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Law School Rankings

Law school rankings inform the public about the standing of a certain law school in relation to other law schools. These rankings are usually popular among individuals interested in the study of law. However, the American Bar Association (ABA) and other organizations criticize and discourage them, because of their subjective nature. Critics argue that law school rankings are sometimes decided by informal observations of students and educators. Nevertheless, law school rankings significantly affect legal education.

The US News & World Report magazine compiles the most popular annual ranking of law schools. It measures such factors as reputation, faculty resources, selectivity, and success. Yale Law School consistently takes the lead in their law school rankings. Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, and Columbia Law School are always among the top five of fourteen schools that consistently grab the top spots. Other top fourteen schools are: UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall Law School; Cornell Law School; Duke Law School; Georgetown Law School; New York University Law School; Northwestern Law School; University of Michigan Law School; University of Chicago Law School; University of Pennsylvania Law School; University of Virginia Law School. Other prestigious schools like UCLA Law School, USC Law School, and Vanderbilt Law School are in the top twenty.

The first law school rankings were compiled by Dr. Jack Gourman, who stopped ranking in the late 1990s. Other rankers currently collect information and compile lists. The Cooley Rankings were developed by Thomas E. Brennan, Sr., President of Cooley Law School. This ranking is often criticized for positioning Cooley Law School before Stanford Law School and Boalt Hall Law School. The Hylton Rankings reflect LSAT scores and peer assessment; it includes the same top fourteen schools of the US News rankings, but in a different order. The Leiter Rankings assess the quality of the faculty, student body and teaching by analyzing student LSAT scores and GPAs, faculty reputation, and academic research.