George Mason law students and graduates have a long and well-deserved reputation for being hard workers with team-player attitudes. The overwhelming majority of students—full and part-time students alike—works in some capacity during the school year and participates in one or more of the law school’s field programs or extracurricular activities. Students are allowed to and routinely do toggle back and forth between full- and part-time academic programs to accommodate evolving employment opportunities. A strong work ethic combined with the law school’s location in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area—a market unparalleled for those holding a JD—has led Mason students and graduates to a wealth of legal, policy, and business opportunities.
George Mason has always provided employment data to admitted and current students on the web page, via the ABA, during presentations at our open houses and mandatory career orientation sessions, and one-on-one. Joining an increasing number of law schools, we have now consolidated data we have presented in multiple formats into a single presentation. We will continue to discuss employment facts and trends during our open houses, orientation sessions, and communiqués to admitted and current students and encourage all who have questions regarding law student or graduate employment to attend our career events or contact a career counselor in the Career, Academic and Alumni Services Office at 703-993-8020 or lawcareer@gmu.edu.
*Employment information is based on data from surveys received for every graduate and from follow-up contact conducted by the Career, Academic and Alumni Services Office from graduation through the following February. Every graduate is required to fill out a survey as a condition of graduation, and George Mason provides employment data to the National Association of Law Placement (NALP), the ABA, and U.S. News. These data are discrepant in minor ways with those published by the ABA and available here:
ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2012
ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2011
NALP Employment Summary, Class of 2011
The ABA had the correct data in hand before posting but declined to make a correction for the Class of 2011. The data published here are correct. Employment categories and geographic regions are defined by NALP (see www.nalp.org/uploads/NationalSummaryChartforSchools2010.pdf). For a review of national law graduate employment data, visit www.nalp.org/research.
Clerkships counted in the clerkship category figure reflect clerkships beginning in the nine months following graduation. Increasing numbers of graduates apply for clerkships in the first one to three years following graduation. For a full listing of clerkships obtained by George Mason students and alumni, visit www.law.gmu.edu/career/clerkship.
Reportable salary information does not include bonuses, part-time salaries, or other non-traditional compensation packages, and some graduate choose not to disclose their salaries. The Career, Academic, and Alumni Services Office does collect information pertaining to bonuses, part-time and hourly wages, and benefit packages. If you would like to know more, please contact 703-993-8020.
**This category was created in 2012 for the Class of 2011; therefore, figures are not available for the Class of 2010.
***The law firm and judicial clerkship categories are further broken down to reflect the percentage of graduates within those categories who are in a particular type of firm or clerkship.