*SMLR-Net, the source of selected news on labor and employment relations and human resource management.*** Wall St. Journal, June 25, 2012 Law Grads Face Brutal Job Market By Joe Palazzolo http://on.wsj.com/MLDiVT

Members of the law-school class of 2011 had little better than a 50-50 shot of landing a job as a lawyer within nine months of receiving a degree, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of new data that provides the most detailed picture yet of the grim market for law jobs.

Under pressure from disillusioned graduates and some professors, the American Bar Association for the first time released a tally of the previous year's graduates who have secured full-time, permanent jobs as lawyers. Until recently, the ABA required law schools to report only general data about how their graduates fared, such as how many were employed full-time or part-time in any kind of job, whether or not it required a law degree.

The numbers suggest the job market for law grads is worse than previously thought. Nationwide, only 55% of the class of 2011 had full-time, long-term jobs that required a law degree nine months after graduation. The ABA defines "long-term" jobs as those that don't have a term of less than one year. For the rest of this article, plus photos and interactive graphics and over 175 comments, see article at: http://on.wsj.com/MLDiVT