As reported by New York Lawyer, the American Bar Association has released a report investigating U.S. News & World Report’s law school rankings and its upcoming rankings of law firms.
According to the report, the rankings have a powerful impact on public perception of law schools, one that cannot be altered for the time being. “As a result, U.S. News rankings have assumed ever increasing importance to any law school that wishes to attract students and faculty and to retain support from alumni and university leaders. The criteria U.S. News uses for rankings now has a powerful influence over the management and design of American legal education.”
The major troubling areas mentioned in the report are that the rankings “increase the cost of legal education, discourage financial aid based on need and reduce incentives to increase the diversity of the profession.” The magazine also overemphasizes the student-to-faculty ratio, spending per student, LSAT scores, and median GPAs.
In response, U.S. News acknowledges its strong influence, but not necessarily the negative connotations. The magazine says that “law schools and the ABA need to take far more direct responsibility for these trends,” and that the report does not cite real evidence regarding the degree of the rankings’ impact on law school conduct.
U.S. News will post its law firm rankings—which will be published alphabetically within tiers vs. numerically—in the fall on its Web site and in the magazine.
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Read the full article: Law School Rankings: How Powerful Are They?
