Law School Report

Career Services

Growing into the job
Placement statistics find UB Law grads ranging far and wide

James R.Newton, associate dean for administration and national outreach

How to improve on success? That has been the challenge facing UB Law School's Career Services Office, which for two years has seen more than 97 percent of graduates either find work in the legal field or go on to further graduate education.

Now the placement statistics are in for the Class of 2006 – the industry standard is to look at the numbers nine months after graduation – and some interesting trends have emerged.

For one thing, grads' average starting salary has increased for two years running; for '06 graduates, that number jumped by $11,000, to $69,000. This came even though a larger proportion of graduates took jobs in public-interest and government work, not always the highest-paying options.

Also, the proportion of grads taking jobs outside Western New York is rising. Among the 2006 class, 45 percent went beyond the Western New York area for their first positions. Large concentrations migrated to New York City and Washington, D.C., but 18 states and several countries have new UB Law grads working there. Five years ago, only one-third of graduates left Western New York.

Thirty-one percent of 2006 graduates started their careers at firms of 100 attorneys or more, an increase from 19 percent the previous year. Among the employers represented were such well-known firms as Sullivan & Cromwell, Weil Gotshal & Manges, Shearman & Sterling, Ropes & Gray, Fried Frank and Skadden Arps.

Among those choosing public service, graduates have accepted positions as Presidential Management Fellows and at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the National Labor Relations Board and the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

These results are the fruit of much labor as Career Services officers build relationships with potential employers and leverage their contacts with helpful alumni.

"We have established relationships with all sorts of employers across the country," said James R. Newton, associate dean for national outreach and strategic planning. "Our experience has been that when they hire one UB Law graduate, that person turns out to be a star, and they want to hire more."

Newton said entering students are surveyed as to the type of practice they want to pursue, and in what geographical region. The Law School, he said, measures its success by how closely those students' jobs upon graduation match their initial hopes. "I think the theme of my job is to open up the best opportunities for the students as they define them, across the spectrum," he said.

Said Lisa M. Patterson, associate dean for career services, "When we have the opportunity to talk to students about what we do, we look for opportunities not to equate the biggest firm with the best job, necessarily. For somebody who wants to go back to their hometown and set up shop and practice family law, probably they will do very well, and that is a success."

Behind the statistics are individual stories of hopes and dreams. Patterson, for example, tells of coaching a student who, visiting her hometown in upstate New York, happened upon an ad for her dream job, practicing family law with a small local firm. She had no resume, no materials with her; Patterson suggested she just call the firm and try to make an appointment. "She called me back," Patterson said, "and she was so excited; they already had an interview set up for her."

"I have been seeing students who are kind of surprised by their own success," Newton related. "They are shocked at how well they are doing."

Supporting the placement effort is UB Law School's National Career Network, a supplemental mentoring program for students job-hunting in different areas of the country. The program connects students with alumni in particular cities who can help them network and give them a sense of the employment market in that area. "Part of the challenge of looking for a job in a market elsewhere is how to saturate yourself in that market," Patterson said. "These mentors give suggestions about things to read, people to meet and opportunities to join groups in a certain market." (The office is always looking to expand its network of mentors; if you are interested, e-mail jrnewton@buffalo.edu.)

Also, the Washington, D.C., Leadership Board, comprising more than two dozen UB Law alumni in the nation's capital, has helped connect recent graduates with both private and government placement opportunities. The hiring process in government service especially can be confusing, Patterson said.

"Students can be intimidated at applying to these institutions," Newton said. "Having someone on the inside increases the number who apply, and we now have more students interviewing at many federal agencies." The goal, he said, is not for anyone to pull strings, but to help the applicant get her resume "out of the pile" and into the hands of those who make hiring decisions.

Class of 2006 employment statistics
Are You Hiring?

Does your organization have hiring needs? Whatever your needs–law clerk, part-time, entry-level or lateral–we hope you will turn to UB Law School for legal recruiting.

We offer several services free of charge to employers, from interview arrangements to resume collections and job postings. If you would like to discuss any opportunity, please contact us:

Are you looking to make a move?

The Career Services Office is happy to announce that access to our online job postings is now free. Last year, we posted approximately 700 entry-level and/or lateral jobs via our on-line portal, Symplicity. Please call the CSO at (716) 645-2056 to request access to our system.

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