Over the last 35 years, data collected from our alumni through the University of Michigan Law School Alumni Survey Project have informed the research of scholars interested in a wide array of legal, policy, and social questions. To offer just a taste, this body of work has touched on satisfaction in the legal profession, the role of gender in the workplace, affirmative action in law school admissions and law firms, and much, much more. You can find a list of all of the articles of which we are aware below. (If you know of additional research using UMLS Alumni Survey Data, please let us know by contacting us at mlaw.repository@umich.edu.)
Works from 2024
What Does It Mean to Be an Ethical Lawyer? The Importance of Context, Lynn Mather and Leslie C. Levin
Works from 2022
"An Underestimated Showcase of Student Scholarship: Law Institutional Repositories." Duq. L. Rev. 46 (2021): 34, Daijiang Nie
Works from 2021
Men and Women of the Bar: A Second Look at the Impact of Gender on Legal Careers, Kenneth Glenn Dau-Schmidt and Kaushik Mukhopadhaya
Works from 2019
Finding a Mentor in the Practice of Law: An Empirical Inquiry, David L. Chambers
Law School Grades and Their Effects: The University of Michigan Law School Alumni Survey, David L. Chambers
Political Views of Graduates of University of Michigan Law School, Classes of 1952-2001, David L. Chambers
Retirement, Partial Retirement, and Working into Old Age: Michigan Law School Graduates 45 Years Out of Law School, David L. Chambers
Satisfaction with Law School among Graduates of the University of Michigan Law School, Classes of 1952-2001, David L. Chambers
The Changing Student Body at the University of Michigan Law School, David L. Chambers
The Effects of Educational Debts on Career Choices of Graduates of the University of Michigan Law School, David L. Chambers
The Increasing Reliance on Educational Loans By University of Michigan Law School Graduates, David L. Chambers
The University of Michigan Law School Alumni Survey Project: Description, Scope and Limits, David L. Chambers
Women and Men Graduates of the University of Michigan Law School: Career Patterns and Adjustments for Children, David L. Chambers
"The Returns to Elite Degrees: The Case of American Lawyers." 72 ILR Rev.: J. Work & Pol'y (2019): 446, Paul Oyer and Scott Schaefer
Works from 2016
Race and Gender in the Advancement To Partnership: Perception of Black Female Lawyers, City University of New York, ProQuest Dissertation Publishing (2016)., Tsedale M. Melaku
"The Returns to Elite Degrees: The Case of American Lawyers." Working Paper, 2016, Paul Oyer and Scott Schaefer
Works from 2014
Lawyers’ Self-Selection To Work in the Public or Private Sector: Is Government Performance Affected? University of Chicago Department of Economics Research Paper (September 2014)., David Burk, Quentin Karpilow, and Clifford Winston
Essays on Labor Economics and Advertising Auctions (Ph.D Dissertation, University of Michigan), Joseph M. Golden
"A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter." Am. Econ. Rev. 104 (2014): 1-30., Claudia Goldin
Works from 2013
Overstating the Satisfaction of Lawyers, David L. Chambers
Satisfaction in the Practice of Law: Findings from a Long-Term Study of Attorneys' Careers, U. of Mich. Public Law Research Paper No. 330. (2013), David L. Chambers
Essays on Matching in Labor Economics (May 2013) (Ph.D dissertation, Harvard University)., Stephanie Hurder
Works from 2012
"Why Context Matters," in Lawyers in Practice: Ethical Decision Making in Context (Lynn Mather & Leslie C. Levin eds. 2012), Lynn Mather and Leslie C. Levin
"Welcome to the Club: The Returns to an Elite Degree for American Lawyers." Working Paper, 2012, Paul Oyer and Scott Schaefer
"The Secret of My Success: How Status, Eliteness, and School Performance Shape Legal Careers." J. Empirical L. Stud. 9, no. 4 (2012): 893-930., Richard H. Sander and Jane Bambauer
Works from 2011
"Listening to the Debate on Reforming Law School Admissions Preferences." Den. U. L. Rev. 88, no. 4 (2011): 889-953., Richard H. Sander
Works from 2010
"The Returns to Attending a Prestigious Law School." Working Paper, 2010., Paul Oyer and Scott Schaefer
"Marooned: An Empirical Investigation of Law School Graduates Who Fail the Bar Exam." J. Legal Educ. 60, no. 1 (2010): 3-40., Jane Yakowitz
Works from 2009
Starting Out: Changing Patterns of First Jobs for Michigan Law School Graduates, Terry K. Adams and David L. Chambers
Who We Were and Who We Are: How Michigan Law Students Have Changed Since the 1950s: Findings from 40 Years of Alumni Surveys, David L. Chambers and Terry K. Adams
