Yale tops law school rankings; Duke moves into the top 10
Corrected: Yale Law School kept its spot as the No. 1 law school in rankings released today by U.S. News & World Report.
Harvard claimed the second spot after tying with Stanford last year, report Above the Law and the National Law Journal (sub. req.). Meanwhile, Duke moved into the top 10, tying with the University of Michigan for 10th place. The rankings are here. The 11 law schools in the top 10 (because of the 10th-place tie) are:
1) Yale University
2) Harvard University
3) Stanford University
4) Columbia University and the University of Chicago
6) New York University
7) University of Pennsylvania
8) University of Virginia
9) University of California at Berkeley
10) Duke University and University of Michigan
The NLJ says “the biggest story” in the top 20 rankings may be Emory University law school’s four-spot climb to a No. 19 rank. According to the NLJ, “Emory had been hovering on the cusp of the top 20 for the past two years.”
Also climbing in the rankings is the College of William and Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law, which moved up nine spots to a No. 24 ranking, the NLJ says.
Among the law schools moving down in the rankings is Washington & Lee University, dropping 17 spots to No. 43, according to Above the Law. The law school has revamped its third year of instruction to focus on practice-ready skills. Says Above the Law, “Let’s call this section “Washington & Lee’s Experiential Learning Seems To Be A Flop.” Expressing a different view last year, Indiana University law professor William Henderson said the school is the “biggest legal education story of 2013.”
When the school was ranked No. 26, its employment statistics weren’t as good as similarly ranked schools, however, Ohio State University law professor Deborah Merritt noted last year. Employers say they want practice-ready students, but the statistics say otherwise, Merritt pointed out.
Updated on March 14 to correct a reference to William Henderson’s school affiliation. William Henderson is a law professor at Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
Correction
Updated on March 14 to correct a reference to William Henderson’s school affiliation. William Henderson is a law professor at Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
