Hot market for law grads did not erase racial gaps in hiring

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By Sara Merken

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REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

The U.S. law school class of 2024 enjoyed record-high employment, but the robust job market did not erase longstanding racial hiring gaps, according to new data released by the National Association for Law Placement. The 2024 findings come amid efforts this year by the Trump administration to curb diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at law firms and other employers, which NALP said could impact future hiring demographics.

The overall employment rate for students who earned a Juris Doctor degree in 2024 was 93.4% 10 months after graduation, but that figure was higher among white graduates, at 94.7%, NALP found. By contrast, Latino law graduates had an overall employment rate of 92.3%; Asian law graduates were 92%; and Black law graduates were 89.7%. The employment rate for Native Americans or Alaska Natives was the highest, at 94.8%.

Those racial and ethnic disparities widened when looking at graduates in jobs that require bar passage – considered the gold standard of law jobs. Read more about the findings from Karen Sloan.

When a federal jury in Manhattan on Friday found French bank BNP Paribas liable for aiding Sudan's genocidal regime by providing banking services that violated American sanctions, the historic decision set the stage for what's likely to be a fierce battle on appeal. Jenna Greene in her latest column looks at three issues that the bank may raise to counter what plaintiffs' lawyers say could be multi-billion dollar exposure. Read more in On the Case.

In New York: Proskauer hired capital markets partner Johnny Skumpija from Sidley … BakerHostetler added M&A partners Andrew Arsiotis, Joshua Saidlower and Henry Zangara and debt finance partner Steve Rockoff from Loeb & Loeb … King & Spalding brought on bank regulatory partner Kim Prior from Winston & Strawn … Alston & Bird tapped tax partner Chaim Stern from Schulte … Gibson Dunn added real estate partner Jennifer Yashar from Fried Frank … Paul Hastings hired private equity partner Anthony Cahill from TCV … Kirkland brought back litigation partner Kuan Huang from Latham … Debevoise added secondaries partners Krishna Skandakumar, who will co-chair the firm's private fund transactions group, and Natalia Kubik from Goodwin … Nelson Mullins picked up real estate and capital markets partner Ali Schenkman from Kelley Drye … Latham hired restructuring and special situations partners Ryan Preston Dahl, Benjamin Rhode and Natasha Hwangpo in New York and Chicago from Ropes & Gray. 

In D.C.: Sidley hired Maura Rezendes, the former U.S. head of sanctions at A&O Shearman … Munger added Bridget Fitzpatrick, former acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia … Venable brought on former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler … Steptoe hired real estate and land use partner Allison Jones from Dickinson Wright … Cleary Gottlieb picked up retail investment partner John Mahon from Proskauer … Foley & Lardner added litigation partners Jason Levine from Omni Bridgeway and Teresa Taylor from Taft.

In San Francisco: Wilson Sonsini tapped corporate partner Jonie Ing Kondracki from Cooley … Commercial litigation partner Chris Stecher moved to Frost Brown Todd in from Keesal, Young & Logan.

In Chicago: Dinsmore & Shohl added real estate partner Patrick Clancy from Rock Fusco & Connelly … Neal Gerber Eisenberg hired restructuring and insolvency partner Joshua Altman from Katten … Honigman picked up private equity partner George Stowe from Benesch.

Across other cities: Crowell & Moring brought on Boston-based partner Jeffrey Gleason from Robins Kaplan, where he co-founded and co-chaired the healthcare practice … Thompson Hine added immigration partner David Leopold in Cleveland from UB Greensfelder … DLA Piper hired data, privacy and cybersecurity partner Macarena Gatica in Chile from Alessandri Abogados  … Barnes & Thornburg picked up real estate partners JD Howard in Atlanta from Morris, Manning & Martin and Chad Sillman in Dallas from Total Energies … Much Shelist opened an office in Los Angeles with a team from Fenton Jurkowitz Law Group … Orrick hired energy and infrastructure partner Akira Takahashi in Tokyo from RWE Renewables … O'Melveny added Singapore-based corporate finance partner John Curran from Kirkland … Reed Smith opened an office in Riyadh with lawyers from Mahassni & Co, including partner Emad Alshaikhi … Foley Hoag brought on technology transactions partner Brooke Fritz in Denver from Cooley … Latham added royalty and IP transactions partner Todd Trattner in the Bay Area from Gibson Dunn … Saul Ewing hired Pittsburgh-based partners T. Patrick Martin, a former federal prosecutor, and Julia Varholla from Lovett Bookman Harmon Marks.

China overtook the U.S. as Germany's largest trading partner in the first eight months of 2025 … Gold's remarkable rise has moved into a new phase … U.S. shipbuilders and port operators are getting hit in the fallout from President Trump's campaign to wipe out the offshore wind industry. Plus, a new Reuters special report: How a 'dark fleet' of tankers helped a Mexican cartel build a fuel-smuggling empire.

sara.merken@thomsonreuters.com

@saramerken

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