Careers

Employment Statistics

The Penn Law experience enables our graduates to pursue successful and fulfilling careers, even in uncertain economic times. The data below attests to our continued success in the market.

This data is based on student survey responses, ABA and NALP data, and reflects employment at nine months following graduation for each respective class. Please note that the judicial clerkship chart reflects a different time period and includes alumni.

General Employment Information	2012	2011	2010	2009
Graduating Class Size	270	274	276	258
Employment Status Known	270	274	274	258
Employed	265	262	265	252
Seeking Employment	5	6	3	2
Not Seeking Employment	0	3	1	0
Enrolled in Full-Time Degree	0	3	5	4
Unknown	0	0	2	0

Penn Law’s cross-disciplinary JD program prepares students for a range of careers in the law and related fields, complemented by professional development programs that build skills necessary to pursue the best jobs and careers. At Penn Law, students are exposed to the widest variety of legal employers, nationally and internationally, as well as to Penn alumni worldwide who have used their law degrees to push the boundaries in their fields.

Job Type	2012	2011	2010	2009
Law Firm	196	179	180	186
2-10	3	6	5	2
11-25	3	5	3	0
26-50	5	4	4	1
51-100	5	3	4	5
101-250	17	14	13	11
251-500	25	21	10	13
501+	138	125	139	154
Unknown size	0	0	2	0
Solo Practice	0	1	0	0
Judicial Clerk	40	41	49	38
Business or Industry	12	18	9	10
Government/Military	6	11	11	10
Public Interest	10	10	14	6
Academic	1	3	2	2
Law School Funded (Short-Term)	0	7	11	N/A
Law School Funded (Long-Term)	9	4	2	N/A
Other Short Term ¹	1	4	4	N/A

1 Prior to 2010, this category was defined to include employment of one year in duration, which captured judicial clerkship statistics. For detailed information on judicial clerkships, please see the Judicial Clerkships table below.

2012

Salary Information	2012
	25th Percentile	Median	75th Percentile	Mean	Salaries Reported
Salary - All Job Types	$100,000	$160,000	$160,000	$130,957	252/265 (95%)
Law Firm	$145,000	$160,000	$160,000	$149,781	192/196 (98%)
2-10	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
11-25	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
26-50	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
51-100	$100,000	$105,000	$147,500	$120,000	5/5 (100%)
101-250	$140,000	$160,000	$160,000	$150,588	17/17 (100%)
251-500	$125,000	$135,000	$160,000	$137,280	25/25 (100%)
501+	$160,000	$160,000	$160,000	$156,314	137/138 (99%)
Unknown size	-	-	-	-	-
Solo Practice	-	-	-	-	-
Judicial Clerk	$55,288	$61,245	$61,250	$56,909	36/40 (90%)
Business or Industry	$100,000	$130,000	$140,000	$144,545	11/12 (92%)
Government/ Military	$56,500	$60,000	$60,000	$55,793	5/6 (83%)
Public Interest	$36,100	$43,750	$46,387	$40,684	8/10 (80%)
Academic	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported

2011

Salary Information	2011
	25th Percentile	Median	75th Percentile	Mean	Salaries Reported
Salary - All Job Types	$62,688	$145,000	$160,000	$122,227	241/262 (92%)
Law Firm	$145,000	$160,000	$160,000	$148,464	169/179 (94%)
2-10	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
11-25	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
26-50	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
51-100	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
101-250	$113,750	$135,000	$160,000	$133,571	14/14 (100%)
251-500	$137,500	$160,000	$160,000	$151,400	20/21 (95%)
501+	$160,000	$160,000	$160,000	$154,837	123/125 (98%)
Unknown size	-	-	-	-	-
Solo Practice	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
Judicial Clerk	$50,000	$59,266	$61,245	$55,020	40/41 (98%)
Business or Industry	$48,750	$81,600	$106,250	$83,800	14/18 (78%)
Government/ Military	$45,750	$49,001	$70,602	$55,421	8/11 (73%)
Public Interest	$42,500	$42,500	$46,000	$44,843	7/10(70%)
Academic	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported

