The early train gets attorney Dustin Nygard to the downtown Chicago law firm where he works after he makes breakfast for his family.

In his office he orchestrates the legalities of the types of mergers and acquisitions that are reported in the Wall Street Journal. Some days he stays in the office until midnight. Other days he brings work home with him to do after he tucks his children into bed.

It's a schedule that for some would be too demanding, but Nygard says he's happy and the work is interesting.

Only a few years ago Nygard was a plumber in Salt Lake City working a forty-hour job. Three years and a Juris Doctorate degree later, Nygard went to work for a private law firm, Kirkland and Ellis, specializing in corporate law.

"I feel like I'm using my talents more than I would have when I was plumbing," Nygard said. "That's not to say that being a plumber is a bad thing, but I didn't feel like that was what I needed to do in order to maximize my talents."

This month, around 80 percent of the 2008 J. Reuben Clark Law School graduating class will join a private practice, work for the government or start their own firm.

Last year, the graduates had an average starting salary of $89,003 according to the 2007 Salary Report published by the Career Services office at the BYU Law School.

Employers from around the country recruit BYU students to come work in their offices. Approximately 32.9 percent of the jobs that the graduates were offered came from on campus interviews. Career Services arranges for more than 100 potential employers to come to campus every year to talk to students. Every week there are seminars with professional attorneys who tell students about their schedules and careers.

"We always have a variety of people that call and want to come to campus," said Beth Hansen, Director of Career Services at the BYU law school, "Some people are from law firms and want to recruit, a lot of them are alumni who come to campus who want to share advice with current law students."

Many students take advantage of the employment services provided at the law school.

"We have students every year that are real go-getters and come in and get help with their applications," Hansen said. "Then we have students who don't come in for help, won't participate in the programs, and don't apply themselves to their job search. They don't do as well."

BYU law graduates are good employees, so good that their employers keep coming back to recruit future attorneys, Hansen said.

"They are well trained and mature," Hansen said. "They get along well with the people in the office, they are good workers and it shows."

The Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington is planning to come recruit more BYU students to work in their litigation office after their experience with BYU law graduate Nathan Catchpole.

It's a small office without a lot of senior partners, which means Catchpole, an attorney originally from Corvallis, Ore. gets a lot more challenging work than he might have in private practice.

"BYU has put me in a position to where I match up well with the other attorneys in the office," Catchpole said. "I've had the opportunity to introduce BYU to a lot of people. I have to believe that the [department's] experience with me has led them to look at BYU law students actively for the first time this year."

Other BYU law graduates have found that their education has prepared them to handle the steep learning curve in the transition from law school to practicing law.

"It was a fantastic education," said Carolyn Deverich, a 2007 BYU law graduate who now works in a California private firm. "They give you the tools to be self-sufficient in the legal world, especially because the law is a 'learn by doing' kind of profession. Law school doesn't teach you how to be a lawyer, it teaches you the tools to be a lawyer. BYU does a great job in training their students how to apply the legal skills they are learning."

The J. Reuben Clark Law School has a reputation for being a competitive school because all of the students are highly qualified. The U.S. News & World Report in its "America's Best Graduate Schools" issue ranked the school as 46th in the nation this year.

"Everyone's smart, so everyone does well," said Laura Cantera, a 2007 BYU law graduate and currently a Utah County prosecutor. "To set yourself apart is difficult because everyone is well-rounded and all together gifted and not just academically."

Whether they travel far or stay in Utah County, the 2008 law graduates are on their way to a successful and fulfilling career.

"I'm certainly happy," Nygard said from his Chicago office. "My wife is happy. My wife likes it out here and it's not too stressful. I just think that the practice of law is individual. Some people wouldn't want to do what I'm doing while others would want to do it."