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Northwestern University Law School Employment Outcomes
Chicago, IL · class of 2025 · reported roughly ten months after graduation
Class of 2025
| Graduates in the class | 264 |
|---|---|
| Employment status unknown | 0 |
| Graduates with known status | 264 |
| Employed | 257 |
| Employment rate | 97.3% |
| Of whom in full-time long-term positions | 257 |
| Enrolled in further graduate study | 1 |
| Seeking work | 4 |
| Not seeking work | 1 |
| Employed start date after the reporting date | 1 |
The employment rate is calculated over graduates whose status is known. The 0 with unknown status are excluded from the denominator rather than counted as unemployed, which is the standard treatment.
What kind of work
| Bar admission required or anticipated | 243 total · 243 full-time long-term |
|---|---|
| Position where a JD is an advantage | 14 total · 14 full-time long-term |
| Other professional position | 0 |
| Requiring bar, share of full-time long-term | 94.6% |
The two categories are kept separate deliberately. “Bar admission required” positions are ones where licensure is the point; “JD advantage” positions are where the degree helps but does not require a licence. Combining them into a single “legal employment” figure would blur exactly the distinction an applicant is trying to make.
Where the graduates went
Law firms and non-firm destinations, full-time long-term positions. These two tables add up to 257.
Law firms by size
| Firm size | Graduates | Share of full-time long-term |
|---|---|---|
| Solo practice | 0 | 0.0% |
| 1–10 attorneys | 5 | 1.9% |
| 11–25 | 2 | 0.8% |
| 26–50 | 1 | 0.4% |
| 51–100 | 4 | 1.6% |
| 101–250 | 5 | 1.9% |
| 251–500 | 6 | 2.3% |
| 501 or more | 178 | 69.3% |
| Size not reported | 0 | 0.0% |
| All law firms | 201 | 78.2% |
Non-firm destinations
This table does not include law firms. The ABA reports firms separately under their size distribution, so at this school the two tables together are the complete picture — 78.2% went to firms and the 21.8% below did not.
| Destination | Graduates | Share of full-time long-term |
|---|---|---|
| Business & industry | 9 | 3.5% |
| Government | 7 | 2.7% |
| Public interest | 15 | 5.8% |
| Judicial clerkship — federal | 15 | 5.8% |
| Judicial clerkship — state & local | 7 | 2.7% |
| Judicial clerkship — tribal | 0 | 0.0% |
| Judicial clerkship — international | 0 | 0.0% |
| Education | 3 | 1.2% |
| All non-firm destinations | 56 | 21.8% |
Government (7), public interest (15) and judicial clerkships (22) together account for 44 of the full-time long-term positions at this school.
Where they went
The three states graduates reported most often. Not necessarily where they are licensed.
| Rank | State | Graduates | Share of employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Largest | ILLINOIS | 140 | 54.5% |
| 2nd | NEW YORK | 35 | 13.6% |
| 3rd | CALIFORNIA | 25 | 9.7% |
| — | Outside the United States | 5 | 1.9% |
Compared with other Illinois schools
| School | Employment rate | Full-time | Firms | 501+ attorneys | Non-firm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern University | 97.3% | 257 | 78.2% | 178 | 21.8% |
What these figures do not tell you
- No salary data. Starting salaries are filed separately by each school and are not part of this report, so none appears here.
- One class only. These figures describe a single cohort about ten months after graduation. They do not show a trend and may not hold for the next class.
- A high rate is not automatically a good outcome. A school can place nearly everyone quickly, or place 85% into positions most graduates consider their first choice. The rate alone does not distinguish these.
- Reported location is not licensure. A graduate who reports New York as their destination may not be licensed to practise there.
Related pages
- The Northwestern University Law School ABA 509 report — every figure from the disclosure, section by section
- Northwestern University — full admissions data
- All schools by employment outcomes
- Northwestern University — bar passage
- Northwestern University — cost of attendance
- Northwestern University — financial aid
- Law schools in Illinois
Source: Northwestern University Law School ABA Standard 509 Employment Outcomes report, class of 2025, covering status roughly ten months after graduation. Employment rate is calculated over graduates with known employment status. Firm size and industry figures are full-time long-term positions; firms are reported separately from the industry breakdown. Not a prediction of any individual's outcome.