Brian Leiter's Law School Reports

The new timetable of the law school hiring market

Because I've been working with Chicago alums and fellows on the teaching market since 2008 (and doing the same at UT Austin before that), I've been witness to the changing timetable since the pandemic killed the "meat market" in Washington, DC (thank goodness!) and Zoom took over. 

Here's my perception, but I've opened comments for different perspectives and input (please use your full name and a valid email address):

1.  Schools start scheduling interview within a week of the FAR forms being released, especially for candidates with strong credentials that meet their hiring needs.  (Caveat: the selection bias in my sample is that I'm dealing with Chicago alums and Fellows.)  Bear in mind that 80-85% of schools every year are hiring to fill pressing curricular needs; only a minority are doing pure "best athlete" hiring.

2.  By this time (i.e., roughly a month after the FAR is released), there are relatively few screeners being scheduled, except by elite law schools, which take their time.

3.  Also by this time, the candidates who are successful at screener interviews are getting callbacks, though the rate varies:   25% yield (sometimes higher) for the strongest candidates, lower for others (many of whom will go on to get jobs!).

4.  Some schools begin making offers in October, which was almost unheard of under the old system. 

5.  Despite the preceding generalizations, candidates get screener invitations well into October (and not only from elite schools), and callbacks and offers of jobs still extend well into February and March.

Please submit your comment only once, it may take awhile to appear.  Remember:  full name and valid email address (the latter will not appear). Thank you.

Curricular areas of interest to hiring committees, 24-25

Northwestern's Professor Lawsky has collected some very interesting information.  It's too bad we don't have data for earlier years, so I can only report my anecdotal sense.  This is a good year for "business law," but every year is a good year for the business law subjects.   It seems like a comparatively good year for three areas in particular:  evidence, labor & employment law, and family law.  Health law has been on a steady rise, it has seemed to me, and that continues this year (although one would like to know how many of these jobs are more bioethics, and how many are more the regulatory side of health law [the latter being the crucial area in practice]).

First FAR distribution for 24-25

Professor Lawksy reports there are 352 candidates, roughly the same as last year.

Fellowships for Aspiring Law Teachers, 24-25 edition

The Blog Emperor has updated his invaluable list.

Professor Lawsky's new "Law School Hiring Information" website

Here.  Useful for both hiring schools and job seekers.

Hiring committees for 2024-25...

...can announce themselves and their hiring priorities here.

The zombie SEALS hiring conference is back, unbelievably

It emerged just before the pandemic, and it was a terrible idea then, and it's still a terrible idea.  Fortunately, it got almost no uptake, and I'm sure that will continue.  All job seekers should ignore it, and focus their energy on the real hiring process through the AALS.

Lawsky's entry-level hiring report for 2024

If you've recently accepted a tenure-track job in law teaching, submit your information to Professor Lawsky here.

Fellowships/VAPs for aspiring law professors

The Blog Emperor has updated his valuable listing.

What do you need to find out now that you've gotten a tenure-track offer?

MOVING TO FRONT (FROM DEC 11, 2023) SINCE MANY SCHOOLS HAVE NOW MADE OFFERS (ORIGINALLY POSTED NOVEMBER 24, 2009--I HAVE UPDATED CERTAIN NUMBERS)--SEE ALSO THE COMMENTS, WHICH HAVE HELPFUL ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS

With luck, some of you seeking law teaching jobs will have gotten offers of tenure-track positions.  What then?  Here's roughly what I tell the Chicago job candidates we work with that they need to find out, and in the interest of having it written down in one place and for the benefit of others too, here it is (not in order of importance):

1.  You will want to get (in writing eventually) the basic salary information, obviously, and the nature of summer research support and the criteria for its award (is it automatic for junior faculty?  contingent on prior publication [if so, how much?]?  awarded competitively (if so, based on what criteria/process)?).   You should also find out how salary raises are determined.  Are they, for example, lock-step for junior faculty?  Fixed by union contract?  (Rutgers faculty, for example, are unionized, a huge advantage and why they are among the best-paid faculty, not just in law, in the country.)  Is it a 'merit' system, and if so is it decanal discretion or is their a faculty committee that reviews your teaching and work each year?

2.  You should ask for a copy of the school's tenure standards and get clear about the expectations and the timeline.  Does any work you have already published count towards meeting the tenure standard?

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