美國屆法學院畢業生就業狀況不樂觀

Members of the law-school class of 2011 had little better than a fifty-fifty 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.

根據《華爾街日報》對最新出爐的數據所做的分析，2011屆法學院畢業生在獲得學位後的九個月內獲得一個律師職位的機率只有大約50%。這些新的數據爲我們提供了迄今爲止最詳盡的分析，讓我們瞭解到法學院畢業生在就業方面所面臨的嚴峻形勢。

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.

在一些幻滅的畢業生和一些教授的施壓下，美國律師協會(American Bar Association)首次公佈了上一年度找到全職永久律師職位的畢業生數量。在此之前，美國律師協會僅僅要求法學院公佈能反映其畢業生求職情況的總體數據，例如有多少人找到了任何種類的全職或兼職工作，無論此類工作是否需要法律學位。

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.

數字表明，法學院畢業生的就業狀況比此前想象的更糟糕。全美範圍內，畢業後九個月內只有55%的2011屆畢業生找到需要法律學位的全職長期工作。根據美國律師協會的定義，“長期”工作是指合同規定的工作年限在一年及以上的職位。

Of course, it's not uncommon for people to attend law school to advance their career without practicing law. Several law-school deans cautioned against placing too much emphasis on jobs requiring a law degree.

當然，只是爲了助推自己的事業而上法學院並且在畢業後不從事法律工作的人並不少見。多位法學院院長對那種過分看重需要法律學位的工作的想法提出了告誡。

Nationally, 8% of 2011 graduates were said to be in full-time, long-term jobs for which a law degree was preferred but not required, according to the Journal's data analysis. Another 4% were employed in full-time, long-term positions for which professional training was required but for which a law degree offered no advantage.

《華爾街日報》的數據分析顯示，在全美範圍內，據稱僅有8%的2011屆畢業生找到了會優先考慮擁有法律學位的畢業生的長期全職工作（但擁有法律學位卻並非獲得此類工作的必要條件）。另有4%的畢業生找到了需要專業培訓的長期全職工作，但對於這些職位而言，擁有法律學位並不能獲得加分。

The numbers capture only 2011 graduates and measure their employment status within nine months of graduation. That time frame tends to favor top schools whose students often - in good times and bad - land jobs before graduation, according to several law-school deans.

這些數據反映的僅僅是2011屆畢業生在畢業後九個月內的就業情況。據多位法學院院長透露，這一時間跨度往往有利於頂尖法學院的畢業生。無論就業行情是好是壞，這些學校的畢業生通常能在畢業前落實工作。

It's tough to compare the law-school situation to the job market for other advanced degrees. About 78% of 2011 graduates of M.B.A. programs landed jobs within three months of getting their degrees, according to U.S. News & World Report, although the figures don't show whether the jobs required the degree. That percentage was based on 135 of 441 schools responding to the magazine's survey; business schools aren't required to report placement statistics.

將法學院畢業生面臨的就業形勢同其它高等學位持有者面對的就業市場進行比較並不容易。《美國新聞與世界報道》(U.S. News & World Report)的數據顯示，2011屆工商管理碩士(MBA)畢業生在獲得學位後的三個月內落實工作的比例大約爲78%，不過這一數據沒有表明這些工作是否需要MBA學位。這一比例是基於接受《美國新聞與世界報道》調查的441家商學院中135家的數據得出的。公佈就業統計數據並非商學院的必要工作。

The new details are likely to feed a debate about the value of a law degree. More than 40,000 students enter the law-job market annually. In the past year, law-school graduates have filed more than a dozen lawsuits around the country alleging that some schools misled students with job-placement statistics.

上述新的數據可能引發一場有關法律學位價值的辯論。每年有超過40,000名畢業生進入法律就業市場。在過去一年中，法學院畢業生在全美範圍內提起十多起訴訟，聲稱某些法學院用就業統計數據對學生構成了誤導。

The 2011 data reinforce the notion in the industry that students from the top 14 U.S. law schools have little trouble finding work. The top-ranked schools sent graduates into long-term legal jobs in high numbers, but 87 lower-tier schools had placement rates of 50% or less.

2011年的就業數據再次強調了業內流行的說法，即全美排名前十四的頂尖法學院的畢業生找工作時幾乎不會遇到麻煩。頂尖法學院能幫助大部分畢業生獲得一個長期的法務工作，但87所排名較低的法學院的就業率只有50%，或者更低。

The data cover 198 of 201 ABA-accredited schools. A spokesman said data on two schools in Puerto Rico were pending. A third school, the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Va., doesn't confer a J.D.

這些數據涵蓋了美國律師協會認可的201所法學院中的198所。一位發言人說，波多黎各的兩所法學院的就業數據還未公佈。而弗吉尼亞州夏洛茨維爾(Charlottesville)的Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School並不頒發法學博士(J.D.)學位。