A Message from Dean Patrick E. Hobbs
At Seton Hall Law, we recognize that the decision to attend law school is a truly important one, and, as with all major decisions, information is key. We believe, through our own experience and that of our alumni, that the value of a law degree, and in particular, a Seton Hall Law degree, shows significant reward throughout the course of one’s lifetime.
- U.S. News and World Report ranked Seton Hall Law #64. Over the last 10 years, Seton Hall Law has gained 25 places in the overall ranking.
- U.S. News and World Report ranked Seton Hall Law’s Health Law program #6 – the 17th year in the Top 10. Seton Hall Law is the only Health Law program ranked among the Top 10 in CT, NY, NJ and PA, a region housing more than 3,100 pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech companies.
- The National Law Journal (NLJ) ranked Seton Hall Law #37 among its Top 50 Go-To Law Schools nationally, based on the number of graduates in the “NLJ 250” top law firms in the U.S. Seton Hall Law is the 4th-ranked of all law schools in the New York metropolitan area.
- The National Law Journal ranked Seton Hall Law #45 in the nation for the number of lawyers promoted from Associate to Partner among the NLJ 250. There are 13,620 Seton Hall Law alumni, located in every state in the nation.
- Law School Transparency (LST) ranked Seton Hall Law 4th among law schools in the tri-state area for the placement of its graduates in “law jobs,” defined as full-time, long-term employment with a J.D. required or a J.D. preferred. Seton Hall Law was outranked in the NY, NJ and the PA area by only three schools, all of which are in the Top 10.
- The National Jurist awarded Seton Hall Law an “A” for “transparency,” reflecting its open and accessible reporting of employment outcomes. LST ranked Seton Hall Law as one of only 23% of schools deemed “fully transparent.”
- Super Lawyers ranked Seton Hall Law #40 nationally for the number of Super Lawyers among its graduates in 2010, the last year the ranking was tallied and published. There are 13,620 Seton Hall Law alumni, located in every state in the nation. In 2012, Super Lawyers ranked Seton Hall Law #1 in New Jersey, far surpassing #2 (402 to 253) and nearly equaling the combined totals of #3 to 7 (402-412).
- Among the Class of 2010 graduates who completed year-long clerkships (August 2010 to August 2011), 94% had full-time long-term employment within 9 months (May 2012) of completing their clerkship; with 72% entering private practice. See our survey results, below.
These are results that we are proud of.
In addition, we’ve recently undergone an independent audit of our published admissions data (median LSAT & GPA data along with scholarship award rate and renewal data).
I invite you to review our employment data as submitted to the ABA for further breakdowns regarding salary, firm size and more specifics on what kinds of jobs our graduates landed in the accompanying detailed charts. Note: Our NALP Employment report for the Class of 2012 will be issued in Summer 2013.
To view the ABA Placement Data Summary for the Class of 2012, click here.
| Class of 2011 Employment Type |
|---|
| As submitted to the ABA, March 15, 2012. |
As you can see in our employment reports, many graduates enter into judicial clerkships. A conversation with any clerk or a hiring partner will tell you why: there is no better way to build a professional network, refine legal skills and increase your marketability. As you’ll see in the chart below - which tracks our judicial clerks' post-clerkship employment, we found a 94% full-time, long-term employment rate among the 100 graduates who had accepted clerkships, with 72% having entered private practice.
| Post-Clerkship Employment of Graduates, Class of 2010 |
|---|
(first position following clerkship, within 9 months after end of clerkship)
|
94% EMPLOYED FULL TIME LONG TERM |
Again, the decision to attend law school is one of the more important decisions you’ll ever make. I encourage you to research and ask questions. Seton Hall Law offers a number of scholarships to help make law school more affordable: in 2011, 65% of our incoming class received scholarship funding, 50% of them received $33,000 or more; and nearly 80% of those students renewed those scholarships the following year.
Is law school worth it? I ask you, in return: do you want to be a lawyer? Personally, I believe the law is one of the most rewarding avocations you could ever pursue, but it is not a golden ticket to immediate wealth. The law is a lifetime proposition. Go to law school only if you know you want to be a lawyer, and you know your law school offers excellent education and career opportunities. I am confident those are attributes you will find at Seton Hall Law.