“Over the years, I have grown increasingly concerned about the impact of our legal education on the idealism of our students,” he remarked. “They come to the institution with a considerable amount of idealism. Do they leave with less?”
The answer, unequivocally, is yes. While the majority of present-day students, particularly since the 2016 presidential election, enter law school with the noble aspiration to represent marginalized clients, only a small fraction actually follow through after graduation. A mere 10.1 percent of HLS graduates in the past three years have pursued careers in public interest. According to the After the JD project, a comprehensive national study on legal careers, nearly 70 percent of lawyers were employed by law firms three years post-graduation, whereas approximately 21 percent served in the public sector or pursued public interest endeavors.
Various articles in The Crimson have highlighted this phenomenon known as “public interest drift,” but previous analyses have failed to fully grasp the broader influences that channel law students—and undergraduates—toward the corporate law sector. This article seeks to provide a more comprehensive perspective by examining the dynamics that perpetuate this pipeline to corporate law.
To clarify, this is not a critique of individual lawyers’ decisions to work in law firms, nor is it an assertion that HLS actively steers students toward the corporate realm. Instead, the argument here is that we should refrain from labeling students’ career choices as “selling out” and recognize them as casualties of corporate dominance over American legal education.
A Cautious Beginning
The phenomenon of public interest drift can originate as early as college. Law school presents itself as a stable, risk-averse path that appeals to undergraduates who are uncertain about their future careers.
“It is the default choice for those seeking a secure route to a middle-class life with a stable income and social status,” observed UCLA law professor Richard L. Abel ’62.
Law schools capitalize on students’ aversion to risk. For instance, undergraduates begin applying to law schools as early as their junior year through programs like HLS’s Junior Deferral Program.
Recent JDP admit Jaya J. Nayar ’24 described her fellow applicants as uncertain about committing to law school, stating that they “want to take two years to deliberately ponder whether law school is truly the right path for them.”
The Default Option
Ambivalent and risk-averse undergraduates often become similarly ambivalent and risk-averse law students, easily swayed by the allure of law firm careers. Nayar, despite her strong aversion to corporate law, admitted to a 30 percent chance of ending up in a large law firm.
Corporate positions are typically the first to appear in the recruiting cycle, and they can be difficult to resist. The process is meticulously designed to entice students. Firms aggressively promote opportunities through programs like HLS’s Early Interview Program, allowing students to apply, interview, and receive offers from major law firms without leaving campus.