Some Law Firms Have Misleading Employment Data
“About a decade ago, many law schools advertised somewhat misleading employment data. For instance, certain law schools listed the median starting salaries of graduates based on sample sizes that were unreasonably small so the statistic did not give an accurate picture of the salaries that graduates could expect,” reports Jordan Rothman in Above the Law’s Biglaw.
“In addition, some law schools played games with the percentage of graduates employed at graduation and nine months after graduation so that the employment outcomes of these schools seemed better than they actually were. Thankfully, legal organizations and nonprofits, including Law School Transparency, helped highlight how certain law schools were providing potentially misleading statistics, and this started a shift in legal education. Indeed, it is much more difficult now for law schools to fudge their employment data, and this is good for law students and applicants.”
“However, law firms still routinely advertise misleading employment statistics, and that can have an impact on the decisions of individuals who may choose to apply for jobs at such firms. More effort should be devoted to reducing any potentially misleading statistics so that applicants can have an accurate picture of the employment data at a firm.”
