This statistic illustrates the unemployment rate of legal professionals in the United states in the second quarter of 2017. In that period, some *** percent of the lawyers were not employed in the U.S.

The share of law students who graduated in 2023 and were looking for work was * percent. This was a slight decrease when compared the previous year, with a slightly lower amount of graduates in 2023.

Estate lawyers and attorneys are legal practitioners that specialize in providing estate, probate, inheritance and trust law services. Over the five years to 2023, a growing senior population and overall economic growth proved beneficial to estate lawyers. The outbreak of COVID-19 also helped raise demand for industry services. As a result, revenue is estimated to have increased at a CAGR of 1.4% to $17.8 billion. In 2023, revenue is estimated to increase 1.7%. Profit, which is high in this industry, has remained stable over the past few years.As baby boomers age and eventually pass away, they will leave their estates to their beneficiaries. This shift is expected to constitute the largest generational transfer of wealth in history. The number of adults aged 65 and older has grown over the past five years, and as a result, demand for estate lawyers, attorneys and those specializing in elder law has grown. The growing senior population has also driven more estate attorneys to diversify their practices to provide elder law services. Elder law services include a wide range of legal matters that affect older people or those with disabilities, such as legal issues related to healthcare, long-term care planning, retirement, estate planning, wills, trusts, taxes and protection against elder abuse. Amid the pandemic, increased mortality has driven individuals to seek out lawyers for estate planning, estate administration, probate and power of attorney services.Revenue is anticipated to continue its growth trajectory at a CAGR of 1.2% to $18.9 billion over the five years to 2026. The industry is expected to continue to experience strong demand for services from an aging baby boomer population. Growth in per capita disposable income as the economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic is also anticipated to support demand for legal services, because individuals are more likely to engage in estate planning during periods of economic growth and low unemployment. More millennials will enter peak earning years during the outlook, making them more likely to engage estate planning services.

The number of law graduates in the United States steadily ******** between 2013 and 2019. Between 2020 and 2022 there was a slight ******** in the number of graduates, however this number fell again in 2023. In 2024, this figure increased again and reached almost ******. The share of unemployed law graduates in the United States followed approximately the same trend: the percentage of law students who did not find a job after graduating in 2019 was roughly half the share recorded in 2013, before increasing again in 2020, and falling in the following years. Career opportunities Law school graduates can undertake many career paths. Legal occupations can be primarily distinguished between lawyers, judges, and judicial workers on one hand, and legal support workers, such as paralegals and legal assistants, on the other. In 2024, the outright majority of professionals employed in legal occupations in the United States were lawyers. According to the same study, lawyers were also the highest-paid workers in the sector, followed by judges and magistrates. Leading law firms The United States are home to some of the most renowned law firms in the world. In 2024, Wachtell was the leading law firms in the country in terms of revenue per lawyer, as Kirkland & Ellis generated the highest gross revenue. Baker Mckenzie was the company in the United States with the highest number of lawyers employed. In fact, the multinational firm headquartered in Chicago employed roughly 500 more lawyers than DLA Piper, who were second in the rankings.