Facts and Statistics
Employment at Graduation & Nine Months Later
The quality of our students and of a Duke Law education makes our graduates highly desirable to employers seeking talented new attorneys.
| Graduating Class | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
| Employment at Graduation | 100% | 97.75% | 95.7% | 95.6% | 95.1% | 100% |
| Employment Nine Months Out | 100% | 100% | 98.18% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
What Can You Do With a Duke Degree?
Duke Law graduates find employment in all sectors of the legal profession. A typical class finds approximately 70 percent of students employed in private law firms, 18 percent serving as clerks for federal and state judges, and the remaining 12 percent employed by public interest organizations, government agencies, military JAG offices, and business enterprises. Several students will usually go on to earn other advanced degrees.
| Graduating Class | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
| Law Firm | 75.3% | 77.1% | 66.2% | 66.5% | 72.1% | 70.0% |
| Clerkship | 16.2% | 13.5% | 19.0% | 17.9% | 15.7% | 19.0% |
| Public Interest / Military / Govt. | 4.5% | 4.0% | 8.3% | 7.5% | 7.0% | 6.0% |
| Business | 3.0% | 4.0% | 6.0% | 5.7% | 2.6% | 2.0% |
| Academia | 1.0% | 1.4% | 0.5% | 1.9% | 0.4% | 1.0% |
| Advanced Degree | - | - | - | - | 6.0% | 1.0% |
| Not Specified | - | - | - | 0.5% | 2.2% | - |
Where Can You Go With a Duke Degree?
Duke Law School has more than 8500 alumni presently practicing law in all 50 states and in countries around the globe. Geographic distribution of the past several graduating classes is indicated below. Duke students are fortunate in that they are not in competition with their classmates for a preferred location, due to the wide array of options available to them.
| Graduating Class | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
| Northeast | 27.6% | 31.5% | 33.3% |
| Mid-Atlantic | 20.7% | 21.6% | 17.6% |
| South Atlantic | 16.7% | 18.9% | 19.4% |
| Mid-West | 6.9% | 5.9% | 3.2% |
| South | 12.8% | 8.1% | 12.5% |
| West | 15.3% | 12.6% | 11.7% |
| International | 0.0% | 1.4% | 2.3% |
Most Popular Destinations
The locations with the highest concentrations of Duke graduates by class are listed below; as seen in the previous diagram, however, Duke graduates have the opportunity to practice in any location in which they are interested.
| Graduating Class | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
| New York | 42 | 53 | 51 | 48 | 38 | 39 |
| Washington D.C. | 37 | 41 | 36 | 31 | 27 | 27 |
| North Carolina | 19 | 25 | 28 | 23 | 22 | 21 |
| California | 21 | 23 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 13 |