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Class of 2020 has 87% Employment Rate Despite Pandemic

Career and Professional Development
Alumni
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Despite entering the workforce in the middle of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, 87% of Albany Law School's Class of 2020 J.D. class is employed professionally, according to data compiled by the law school for the American Bar Association.

Each spring, the country's ABA-approved law schools submit a summary to the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar on employment 10 months after graduation.

Of the 122 professionally employed graduates from the Class of 2020:

  • 69 are in law firms (56%);
  • 27 are in government (22%);
  • 12 are in business and industry (10%);
  • 7 are in public interest (6%);
  • 6 are in clerkships (5%);
  • 1 is in education (.8%).

Albany Law School's annual employment summary to the ABA are here.

"I am incredibly proud of the tenacity, resilience, and determination of the Class of 2020," said President and Dean Alicia Ouellette. "The past year has been so difficult and challenging and this group of graduates – and now attorneys – has succeeded in the face of it all. They are an inspiration."

Employers include:

  • Albany County District Attorney's Office (Albany, NY)
  • Allen & Overy LLP (New York City, NY)
  • Ayco, A Goldman Sachs Company (Saratoga Springs, NY)
  • Barclay Damon, LLP  (Albany, NY)
  • Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC (Albany, NY)
  • Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP (New York, NY)
  • Citigroup Inc. (Buffalo, NY)
  • Holland & Knight LLP (Boston, MA)
  • Honorable Richard K. Eaton, United States Court of International Trade (New York, NY)
  • Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc. (Albany, NY)
  • Manhattan District Attorney's Office (New York, NY)
  • Milbank LLP (New York, NY)
  • Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (New York, NY )
  • New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department (Rochester, NY)
  • New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department (Albany, NY)
  • Queens County District Attorney's Office (Kew Gardens, NY)
  • Schenectady County District Attorney's Office (Schenectady, NY)
  • Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP (New York, NY)
  • Venable LLP (New York, NY)
  • Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP (Albany, NY)

The placement success was bolstered by the Career and Professional Development Center and Institutional Advancement as the teams combined to share the Class of 2020’s skills and interests with employer partners and the law school’s extensive alumni network.

Career counselors provided individualized career counseling and planning, interview coaching, assistance with resume writing, and other job-search essentials online due to COVID-19 restrictions. They also regularly hosted employer information sessions, networking events, alumni-practitioner sessions, and interviews remotely throughout the year. A silver lining of the pandemic was alumni availability to help with the center's efforts.

 “To all of the Albany Law Alumni who helped us and the Class of 2020 find places to start their careers during these unprecedented times, I want to say ‘Thank You,’” said Assistant Dean for the Career and Professional Development Center Mary Walsh Fitzpatrick. “Your help made a significant impact. What’s more, we ranked in the top half of all New York law schools for Gold Standard jobs [full-time, long-term bar passage required or J.D. advantage jobs] in a year when many questioned the possibility of securing any type of post-graduate employment. You are the reason for this success. Without your eagerness to help our Class of 2020 graduates and connect them with the Albany Law Network, these employment results simply wouldn’t have been possible.  Here’s to even greater success for the Class of 2021!”