Class of 2017 Employed Across Legal Spectrum
Ten months after they crossed the stage at Lake Matoaka with diplomas in hand, William & Mary Law School’s Class of 2017 is securing jobs in everything from Big Law to judicial clerkships to government and public service.
Securing jobs with preeminent global law firms has led to William & Mary’s consistent Top 30 ranking in the National Law Journal’s [NLJ] “Go to Law Schools” (based on percentage of graduates joining the 100 largest U.S.-based law firms as ranked by the NLJ). Slightly more than 20 percent of the Class of 2017 began working with law firms of 100 lawyers or more, including a number of NLJ Top 350 firms.
The number of post-graduate judicial clerkships is likewise strong. Twenty-four percent of the Class of 2017 (50 out of 208) are serving in judicial clerkships (almost nine percent in federal clerkships, more than 15 percent in state clerkships). For the Class of 2016, William & Mary was ranked 23rd among U.S. law schools for the percentage of graduates who served in federal judicial clerkships.
The Class of 2017 also obtained positions with a variety of government agencies and public interest organizations. PreLaw magazine's Best Schools for Public Service recently ranked the Law School fifth best law school for government jobs.
Graduates have taken full-time positions in 27 states, the District of Columbia, and two foreign countries. The most popular employment locations were Virginia, Washington, D.C., and New York.
In addition, they have accepted positions in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and West Virginia.