Law Faculty Hiring: Which Fields Are In Biggest Demand?

Update: I erroneously left off Corps in the initial post; I've added it to the list.

I've been taking a look at Sarah Lawsky's entry level hiring list over at Prawfs.  I'm sure it's incomplete, but it's the snapshot we've got.  She lists 67 entry level hires - 60 of which are on tenure-track.  

What fields did schools hire most frequently?  I tallied what candidates' first and second areas of interest and for this purpose, considered only the tenure track hires.  Thus, with 60 candidates identifying 2 areas each, there are 120 total areas of hire.  I conflated relatively similar areas as noted.

With that, these were the top areas of entry level hiring, with the total number of hires who listed each area as their first or second area of interest.

Civil Procedure/Complex Litigation - 10
Crim Law/Civ Pro/White Collar Crime - 8
Intl/Intl Arb/IBT - 7
Con Law/Fed Cts/1st Amdt/Law & Relig - 6 
Environmental - 6
Clinic - 5 (five more were not on tenure track)
Contracts - 5 
Corps/Securities - 5
IP - 5
Property - 4
Health Law/Hlth Finance/Hlth Fraud - 3
Immigration - 3
Law and Econ - 3
Tax - 3

Comments

[anon]

Where is corporate? Were there none?

Also, while you're obviously just working with the data that's there, I'll note one limitation of combining choices: This list may overrepresent areas likely to be selected as an "easy" second choice. One might imagine, for example, that anyone with litigation experience might put down a top choice in a given subject area and civ pro as choice two. I don't know if that's where the numbers come from, just one possible issue hidden by the data presented in this way.

[anon]

(When I say "easy," I don't mean the area is easy. I just mean that it's more likely to fit as a second teaching area, regardless of your primary area.)

[Dan Filler]

Anon - Thanks for the comment. I left corps/bus orgs/securities off the list mistakenly.

[Anon]

How does this compare to the lateral hiring areas? Is there a similar pattern?

Will that list be updated soon now that the deadline has passed?

[TJ]

I think this is a useful list, but it is not indicative of "demand." Who gets hired is a function of both demand and supply. For example, I'm pretty sure the demand for tax people is a lot higher than what your list would suggest.

[So what does]

I wonder re the correlation between the list and jobs students might be expected to obtain--e.g., bankruptcy is not listed t all. The usual response is that adjuncts teach those courses; but if we believe teaching adds value, all courses--at least those where students will likely practice--should be taught by tenure-track persons.

Expressed differently, why not have Con Law taught by adjuncts and business courses taught by full-timers

[anon]

Will the lateral list be updated soon?