In late October, The Washington Post Magazine did a fine job discussing the law school graduate (under)employment controversy. So fine, in fact, that the dean of American University’s law school, Claudio Grossman, felt compelled to fire off a letter to the editor criticizing the Post for noting that only 35 percent of his school’s 2011 graduates were employed in full-time, long-term positions as of February 2012. Dean Grossman wrote:
“The Post focused on a single employment statistic that is grossly misleading and relied on a number taken from only one of 16 primary employment categories collected by the American Bar Association. In the case of American University Washington College of Law, a far more appropriate statistic than the one the Post cited is 79.6 percent, which reflects the true employment data and career choices of our 2011 graduates. These graduates are employed in positions requiring bar passage, in positions in which a law degree provides a distinct employment advantage or in other professional positions where developed legal skills are highly valued, or they are pursuing advanced degrees.”
