LLM GUIDE has today published the results of an extensive survey into how many lawyers in some of the world's largest law firms have LL.M. degrees.
The website surveyed over 20,000 public online profiles of partners, attorneys, counsels, and consultants at 11 of the top-20 largest law firms globally. These law firms included Norton Rose, Linklaters, Freshfields, Allen Overy, Latham Watkins, Jones Day, White & Case, DLA Piper, Hogan Lovells, Baker & McKenzie, and Skadden.
The survey paints an interesting picture of the value of the LL.M. degree in Big Law firms globally. Of those surveyed who were working outside the US and the UK, some 19 percent had pursued an LL.M. However, this varied substantially across firms: from 43 percent at Jones Day to 10 percent at Norton Rose Fulbright.
These LL.M.s working in Big Law did their degrees at a broad range of law schools. NYU was the best represented, but other law schools in large metro areas, such as Columbia and King's College London, were also well represented.
The survey also found that some 36 percent of LL.M.s working in these Big Law firms were women. This is a different picture from today's LL.M. classes, which tend to be more balanced in terms of gender: 63 percent of Vanderbilt's 2015 LL.M. class, for instance, are women; at Berkeley 58 percent of the most recent class are women.
For more information, please see LLM GUIDE's recent article: How Many Big Law Associates and Partners Have an LL.M.? For more statistics, see this infographic.
Photo: Jonathan71 / Creative Commons (cropped, rotated)
