Class of 2022 Tops in U.S. for Jobs and 5th in Federal Clerkships

The University of Virginia School of Law Class of 2022 had a “banner year on the jobs front,” according to Reuters, which analyzed job placement and clerkship data from the American Bar Association.

UVA Law had the highest job placement rate in the country last year for permanent, full-time jobs that require passing the bar, with more than 95% of graduates from the Class of 2022 securing such positions within 10 months of graduation. That UVA class also had the fifth-highest rate of graduates serving in federal clerkships, at 13%.

Virginia unseated Columbia University Law School to claim the top job placement spot for the year, while Duke University moved into second place. Stanford University had the highest percentage of 2022 graduates in federal clerkships.

“Our students did an amazing job navigating the challenging market changes during the pandemic,” said Kevin Donovan, UVA Law’s senior assistant dean for career development.

Overall, just 3% of the 36,078 students who graduated from U.S. law schools in 2022 obtained federal clerkships, a distinction that opens doors to prestigious law firms, government positions and academia.

Looking at data from the 2007 to 2022 U.S. Supreme Court terms, UVA Law is fifth after Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Chicago in placing clerks on the high court. Henry Dickman ’20 and Michael Corcoran ’17 are currently clerking for Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Clarence Thomas. Avery Rasmussen ’21 will clerk for Justice Brett Kavanaugh starting this fall. For the 2024 term, Erin Brown ’21 will clerk for Kavanaugh and Rachel Daley ’21 will clerk for Justice Neil Gorsuch.