We
believe
there
are
about
1,000,000
non-practicing
lawyers
(NPLs)
in
the
US.
It
is
impossible
to
know
with
absolute
certainty
as
the
ABA
and
state
bar
associations
do
not
accurately
track
this.
Some
state
bar
associations,
such
as
New
York
State,
offer
an
option
to
select
“retired
from
the
practice
of
law”
in
the
state’s
required
Biennial
Registration
but
do
not
compile
a
count
—
at
least
one
that
is
publicly
available.
In
California,
on
the
other
hand,
the
state
bar
can
tell
you
that
as
of
the
last
registration,
there
were
71,000
inactive
attorneys.
Inactive
being
essentially
the
same
as
retired.
(Source:
State
Bar
of
California’s
Profile
of
California’s
Inactive
Attorneys,
March
2025)
But
here’s
the
thing.
Pretty
much
all
the
non-practicing
lawyers
we
know
in
the
U.S.
maintain
their
law
license
at
registration
—
even
though
they
don’t
work
as
lawyers.
Meaning
in
every
state
in
the
country,
there
are
a
substantial
number
of
people
counted
as
practicing
who
are
non-practicing
lawyers.
These
are
the
invisible
NPLs.
You
knew
this
was
coming.
AI,
in
this
case
ChatGPT
5.0,
arrives
at
roughly
1,000,000
non-practicing
lawyers
this
way:
-
Since
the
mid-1970s,
U.S.
law
schools
have
produced
~35,000–40,000
graduates
per
year. -
Over
roughly
50
years,
that
produces
about
1.7–1.9
million
people
with
JDs.
These
figures
are
derived
from
long-term
enrollment
and
graduation
statistics
from
the
American
Bar
Association.
Reasonable
midpoint
—
1.8
million
Americans
with
a
JD
The
latest
data
from
the
U.S.
Bureau
of
Labor
Statistics
shows
that
800,000
people
were
reported
as
employed
in
the
occupation
“lawyer,”
“attorney,”
“counsel,”
etc.
Leaving
about
1,000,000
non-practicing
lawyers
in
the
U.S.
We
founded
exjudicata.com
three
years
ago
as
a
resource
to
help
any
lawyer
or
3L
considering,
or
committed
to,
moving
to
a
nonlegal
career. We
launched
a
second
platform,
the
EXJ
Community,
in
January
2026
as
the
first
network
for
those
lawyers
already
working
in
nonlegal
jobs
(and
those
that
aspire
to
be
—
practicing
lawyers
interested
in
learning
more
and
networking
with
lawyers
who
were
once
in
their
shoes).
We
have
used
“NPL”
sporadically,
preferring
to
use
non-practicing
lawyer
simply
because
we
were
new
and
this
was
a
new
concept.
Now
we’ve
ratcheted
it
up
and
use
NPL
interchangeably
with
non-practicing
lawyer.
The
goal
is
straightforward
to
create
the
first
new
U.S.
workforce
demographic
in
decades,
the
NPL.
Why
does
a
community
of
NPLs
matter?
1.
There
are
hundreds
of
communities
for
practicing
lawyers
sliced
every
which
way.
By
practice
area,
by
geography,
by
age,
by
sexual
orientation,
state
bar
groups,
city
bar
groups,
the
ABA.
Shouldn’t
there
be
one
for
NPLs?
2.
If
a
community
of
NPLs
can
scale,
suddenly
CHROs
and
other
talent
executives
at
organizations
of
every
size
and
stripe
will
start
seeing
tangible
evidence
of
the
scope
and
breadth
of
lawyers
working
in
nonlegal
careers.
In
other
words,
it’s
one
thing
to
talk
to
a
talent
executive
and
tell
them
that
they
should
consider
lawyers
for
a
marketing
opening
at
their
company.
It’s
quite
another
to
be
able
to
approach
that
same
person
and
show
them
500
NPLs
in
the
community
working
in
marketing
jobs
around
the
country.
And
here’s
who
they
are.
3.
A
community
of
NPLs
ties
into
the
evolving
definition
of
the
JD
degree.
Old:
A
JD
is
a
law
degree
New:
A
JD
is
a
degree
in
complex
problem-solving,
and
if
there
is
one
thing
every
business
needs
more
of,
it
is
complex
problem-solvers.
4.
Emotional
and
psychological
support
for
all
practicing
lawyers
and
3Ls,
struggling
with
concerns
about
leaving
law
to
do
something
more
in
line
with
their
passion
and/or
purpose.
While
we
can
point
to
so
many
examples
of
former
practicing
lawyers
thriving
in
business
careers,
it
would
be
great
for
those
struggling
to
see
the
size,
the
data.
To
see
hundreds
of
thousands
of
JDs
currently
working
in
nonlegal
jobs,
the
power
of
the
JD
applied
to
countless
business
roles.
5.
Law
school
career
services
offices
struggle
to
advise
students
and
alumni
who
want
to
pursue
alternative
careers.
It
would
be
extraordinary
if
they
could
look
to
an
organized
community
of
non-practicing
lawyers
for
guidance,
support,
and
jobs
for
their
students
and
alumni.
Have
ideas
for
building
out
a
community
of
NPLs,
we’d
love
to
hear?
Email
us
at
[email protected].
The
authors
of The
Great
Escape column, Neil
Handwerker
and Kimberly
Fine, are
the
founders
of
exjudicata.com,
a
platform
designed
to
help
lawyers
move
to
nonlegal
careers.
They
just
launched a
new
related
platform,
the
EXJ
Community,
the
first
ever
peer-to-peer
network
of
non-practicing
lawyers.