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We write to provide suggestions for improving the quality of consumer information regarding the Class of 2020’s placement statistics in light of the unique and profound disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 has radically impacted recent law school graduates’ ability to uniformly access state licensing exams and the job market. …
In light of the delay in the administration of the bar exam, we request the ABA consider March 15 as an interim “as of” reporting date, and set a later date, such as “as of” June 15, for a final reporting date so as to capture those graduates employed during the period from March 15 to the final reporting date. This staggered approach leaves intact the March 15 data submission to the ABA, while also ensuring the reporting and publication of more complete and reliable statistics to the consumer. Until the final reports are published, consumers will be able to look at the interim data in relation to the three years of job placement data each law school currently makes available on their website. This data, which is “as of” March 15 has long served as a reliable indicator of how law schools fare generally, and comparatively to other schools, under more normal conditions.
— an excerpt from a letter sent by the deans of New York, New Jersey, and California law schools to the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, asking that its final law graduate employment data deadline be pushed back from March to June due to the upheaval caused by the pandemic.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.