Matt Blaszczyk (University of Georgia), Field Notes from the U.S. Law Teaching Market:

The U.S. law teaching market is highly competitive and traditionally reliant on specific institutional signals. For non-traditional candidates, accessing the unwritten norms of this ecosystem can be challenging. This collection of notes functions as a strategic roadmap to demystify the process. It combines essential foundational resources, a structural breakdown of market mechanics, empirical hiring data from 669 entry-level appointments (2020–2025), actionable interview advice designed to level the playing field, screener & callback question banks, and VAP/Fellowship directories.

The guide describes the market as it is, not as it should be; describing credential dynamics is not endorsing them; and my aim is to widen access by making tacit knowledge explicit. Some framings are contentious, and few rules are bright-line.

The empirical analysis is based on Sarah Lawsky’s entry-level hiring dataset, which is combined and processed to identify patterns in JD pedigree, fellowship and clerkship history, advanced degrees, subject-area demand, and time-to-hire. The practical guidance draws on published advice from faculty who have navigated the market and candidates who have been through it recently.

This is a work in progress, which is intended to be a collaborative exercise in broadening access to the law teaching market in the U.S. Written from a junior academic’s perspective, the document serves as a starting point, welcomingfeedback, comments, advice, and contributions from others who have succeeded on the market recently or been on the hiring committees themselves, and questions from those who are about to enter the market.