Visualizing law school federal judicial clerkship placement, 2014-2016

The release of the latest ABA employment data offers an opportunity to update the three-year federal judicial clerkship placement rates. Here is the clerkship placement rate for the Classes of 2014, 2015, and 2016. Methodology and observations below the interactive visualization. The "placement" is the three-year total placement; the "percentage" is the three-year placement divided by the three-year graduating class total.

The placement is based on graduates reported as having a full-time, long-term federal clerkship. (A one-year term clerkship counts for this category.) I thought a three-year average for clerkships (over 3600 clerks from the graduating classes of 2014, 2015, and 2016) would be a useful metric to smooth out any one-year outliers. It does not include clerkships obtained by students after graduation; it only includes clerkships obtained by each year's graduating class.

I included some schools that had only one or two year's worth of data, like the separate Penn State schools. Additionally, I merged the entries for William Mitchell and Hamline into Mitchell|Hamline. The three schools in Puerto Rico are excluded.

I should add that we've actually seen a slight decline in graduates placed into federal clerkships, just under 1200 for the second year in a row. Given last year's figures, some might think this is a trend toward judges hiring more clerks with work experience. I'm not sure that's the case. Instead, I would venture to guess that because the Senate last confirmed a federal judge in November 2015, we may be experiencing an unusual number of vacancies--and, therefore, lack of slots for clerkship hires. In the event the President nominates, and Congress confirms, these judges, we could see a few hundred more clerkship openings in the near future. And if Congress chooses to create more judgeships consistent with the recommendations of the Federal Judicial Center, we'd see even more.

I'll highlight two smaller charts first. The first is New York law school placement.

School	Pct	Total Clerks
Cornell University	6.5%	36
New York University	5.8%	84
Columbia University	5.0%	64
Brooklyn Law School	2.4%	26
Fordham University	2.0%	25
Syracuse University	1.8%	10
University of Buffalo-SUNY	1.2%	7
St. John's University	1.2%	9
Cardozo School of Law	1.2%	13
Albany Law School	1.1%	6
City University of New York	1.1%	4
Pace University	0.7%	4
New York Law School	0.7%	8
Hofstra University	0.7%	6
Touro College	0.0%	0

The second is California law school placement.

School	Pct	Total Clerks
Stanford University	27.1%	153
University of California-Irvine	12.5%	40
University of California-Berkeley	12.3%	110
University of California-Los Angeles	4.0%	39
Pepperdine University	3.5%	20
University of Southern California	2.9%	18
University of California-Davis	2.8%	14
Loyola Law School-Los Angeles	2.3%	26
University of San Diego	2.0%	15
University of California-Hastings	1.7%	17
Thomas Jefferson School of Law	0.7%	5
California Western School of Law	0.6%	4
McGeorge School of Law	0.4%	2
Chapman University	0.2%	1
University of San Francisco	0.2%	1
Southwestern Law School	0.1%	1
University of La Verne	0.0%	0
Western State College of Law	0.0%	0
Golden Gate University	0.0%	0
Whittier Law School	0.0%	0
Santa Clara University	0.0%	0

An overall raw chart is below.

