Facts and Statistics
Employment Nine Months After Graduation
The chart below shows the numbers of Duke Law students in various types of employment nine months after graduation. This information is reported annually to the ABA and NALP, the Association for Legal Career Professionals. (See additional detail on our new Employment Data page.)
| Graduating Class | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
| Total Number of Graduates | 213 | 219 | 207 | 226 | 220 |
| Employed, Bar Required | 179 | 188 | 197 | 210 | 202 |
| Employed, JD Preferred | 21 | 20 | 4 | 9 | 7 |
| Employed, Professional/Other | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Employed, Non-Professional | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Pursuing Advanced Degree | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Unemployed and seeking employment | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Not Seeking Employment | 4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Employment by Sector
Duke Law graduates find employment in all sectors of the legal profession and beyond. Please note that these percentages to not always add up to 100 percent because we have rounded all numbers to the nearest tenth.
| Graduating Class | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 |
| Law Firm | 61.4% | 70.3% | 75.4% | 77.1% | 66.2% | 66.5% |
| Clerkship | 16.8% | 16.7% | 16.3% | 13.5% | 19.0% | 17.9% |
| Public Interest / Military / Govt. | 15.8% | 6.7% | 4.5% | 4.0% | 8.3% | 7.5% |
| Business | 4.0% | 5.7% | 3.0% | 4.0% | 6.0% | 5.7% |
| Academia | 2.0% | 0.5% | 1.0% | 1.3% | 0.5% | 1.9% |
| Advanced Degree | 5* | 5* | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Not Specified | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0.5% |
| *Number of students; not included in denominator | ||||||
Employment by Region
Duke Law School has approximately 9000 alumni presently practicing law in all 50 states and in more than 70 countries around the globe. Please note that these percentages to not always add up to 100 percent because we have rounded all numbers to the nearest tenth.
| Graduating Class | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
| Northeast ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI, NY, NJ, PA, DE |
30.2% | 33.2% | 27.6% | 31.5% |
| Mid-Atlantic DC, VA, MD, WV |
16.3% | 19.6% | 20.7% | 21.6% |
| South Atlantic NC, SC, GA |
16.3% | 14.0% | 16.7% | 18.9% |
| Midwest OH, IN, IL, MO, KS, NE, IA, ND, SD, MI, MN, WI, KY |
5.4% | 6.1% | 6.9% | 5.9% |
| South TX, LA, MS, OK, TN, AR, AL, FL |
12.9% | 10.0% | 12.8% | 8.1% |
| West AK, HI, CA, NV, WA, OR, AZ, NM, UT, CO, WY, ID, MT |
16.8% | 15.4% | 15.3% | 12.6% |
| International | 1.9% | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1.4% |
Most Popular Destinations
Duke Law graduates are unusually widespread throughout the United States and the world. The locations with the consistently highest concentrations of Duke graduates are listed below; other popular locations include Florida, Texas, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Georgia.
| Graduating Class | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 |
| New York | 45 | 52 | 42 | 53 | 51 | 48 |
| Washington D.C. | 31 | 37 | 37 | 41 | 36 | 31 |
| North Carolina | 28 | 24 | 19 | 25 | 28 | 23 |
| California | 22 | 24 | 21 | 23 | 14 | 16 |
