2023 Bright Insight: The 2023 National Legal Sector Benchmark Survey Results

Where are all these new attorneys going to come from? The answer is a variety of places, but still primarily from other firms and straight out of law school. Nine out of ten firms are hiring legal talent from other firms and nearly 80% are hiring right out of law school . The government and corporate legal departments are a source for approximately 20% of firms. The prioritization of these various sources is in line with previous years, although the share of firms looking at in-house counsel has dropped from 30% in 2022 to 21% this year.

Demand for law firm graduates remains strong. In fact, the unemployment share among the nearly 36,000 of 2022 law school graduates is just 5.3%. This is the same unemployment share as the 2021 class had but is down from the 6.4% seen pre pandemic among 2019 law firm graduates. 7 At the same time, the number of law school graduates remains well below the levels seen a decade ago.

• Demand for top legal talent remains high even as the economic climate is expected to be softer in 2023. Some firms may freeze hiring, reduce incoming classes and/or lay off attorneys, but most firms expect to grow—and larger firms are the most bullish on their employment growth trajectory. • Competition for top graduates out of law school is as stiff as ever, with the 2022 graduate unemployment rate (5.3%)—half of its 2013 level. • Ninety percent of firms indicate they will also continue to look to poach individual talent and entire legal practices from other firms. • Hiring may remain more tepid but attracting and retaining the best attorneys will continue to be top priorities for law firms.

TAKEAWAYS

Number of U.S. Law Graduates & Share Unemployed

Law Graduates

Share Unemployed (rhs)

If your firm is currently in a growth mode, where are you hiring the legal talent from?

50,000

12%

89%

78%

40,000

8%

30,000

4%

22% 21%

5%

20,000

0%

Other

From other law firms

Right out of law schools

From the government

In-house counsel from corporate positions

2017

2021

2015

2013

2018

2016

2019

2014

2022

2020

Source: American Bar Association

7 American Bar Association; Statista

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Research

THE 2023 NATIONAL LEGAL SECTOR BENCHMARK SURVEY RESULTS | 9