St	School	Pct	Total Clerks
CT	Yale University	31.0%	200
CA	Stanford University	27.1%	153
MA	Harvard University	17.6%	312
IL	University of Chicago	15.8%	98
VA	University of Virginia	15.2%	159
NC	Duke University	12.7%	82
CA	University of California-Irvine	12.5%	40
CA	University of California-Berkeley	12.3%	110
MI	University of Michigan	11.1%	119
TN	Vanderbilt University	10.3%	58
PA	University of Pennsylvania	9.8%	77
TX	University of Texas at Austin	9.4%	100
IL	Northwestern University	8.0%	66
AL	University of Alabama	7.6%	35
MT	University of Montana	7.5%	18
IN	University of Notre Dame	7.0%	37
LA	Tulane University	6.6%	45
KY	University of Kentucky	6.5%	26
NY	Cornell University	6.5%	36
VA	Washington and Lee University	6.1%	24
IA	University of Iowa	5.9%	25
VA	William and Mary Law School	5.8%	36
NY	New York University	5.8%	84
GA	University of Georgia	5.8%	36
NC	University of North Carolina	5.7%	40
VA	University of Richmond	5.5%	25
NY	Columbia University	5.0%	64
TX	Baylor University	5.0%	20
MN	University of Minnesota	4.9%	37
PA	Temple University	4.8%	34
MO	Washington University	4.5%	32
MS	University of Mississippi	4.3%	19
DC	Georgetown University	4.1%	81
AR	University of Arkansas, Fayetteville	4.1%	15
UT	Brigham Young University	4.1%	17
WA	University of Washington	4.0%	22
CA	University of California-Los Angeles	4.0%	39
WV	West Virginia University	3.8%	14
UT	University of Utah	3.8%	14
GA	Mercer University	3.8%	16
DC	George Washington University	3.7%	59
DC	American University	3.7%	49
GA	Emory University	3.6%	31
KS	University of Kansas	3.6%	13
IL	University of Illinois	3.6%	19
CA	Pepperdine University	3.5%	20
MO	University of Missouri	3.4%	13
MA	Boston College	3.3%	25
WY	University of Wyoming	3.3%	7
VA	Regent University	3.0%	10
SD	University of South Dakota	3.0%	6
TX	Texas Tech University	3.0%	18
TN	University of Memphis	2.9%	10
NC	Wake Forest University	2.9%	15
CA	University of Southern California	2.9%	18
CA	University of California-Davis	2.8%	14
PA	Pennsylvania State University	2.8%	5
GA	Atlanta John Marshall Savannah	2.8%	1
MS	Mississippi College	2.7%	12
MD	University of Maryland	2.7%	21
GA	Georgia State University	2.7%	16
IN	Indiana University - Bloomington	2.6%	16
TX	Southern Methodist University	2.6%	19
NV	University of Nevada - Las Vegas	2.6%	10
VA	George Mason University	2.6%	12
LA	Louisiana State University	2.6%	15
SC	University of South Carolina	2.5%	15
KY	University of Louisville	2.5%	9
OH	Ohio State University	2.5%	14
AZ	University of Arizona	2.4%	10
FL	Florida State University	2.4%	17
NY	Brooklyn Law School	2.4%	26
LA	Loyola University-New Orleans	2.4%	15
NE	Creighton University	2.4%	9
ME	University of Maine	2.4%	6
CA	Loyola Law School-Los Angeles	2.3%	26
TN	University of Tennessee	2.3%	10
CT	University of Connecticut	2.2%	11
OH	University of Toledo	2.2%	7
DC	Howard University	2.2%	8
CO	University of Colorado	2.2%	11
FL	University of Florida	2.1%	20
CA	University of San Diego	2.0%	15
PA	Widener-Commonwealth	2.0%	5
NY	Fordham University	2.0%	25
WI	University of Wisconsin	1.9%	12
AZ	Arizona State University	1.8%	11
NY	Syracuse University	1.8%	10
NJ	Rutgers Law School	1.8%	22
OH	Case Western Reserve University	1.7%	7
CA	University of California-Hastings	1.7%	17
NE	University of Nebraska	1.7%	6
OR	Lewis and Clark College	1.6%	10
WI	Marquette University	1.6%	10
NM	University of New Mexico	1.5%	5
NC	Elon University	1.5%	4
OH	University of Cincinnati	1.5%	5
TX	University of Houston	1.4%	10
MO	University of Missouri-Kansas City	1.3%	6
AR	University of Arkansas, Little Rock	1.3%	5
