After the JD 2: A Longitudinal Study of Careers in Transition, 2007-2008, United States

The After the JD (AJD) project is a longitudinal study that is designed to track the careers of a nationally representative cohort of lawyers admitted to the bar in the year 2000. The first wave of the After the JD Study (AJD1) [ICPSR 26302] provided a snapshot of the personal lives and careers of this cohort about three years after they began practicing law. The second wave of the After the JD project (AJD2) seeks to illuminate the progression of lawyers' careers through roughly seven years in practice. The seventh year marks a crucial period in the careers of young lawyers. At the same time that they are facing important career decisions, these young lawyers are experiencing significant personal decisions about marriage and having children. AJD2 sought to locate and survey the entire original sample that was constructed in AJD1, even if a sample member had not been located or surveyed in AJD1. Only those individuals found to be ineligible for the study because they did not meet the required time period for obtaining their law degree and passing the bar were excluded. AJD2 obtained completed surveys of 3,705 eligible respondents, which includes 70.4 percent of the respondents to AJD1 (a group referred to as AJD1 Respondents) and 26.9 percent of those who were not surveyed in wave 1 (a group referred to as AJD1 Nonrespondents). The AJD2 data collection effort was launched in 2007 and completed in early 2008, with an overall response rate of 50.6 percent of eligible participants. As the legal profession has become more diverse in terms of entrants, it is critical to understand how women, men and women of color, individuals from less advantaged economic backgrounds, and other traditionally disadvantaged groups build careers. To examine the experiences of these groups at distinctive stages of their professional lives and to compare their career experiences to those of their peers, investigators were able to collect information about whether respondents' experiences were different from the outset or whether career trajectories diverge over time, what career strategies appear most successful for young lawyers, and whether these strategies vary by gender, race, and class; by legal market; by the selectivity of the law school from which lawyers graduate; or other dimensions. The AJD2 dataset allows for the analysis of a broad range of questions about the careers of lawyers and the social organization of the American legal profession. For example, some of the topics the study examines are: (1) demographic characteristics; (2) job mobility; (3) career satisfaction; (4) convergence/divergence in the career patterns of women and minorities; (5) indications of continuing inequality by gender; (6) family formation and the effects on professional careers; (7) career trajectories. AJD2 aims to provide a solid basis for future efforts to understand the changing character of legal careers. The final phase of the AJD2 data collection ended before the onslaught of the global financial crisis in the fall of 2008. Consequently, the data do not account for the profound effects of these turbulent events. The third wave of the study (AJD3) anticipates investigating these issues and many other similarly important transitions.

JD毕业后追踪（After the JD，简称AJD）项目是一项纵向研究，旨在追踪2000年获准律师执业的全国代表性律师群体的职业发展轨迹。该项目的第一波调查（AJD1，数据集编号ICPSR 26302）在该群体执业约三年后，对其个人生活与职业状况进行了快照式调研。本项目的第二波调查（AJD2）旨在呈现该群体执业约七年的职业发展历程。执业第七年是青年律师职业发展的关键节点：此时他们不仅面临重要的职业抉择，同时也需做出婚姻、生育等重大个人生活决策。AJD2尝试对AJD1构建的全部原始样本进行追踪与调研，即便部分样本成员在AJD1中未被成功定位或参与调查。本研究仅排除了因未满足获取法学学位与通过律师资格考试的时限要求而不符合研究资格的个体。AJD2最终回收了3705名符合资格受访者的有效问卷，其中包括70.4%的AJD1受访者（即AJD1应答者群体），以及26.9%的第一波未参与调查者（即AJD1无应答者群体）。AJD2的数据采集工作于2007年启动，2008年初完成，符合资格的参与者整体应答率为50.6%。随着法律行业从业群体的多样性不断提升，厘清女性、男性、少数族裔女性、经济背景弱势个体及其他传统弱势群体的职业建构路径至关重要。为考察上述群体在职业发展不同阶段的经历，并将其与同侪的职业体验进行对比，研究人员收集了多维度信息：包括受访者的职业体验是否自初始阶段便存在差异、职业轨迹是否随时间产生分化，青年律师最有效的职业策略为何，以及这些策略是否因性别、种族、阶层、法律市场环境、毕业法学院的选拔性或其他维度而存在差异。AJD2数据集支持针对律师职业发展与美国法律行业社会组织结构的多维度问题分析。本研究涵盖的核心议题包括：(1) 人口统计学特征；(2) 职业流动性；(3) 职业满意度；(4) 女性与少数族裔职业模式的趋同/分化；(5) 持续性性别不平等的相关迹象；(6) 家庭组建及其对职业发展的影响；(7) 职业轨迹。AJD2旨在为后续解析法律职业发展的动态特征提供坚实的研究基础。AJD2的数据采集最终阶段于2008年秋季全球金融危机爆发前完成，因此本数据未涵盖此次动荡事件所产生的深远影响。本研究的第三波调查（AJD3）计划针对上述问题及其他同类重要转型议题展开研究。