The class of 2023 is doing very well, indeed! For the fifth year in a row, graduate salary figures have reached another all-time high. The national median salary has increased to $90,000, with the median law firm salary now around $165,000. This is a 10% increase from the year before.
But experts say that this could soon change, because of a shrinking market. Meaning, that the class of 2024 may not be as fortunate.
Nikia Gray, Executive Director of the National Association of Law Placement, or NALP, had this to say:
“The Class of 2023 did indeed do well. However, even with these incredible outcomes there are suggestions in the data that the market is starting to contract and that future classes may not fare as well,” she told Legal io. “In sum, the Class of 2023 graduates are likely to be the final benefactors of the talent wars.”
According to Canadian Lawyer Mag, the overall employment rate for the Class of 2023 was 92.6%, the highest ever recorded by the organization–and the lowest unemployment rate since the Class of 2007 (5.8%). But the Class of 2024 is larger than its predecessor and Reuters is reporting that recruiting activity among Biglaw firms recently reached an 11-year low.
What does the future hold for future law grads?
