Law Graduate Employment Hits Record High Again in 2025, ABA Data Shows

A record share of US law school graduates secured legal jobs shortly after finishing their studies in 2025, according to data released on Wednesday by the American Bar Association, despite a decline in hiring for government and public interest roles.

The proportion of 2025 Juris Doctor graduates who obtained jobs requiring bar admission within 10 months of leaving campus rose by one percentage point from 2024 - which was also a record year - to 83 per cent.

The 2025 JD cohort benefited from increased competition among employers for a smaller pool of graduates. ABA-accredited law schools produced 2,713 fewer graduates last year, following a pandemic-related enrolment surge that affected the 2024 graduating class.

“We continue to see a strong job market for graduates,” said Jenn Rosato Perea, the ABA’s managing director of accreditation and legal education.

Strong entry-level employment among JD graduates is among the factors experts say is fuelling a surge in law school applications, which rose 18 per cent nationwide in 2025 and are currently up a further 10 per cent this year. The political climate and the growing visibility of lawyers are also driving interest in legal education, they say.

Some experts have warned that the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence by law firms and other legal employers could reduce entry-level hiring in the coming years. However, current employment figures do not yet reflect any such decline.

For roles requiring bar admission or where a JD provides an advantage, the employment rate stood at nearly 88 per cent in 2025, up slightly from 87 per cent the previous year, according to the ABA data. The organisation said a recent change in how it reports school-funded positions accounted for the difference.

There were 632 fewer 2025 graduates entering government roles - a decline of nearly 14 per cent from 2024, according to the data. Some third-year students saw their job offers revoked amid a widespread federal hiring freeze imposed by President Donald Trump shortly after his return to the White House in January 2025, although some positions were later reinstated.

Public interest roles also fell by nearly 15 per cent, with 513 fewer graduates in such positions compared with the previous year.

The share of 2025 graduates who were unemployed and seeking work remained steady at nearly 5 per cent, the ABA data showed.

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