OH	Ohio Northern University	1.3%	3
ND	University of North Dakota	1.3%	3
NJ	Seton Hall University	1.3%	8
AL	Samford University	1.2%	5
IL	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	1.2%	4
NC	Campbell University	1.2%	5
NY	University of Buffalo-SUNY	1.2%	7
NY	St. John's University	1.2%	9
KY	Northern Kentucky University	1.2%	5
NY	Cardozo School of Law	1.2%	13
MA	Boston University	1.2%	8
PA	University of Pittsburgh	1.2%	7
PA	Villanova University	1.2%	7
TX	Texas Southern University	1.1%	5
OK	University of Oklahoma	1.1%	5
NY	Albany Law School	1.1%	6
PA	Penn State - Dickinson Law	1.1%	1
NY	City University of New York	1.1%	4
OK	University of Tulsa	1.1%	3
MA	Northeastern University	1.1%	6
SC	Charleston School of Law	1.1%	5
PA	Penn State Law	1.0%	2
FL	Stetson University	1.0%	9
VA	Liberty University	1.0%	2
MI	Michigan State University	1.0%	9
WA	Gonzaga University	1.0%	4
PA	Drexel University	1.0%	4
MI	Wayne State University	0.9%	4
OR	University of Oregon	0.9%	4
ID	University of Idaho	0.9%	3
FL	University of Miami	0.9%	10
NY	Pace University	0.7%	4
NY	New York Law School	0.7%	8
NH	University of New Hampshire	0.7%	2
NY	Hofstra University	0.7%	6
VT	Vermont Law School	0.7%	3
PA	Duquesne University	0.7%	3
IL	Loyola University-Chicago	0.7%	5
FL	Florida A&M University	0.7%	3
CA	Thomas Jefferson School of Law	0.7%	5
MO	Saint Louis University	0.7%	4
IN	Valparaiso University	0.6%	3
CA	California Western School of Law	0.6%	4
IL	John Marshall Law School	0.6%	7
OH	University of Dayton	0.6%	2
TN	Belmont University	0.6%	1
WA	Seattle University	0.6%	5
CO	University of Denver	0.6%	5
TX	St. Mary's University	0.6%	4
IA	Drake University	0.6%	2
OH	Cleveland State University	0.5%	2
DE	Widener University-Delaware	0.5%	3
MN	University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)	0.5%	2
OH	University of Akron	0.5%	2
IL	Chicago-Kent College of Law-IIT	0.5%	4
TX	South Texas College of Law	0.5%	5
AZ	Arizona Summit Law School	0.5%	4
DC	Catholic University of America	0.4%	2
AL	Faulkner University	0.4%	1
IL	Depaul University	0.4%	3
FL	Ave Maria School of Law	0.4%	1
LA	Southern University	0.4%	2
CA	McGeorge School of Law	0.4%	2
MD	University of Baltimore	0.3%	3
IL	Northern Illinois University	0.3%	1
FL	St. Thomas University (Florida)	0.3%	2
TX	Texas A&M University	0.3%	2
KS	Washburn University	0.3%	1
IN	Indiana University - Indianapolis	0.3%	2
CA	Chapman University	0.2%	1
OK	Oklahoma City University	0.2%	1
MA	Suffolk University	0.2%	3
MI	University of Detroit Mercy	0.2%	1
NC	North Carolina Central University	0.2%	1
CA	University of San Francisco	0.2%	1
MN	Mitchell|Hamline	0.2%	2
FL	Barry University	0.1%	1
FL	Nova Southeastern University	0.1%	1
MA	New England Law | Boston	0.1%	1
CA	Southwestern Law School	0.1%	1
NC	Charlotte School of Law	0.1%	1
TN	Lincoln Memorial	0.0%	0
ID	Concordia Law School	0.0%	0
VA	Appalachian School of Law	0.0%	0
CA	University of La Verne	0.0%	0
MA	University of Massachusetts Dartmouth	0.0%	0
CT	Quinnipiac University	0.0%	0
HI	University of Hawaii	0.0%	0
RI	Roger Williams University	0.0%	0
CA	Western State College of Law	0.0%	0
DC	District of Columbia	0.0%	0
MA	Western New England University	0.0%	0
CA	Golden Gate University	0.0%	0
OR	Willamette University	0.0%	0
OH	Capital University	0.0%	0
CA	Whittier Law School	0.0%	0
NY	Touro College	0.0%	0
GA	Atlanta's John Marshall Law School	0.0%	0
FL	Florida International University	0.0%	0
CA	Santa Clara University	0.0%	0
FL	Florida Coastal School of Law	0.0%	0
MI	Thomas M. Colley Law School	0.0%	0