2010

Salary Information	2010
	25th Percentile	Median	75th Percentile	Mean	Salaries Reported
Salary - All Job Types	$73,408	$160,000	$160,000	$127,080	233/265 (88%)
Law Firm	$160,000	$160,000	$160,000	$152,100	170/180 (94%)
2-10	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
11-25	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
26-50	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
51-100	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
101-250	$160,000	$160,000	$160,000	$154,000	13/13 (100%)
251-500	$145,000	$160,000	$160,000	$150,500	10/10 (100%)
501+	$160,000	$160,000	$160,000	$156,123	138/139 (99%)
Unknown size	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
Solo Practice	-	-	-	-	-
Judicial Clerk	$50,356	$66,897	$73,408	$61,987	48/49 (98%)
Business or Industry	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
Government/ Military	$45,187	$62,467	$62,467	$53,171	7/11 (64%)
Public Interest	$42,500	$45,000	$51,000	$48,429	7/14 (50%)
Academic	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported

2009

Salary Information	2009
	25th Percentile	Median	75th Percentile	Mean	Salaries Reported
Salary - All Job Types	$106,230	$160,000	$160,000	$131,151	245/252 (97%)
Law Firm	$160,000	$160,000	$160,000	$154,311	185/186 (99%)
2-10	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
11-25	-	-	-	-	-
26-50	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported
51-100	$88,750	$130,000	$152,500	$122,500	5/5 (100%)
101-250	$125,000	$135,000	$160,000	$138,182	11/11 (100%)
251-500	$150,000	$160,000	$160,000	$153,846	13/13 (100%)
501+	$160,000	$160,000	$160,000	$157,370	154/154 (100%)
Unknown size	-	-	-	-	-
Solo Practice	-	-	-	-	-
Judicial Clerk	$50,000	$55,500	$60,000	$54,267	38/38 (100%)
Business or Industry	$50,000	$100,000	$150,000	$101,000	7/10 (70%)
Government/ Military	$36,000	$52,206	$59,245	$53,670	8/10 (80%)
Public Interest	$43,000	$52,000	$59,000	$51,200	5/6 (83%)
Academic	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported	< 5 reported

Judicial Clerkships

Penn Law students receive unparalleled support from staff and faculty in their pursuit of judicial clerkships. And today, recent clerkship placements are at the highest levels in our history. For the years 2008-12, our students and alumni secured 295 clerkships at all levels.

Judicial Clerkships	FOUR YEARS: May 1, 2009 - April 30, 2013	May 1, 2012 - April 30, 2013	May 1, 2011 - April 30, 2012	May 1, 2010 - April 30, 2011	May 1, 2009 - April 30, 2010

US Supreme Court	3	1	1	1	-
Circuit	96	27	22	24	23
District	126	41	26	32	27
Staff Attorneys	1	-	1	-	-
Magistrate	14	5	4	3	2
Bankruptcy	7	-	-	6	1
Tax	1	-	-	1	-
U.S. Court of International Trade	1	1	-	-	-
U.S. Court of Federal Claims	3	2	1	-	-
Federal Administrative Law Judge	2	1	-	1	-
Delaware Chancery	15	5	3	3	4
State Supreme	11	5	1	2	3
State Intermediate	18	3	4	4	7
State Trial	22	1	5	7	9
Territorial Trial	1	-	-	-	1
International	2	1	1	-	-
Subtotal for students	196	58	40	46	52
Subtotal for alumni	127	35	29	38	25
Total	323	93	69	84	77

Employment Requirements	2012	2011	2010	2009
Bar Required - Full-time	256	235	244	240
Bar Required - Part-time	2	7	11	-
J.D. Advantage	7	19	8	8
Professional-Other	0	1	2	4

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