PSJD: Your Pathway to Public Service Legal Careers

Public interest and government law offices have been grappling with a lot of change recently. If traditional recruiting and retention strategies are not yielding the success your organization is used to seeing. If you are curious about the forces driving these changes and how other public service law offices are responding. There is a place to go with these questions: the National Association for Law Placement.

While the association has historically involved predominantly large law firms and law schools (of every size), we host an active – and growing – public interest and government employer community. We would love to welcome you!

What is NALP?

• A professional organization committed to the public service ethos of our profession, which sets aside staff resources and member spaces specifically for public service and government work.

• A research institution that produces authoritative, comprehensive studies of the state of legal hiring and recruitment.

• A community of over 3,000 legal career professionals, with dedicated resources for public and private sector employers, who advise law students, lawyers, law offices, and law schools in North America and beyond, bridging the gap between law school career counselors and employers’ recruiting professionals.

• A place where…

  • you can connect with law schools across the country to grow your recruiting network.

  • you can connect with other government and public interest recruiters to share information and best practices.

  • you can learn how changes in for-profit legal markets are affecting your own talent pipeline and retention, and consider how your office may want to respond.

  • you can volunteer your talent, time, and perspective to issues of importance in the legal hiring market and grow professionally, if you want.

Why Join?

• Reach a Broad Community of Career Counselors and Employer Recruiters.

• Connect with Public Interest and Government Employers from other areas of the legal world.

• Connect with a nationwide network of law schools of all sizes.

• Learn from firm recruiters, professional development professionals, and DEI professionals to see whether they have any tips or techniques worth adapting.

• Access Cutting-Edge Research That Captures The Climate of the Industry

• Gather Best Practices in Law Student and Attorney Recruitment, PD, and Retention.

• Engage in professional development activities.

• Attend webinars or panel sessions at conferences on topics such as time management, the use of AI in recruiting and in our daily work lives, how to host effective meetings, etc.

• Volunteer your time, talents, and perspectives to work groups and sections of interest.

What Material Support does NALP Provide?

As a NALP member, you will have access to:

• The industry's most trusted, comprehensive research on law school graduate employment outcomes and salaries, fall recruiting activity, diversity in the legal profession, member salaries, associate salaries, and public interest salaries. NALP delivers a level of data and information that can only come from experts in the field.

  • Premier research reports include information on: (1) Law school graduate employment outcomes and salaries; (2) Diversity in the legal profession stats; (3) Member, associate, and public interest salaries.

• Regular information that keeps you up to date, including: annual reports, tool kits, weekly news digests, professional development newsletters, monthly bulletins, and best practices guides and guidelines.

  • Publications include: Industry News Digest (weekly), Public Service Industry News Digest (weekly), NALPnow! email newsletter (twice monthly), NALP Bulletin+ Magazine (monthly), +PDQ Newsletter (monthly)

• Conferences, Webinars, Seminars, and Training Programs:

  • Programming includes: Annual Education Conference, Newer professionals forum, Professional Development Institute, Legal Recruiting Summit, Public Service Conference, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit, Sections and Interest Groups meetings, Regional Meetings, Mental Health First Aid Programming, and regular member webinars on timely issues and member professional development.