Best law schools in the U.S.

Is there a website ranking the best law schools in the United States?

Visit wikipedia page:

Law school rankings in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

...and see also the U.S. News and World Report:

Best Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report

Law school rankings in the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Law school rankings are a specific subset of college and university rankings dealing specifically with law schools. Like college and university rankings, law school rankings can be based on empirical data, subjectively-perceived qualitative data (often survey research of educators, law professors, lawyers, students, or others), or some combination of these.

Such rankings are often consulted by prospective students as they choose which schools they will apply to or which school they will attend. The most popular ranking of law schools is the annual U.S. News & World Report "Top Graduate Schools" listing. Beyond this popular list, there are numerous other law school rankings.

Rankings by U.S. News and World Report

As is noted above, the most recognized rankings are those by US News and World Report. The Law School Rankings are organized into three main sections: The first is a "Top 100" that lists the top hundred schools in order from highest ranked to lowest ranked. After that, US News groups the remaining 80 accredited law schools into two roughly unranked groups called "Third Tier" and "Fourth Tier".

Schools that consistently rank in the top 14

The "Top Fourteen" schools according to U.S. News and World Report Rankings are (in alphabetical order):

• Columbia Law School, Columbia University, in New York, NY.
• Cornell Law School, Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY.
• Duke University School of Law, Duke University, in Durham, NC.
• Georgetown University Law Center, Georgetown University, in Washington, DC.
• Harvard Law School, Harvard University, in Cambridge, MA.
• New York University School of Law, New York University, in New York, NY.
• Northwestern University School of Law, Northwestern University, in Chicago, IL.
• Stanford Law School, Stanford University, in Stanford, CA.
• University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, in Berkeley, CA.
• University of Chicago Law School, University of Chicago, in Chicago, IL.
• University of Michigan Law School, University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, MI.
• University of Pennsylvania Law School, University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, PA.
• University of Virginia School of Law, University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, VA.
• Yale Law School, Yale University, in New Haven, CT.

More info:

Law school rankings in the United States - Rankings by U.S. News and World Report

Law school rankings in the United States - Alternatives to the U.S. News Rankings

by Matthew Scott

[top-law-schools.com]

Unlike in the United States, where Law School rankings are fairly common, this has never really taken hold within the context of Canadian society. Certainly, for the vast majority of university programs in Canada, ranking is done by certain magazines, but the perception of the general public does not always mesh with what the rankings state. Consequently, the importance of going to a school ranked “1st” v. “5th”, might be largely irrelevant. In general, when determining where to go to school in Canada, a better consideration would be examining the region, programs and quality of life. Doing this will allow you to be more successful within the school you choose to attend, and therefore you will achieve better grades and be more successful in finding employment. That said, in November 2007, Macleans Magazine issued their first annual Canadian Law School rankings. However, their rankings are not designed to measure the hardest schools to get into, but instead, the quality of output for each school. To do this, Macleans employed professor Brian Leiter, who worked for the University of Texas at Austin Law School. Over the years, he has for many years criticized the U.S. News and World Report rankings methodology, which has data that is open to manipulation and in some cases, even if accurate, may not be relevant.

To read the entire article, click the link below:

Canadian Law School Rankings


Maclean's law school rankings called into question

by D. B. Scott

Sunday, September 14, 2008

[canadianmags.blogspot.com]

Maclean's magazine's recent rankings of Canadian law schools has been criticized for its methodology and for its intentions. Alice Wooley of the University of Calgary law faculty) writes on the Legal Ethics Forum (to which she is the only Canadian contributor) that these, the second such rankings compiled by Brian Leiter, a professor of law from the University of Chicago, are a useful contribution. But then goes on to question what the ultimate point of it is.

Source:

http://canadianmags.blogspot.com/200...gs-called.html

[ronniew]

I know U.S. News is head shoulders above the rest when it comes to the list that matters the most in the perception of the world but it is certainly not the best list in my opinion. So what is the best list based on methodology, career prospects, admission data, reputation, etc.? I mean, the whole purpose of these lists is to determine which schools will give you, the prospective law student, and the best chance of success. I know that no list is perfect, but there has to be some kind of hierarchy. U.S. News cannot possibly be the best law schools list out there...even if it is the most used and watched list.