After graduating from Harvard Law, a graduate’s options in the legal field are virtually limitless. They are in great demand by a variety of sectors, including but not limited to legal firms, government, corporations, and NGOs. In fact, several recent grads go on to create their own companies. Every year, Harvard Law School is in the fortunate position to give out many Public Service Fellowships to deserving seniors. These law school fellowships provide financial support for a year or more of work and frequently lead to careers in the public sector.
These grants are awarded through a competitive procedure to undergraduates whose skills, experiences, and research projects indicate that they will be able to successfully carry out such work when they graduate. The University also provides funds for students to participate in overseas fellowship programs. On top of that, every year since 2013, the Harvard Law School Public Service Venture Fund has given out around $1 million in grants to recent law school grads who are interested in working in public service. In the history of law schools, this is the very first course of its sort.
Graduates of the University of Virginia School of Law who intend to work for non-profits or government agencies in the United States or overseas can apply for salary assistance and “seed money” to launch their own organizations through this fund. Harvard Law School is renowned for its challenging curriculum, diverse student body, and supportive community.
Where may one find Harvard Law School alumni employed?
About 60%-65% of HLS grads go into private practice, 20% into judicial clerkships, and the other 10-15% into public interest/government work, business/industry, academia, or something else entirely.
How much do lawyers with a Stanford degree make?
Students who graduate from Stanford Law School may expect to make an average of $202,000 by midlife. New graduates from Harvard Law School and the University of Chicago Law School make $132,000 and $130,000, respectively.
Compensation for Government Work
In 2022, the average wage for a Harvard Legal School graduate ranges from $30,000 (working in a pro bono clinic) to $160,000 (beginning with a large law firm). The average pay for the class of 2021 alums who went into public sector work was $57,350.
The median annual income for those who found work as judicial law clerks for federal judges was $70,000. Working as a judge requires you to study the law, write about the law, debate the law with the judge, and appear in court.
Criminal prosecutors and public defenders, who work on opposite ends of the criminal law profession, both make around $72,000 per year after graduating from law school. If they work in the field of legal assistance, students help those with low incomes who cannot afford legal representation in their civil matters.
Earnings in the Non-Governmental Sector
The average starting salary for 2021 graduates of Harvard Law School is estimated to be $152,710. In comparison to their contemporaries in government, the salaries of newly minted Harvard attorneys who choose to work in private law firms are significantly higher.
Graduates of legal schools in the private sector frequently work in the fields of mergers and acquisitions, environmental law, commercial real estate, and securities law, representing corporations as clients. The majority of the Class of 2021’s Harvard Legal alums took positions with private law firms, where they earned an average income of $205,842. Professionals in the business and industrial sectors had the highest average salaries, at $123,829.
Training in Law
The legal curriculum at Harvard Law School has its own unique flavour. Some of the best legal students in the country are graded on a pass/fail basis rather than with traditional letter grades at Harvard Law School. Honours, pass, poor pass, and fail are the possible semester-end grades for a law student.
In addition, while attending Harvard Law School, every student is required to perform community service. In order to graduate, law students must perform 40 hours of pro bono work. This requirement is important for the public, but it can also be useful for the law student by exposing her to different types of service-oriented legal work.
Choices in Employment
Nearly 30 clinical courses and hundreds of externships give Harvard Law School students the chance to get practical experience serving the public interest. A potential employer may be impressed by your volunteer work experience gained while working for a cause close to your heart. Even if it doesn’t, the work experience gained at the public interest group could help a recent grad find work in a similar field.
Any Harvard Law graduate interested in a private sector legal career should have little trouble finding employment at the top firms that pay their associates the highest salaries. Harvard Law School is not cheap, therefore graduates may be interested in these high wages to help them pay off their massive student debt. In 2022, U.S. News reported that the total cost of attending Harvard Law School was $68,962 (including the cost of tuition) and $27,923 (including the cost of room and board).