Law students today may be drinking less alcohol than law students in the past— according to Bloomberg Law’s new Law School Preparedness survey.

The survey asked 994 law students and 896 practicing attorneys how often their law schools served alcohol at law school sponsored social or networking events. The responses from these survey participants indicate that while law schools continue to serve alcohol during some social functions, it is now far less common to find events serving alcohol than when the practicing attorney survey respondents attended law school.

Reflecting on their past law school experiences, 53% of practicing attorney respondents reported that “most” or “all” law school sponsored events served alcohol. In contrast, 32% of current law students reported the same. The inverse is also true— 53% of law student respondents reported that “only a few” or “none” of their law school sponsored activities featured alcohol while one-third of practicing attorneys selected these options.

When asked how many drinks they consumed at law school sponsored activities that served alcohol, 32% of law students respondents abstained completely at these events. This is twice the percentage of practicing attorneys who reported refraining from drinking during law school functions.

But when abstainers from both groups are removed from the totals, the breakdown in the number of drinks consumed was the same for law students as for lawyers: 80% reported consuming one to two drinks, 17% reported consuming three to four drinks, and approximately 3% reported consuming more than five drinks.

It is possible, of course, that law students are drinking less at law school events but are not drinking less overall. Almost a quarter (23%) of the law students responding to the Law School Preparedness Survey acknowledged increased alcohol usage because of law school related issues.

There is also a question of how many attorneys are attending in-person law school events right now, as many law schools are still holding off on such events due to the pandemic, and opting instead for “virtual” networking programs.

You can read more about this survey here .

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