"Men and Women of the Bar: The Impact of Gender on Legal Careers." Mich. J. Gender & L. 16, no. 1 (2009): 49-145., Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt, Marc S. Galanter, Kaushik Mukhopadhaya, and Kathleen E. Hull
"The Returns to Attending a Prestigious Law School." Working Paper, 2009., Paul Oyer and Scott Schaefer
Works from 2008
"Why Do Women Lawyers Earn Less Than Men? Parenthood and Gender in a Survey of Law School Graduates." GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. (2008)., Neil H. Buchanan
"Gender and the Legal Profession: The Michigan Alumni Data Set 1967-2000." LSAC Research Report Series (2008)., Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt, Marc S. Galanter, Kaushik Mukhopadhaya, and Kathleen E. Hull
"Are Women Closing the Partnership Gap? Cohort Differences in the Sex Gap in Partnership Chances." Soc. Sci. Res. 37, no. 1 (2008): 156-179., Mary C. Noonan, Mary E. Corcoran, and Paul N. Courant
Works from 2006
"A Response to Professor Sander: Is It Really All About the Grades?" N.C. L. Rev. 84, no. 5 (2006): 1823-39., James E. Coleman and Mitu Gulati
"The Pride of Indiana: An Empirical Study of the Law School Experience and Careers of Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington Alumni." Ind. L.J. 81, no. 4 (2006): 1427-78., Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt, Jeffrey E. Stake, Kaushik Mukhopadhaya, and Timothy A. Haley
"The Racial Paradox of the Corporate Law Firm." N.C. L. Rev. 84, no. 5 (2006): 1755-822., Richard H. Sander
Minority Admissions to Law School: More Trouble Ahead and Two Solutions, 80 ST. JOHN'S L. REV. 301 (2006), Jeffrey Evans Stake
Works from 2005
"Pay Differences Among the Highly Trained: Cohort Differences in the Sex Gap in Lawyers Earnings." Soc. Forces 84, no. 2 (2005): 853-72., Mary C. Noonan, Mary E. Corcoran, and Paul N. Courant
Works from 2004
"The Mommy Track and Partnership: Temporary Delay or Dead End?" Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. 596, no. 1 (2004): 130-50., Mary C. Noonan and Mary E. Corcoran
"The Value of Law Review Membership." U. Chi. L. Rev. 71, no. 4 (2004): 1721-48., Dexter Samida
Educational Financing and Lifetime Earnings, 71 REV. ECON. STUD. 1189 (2004), Robert M. Sauer
Works from 2001
Myths and Facts about Affirmative Action, Richard O. Lempert, David L. Chambers, and Terry K. Adams
Works from 2000
Michigan's Minority Graduates in Practice: Answers to Methodological Queries, Richard O. Lempert, David L. Chambers, and Terry K. Adams
Michigan's Minority Graduates in Practice: The River Runs through Law School, Richard O. Lempert, David L. Chambers, and Terry K. Adams
Works from 1999
Doing Well and Doing Good: The Careers of Minority and White Graduates of the University of Michigan Law School, David L. Chambers, Richard O. Lempert, and Terry K. Adams
"The Fruits of our Labors: An Empirical Study of the Distribution of Income and Job Satisfaction Across the Legal Profession." J. Legal Educ. 49, no. 3 (1999): 342-66., Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt and Kaushik Mukhopadhaya
"University of Michigan Law School Study: 30 Years of Affirmative Action." Jacksonville Free Press, 1999., Jacksonville Free Press
"On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession." Vand. L. Rev. 52, no. 4 (1999): 871-951., Patrick J. Schlitz
Works from 1998
"Beauty, Productivity, and Discrimination: Lawyers’ Looks and Lucre." J. Lab. Econ. 16, no. 1 (1998): 172-201., Daniel S. Hamermesh and Jeff E. Biddle
"Job Mobility and the Market for Lawyers." J. Pol. Econ. 106. no. 1 (1998): 147-71., Robert Sauer
Works from 1997
Educational Debt, Loan-Frogiveness and Adverse Selection in the Market for Lawyers, Working Paper (January 1997), Robert M. Sauer
Works from 1995
"Legal Education and Entry into the Legal Profession: the Role of Race, Gender, and Educational Debt." N.Y.U. L. Rev. 70, no. 2 (1995): 829-964., Lewis Kornhauser and Richard Revesz
Works from 1993
"Pay Differences Among the Highly Paid." J. Lab. Econ. 11, no. 3 (1993): 417-41., Robert G. Wood, Mary E. Corcoran, and Paul N. Courant
Works from 1992
The Burdens of Educational Loans: The Impacts of Debt on Job Choice and Standards of Living for Students at Nine American Law Schools, David L. Chambers
Works from 1989
Accommodation and Satisfaction: Women and Men Lawyers and the Balance of Work and Family, David L. Chambers
Educational Debts and the Worsening Position of Small-Firm, Government, and Legal-Services Lawyers, David L. Chambers
Works from 1978
"A Survey of the Relevance of Legal Training to Law School Graduates." J. Legal Educ. 29 (1978): 264-94., Leonard L. Baird
Works from 1974
"American Legal Education: an Agenda for Research and Reform," 59 Cornell L. Rev. (1974): 221, Barry B. Boyer and Roger C. Cramton