ANALYSIS: More Law Students Into Public Interest but Firms Win

Public interest work gives lawyers a way to put their knowledge to use while helping marginalized populations. Law students for generations have felt the pull of this kind of work, but it’s unrealistic for most once they graduate and have up to six figures in student loan debt.

One in four law students aspire to practice in the public interest, according to data from Bloomberg Law’s most recent Law School Preparedness Survey. Interestingly, only one in 10 practicing attorneys (with an average of 26 years in practice) expected to practice in public interest upon graduating, showing that enthusiasm for this kind of work is greater than it was several decades ago.

Six out of 10 law students said that they expect to work at a law firm upon graduation; eight out of 10 practicing attorneys expected they’d work at a firm when they graduated.

Expectation Versus Reality

What lawyers expected to do upon earning a degree doesn’t always align with what they ended up doing. Less than 1% of practicing attorneys indicated that they currently work in public interest—a pretty strong contrast to what they expected to practice when they were in law school.

There are many reasons why the call to public interest doesn’t always manifest in a public interest career in law, including:

• Harder to find. With sporadic job openings and less exposure at career fairs, it can be harder to find a public interest job.
• Firm jobs focus. Law schools tend to promote law firm placement.
• Pay difference. Starting salaries for some first-year associates is around $225,000—more than twice as much as the average tenured public interest attorney.
• Return on investment. Debt from law school (averaging $160,000) makes lucrative law firm jobs more appealing.

Despite the 1% statistic, many law firm and corporate lawyers are able to fulfill their call to help others through pro bono work. In 2022, lawyers’ pro bono hours represented 3.5% of their billable hours, according to the Pro Bono Institute.

Public Interest on the Rise

While slightly more than half of the legal graduates from the class of 2022 said that they now work at a law firm (up from about 44% in 2016), there’s also been a jump in new attorneys landing public interest jobs, from about 4% in 2016 to just over 8% in 2022, according to the American Bar Association’s employment outcomes data.

Reasons for this uptick could include:

• “Trump Bump.” Since Trump’s election, more students entered law school and subsequent legal careers with goals of making a difference.
• Greater awareness. New or aspiring attorneys might be realizing more than their more tenured counterparts that money doesn’t always lead to job satisfaction in Law.
• Diversity. Law schools are more diverse than ever before. Exposure to peers of different backgrounds earlier in life may lead future lawyers to choose to help marginalized communities.
• Gen Z. The Zoomer generation is passionate about social issues, which may translate into more lawyers who want to help serve underrepresented groups.

Law firms will likely continue to win big on new talent. But curiosity in a public interest career is rising—as is the number of new attorneys in public interest jobs.

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