010 is faring raises “troubling questions about career prospects for law graduates, as well as about the cost and structure of legal education,” said Ohio State University law professor and author of the study, Deborah Jones Merritt. Her study focused on grads living in Ohio, and found that in the nearly 5 years since the group graduated, unemployment stands at 6.3 percent, and about 20 percent of the grads work in jobs that do not require a law license. About 40 percent work in law firms, a number that has remained stagnant, while the number of grads opting to become solo practitioners has leaped. Geography and gender play a role in the findings, Merritt said.