University of Florida Levin College of Law

VII. About UF Law Grads

Q. What is Bar exam passage rate?
A. Year in and year out, UF has the most consistent, sustained record of successful bar exam results in Florida. Last year UF was first on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, with a pass percentage of 93.1, against an overall pass rate of 80.9 percent.The Florida Bar Board of Examiners, an administrative arm of the State Supreme Court, conducts exams every February and July.

Q. What are graduates' recent employment rates?
A. As reported in the American Bar Association U.S. law school data for the 2006 class, 91 percent of UF Law's graduates that school year were employed within six-to-nine months after graduation.

Q. What types of law do graduates practice?
A. The 2006 employment rate for graduates wishing to work who were working or pursuing a graduate degree was 98.4 percent. In 2006, 91.7 percent—(87.5 percent in 2005)—of 373 graduates were employed six to nine months post-graduation. (5.4 percent were pursuing graduate degrees, 1.6 percent were not seeking employment, and 1.3 percent were unemployed and/or studying for the Bar). As for trends in legal employment, there always will be demand for well-rounded students in such traditional areas of the law as tax, estates and trusts, business, environmental and land use, and insurance defense law. Levin College of Law grads also are prepared for careers in family, juvenile and criminal law. Two more recent developments are the need for intellectual property attorneys and, since 9-11, government positions related to homeland security.

Q. Where do UF Law students practice after graduation?
A. Historically about 80 percent of each graduating class was employed within Florida though this appears to be changing as more graduates seek work outside the state. The other 20 percent are scattered throughout the U.S. and internationally. Outside Florida, top 10 areas for Gator grad employment (in descending order) are Georgia, Washington, D.C., New York, California, Nevada, and North Carolina.

Q.What are some choices for graduates who decide not to practice law?
A. Local, state and federal government administrative and elective positions are the choices of some non-practicing lawyers. Equally appealing are options in higher education as educators, administrators and law librarians. Some UF Law grads are employed in such fields as legal publishing, accounting, investment banking ,and insurance. Numerous businesses directly involved with the legal profession offer many opportunities, as do statewide and national non- and for-profit organizations, and, associations in need of executives.