Law School Transparency (LST) was a project started by a group of lawyers who wanted to make the law school application process fair and transparent. For a long time, the U.S. News ranking has been the guidepost for law school applicants, but LST has a new guide for law school applicants called LST Reports. The idea is to create information that allows you, the consumer, to evaluate your long- and short-term outcomes at various law schools.
The reports allow applicants to search either nationally or regionally. Each school has a profile featuring “LST Employment Score,” and includes class retention as well as project debt, allowing applicants to make a decision with the full information about future benefits and concerns.
LST Reports also allows applicants to search by region, in addition to a national search. The regional search focuses on employment outcomes, so a search for California will reveal not just California schools but also national schools whose graduates have worked in California. While LST’s data can’t give specifics on the career services nor recruitment at certain firms, it does give a general overview and a way to track employment outcomes.
LST prides itself on transparency in data. According to the founder, LST’s dataset is larger than any other site, including the ABA. LST relies on historical ABA data and voluntary disclosures from law schools, as well as their LST algorithms. There is even a page explaining the methodology.
Applicants can compare three schools for free, and there is a personal finance tool. Using LST Pro, which requires a fee (the other services are free), applicants can track schools and keep a list of schools for comparison. LST Pro also provides assistance for students looking to decide which schools to apply to.
As a law school advisor, I have increasingly advised my clients to look carefully at law school employment statistics and ask questions about career services. I think LST is a useful tool to use when deciding on law schools, particularly for applicants who want to look at schools regionally and determine which ones have the best employment outcomes. When choosing a school, I do suggest that everyone consider where they want to live and what type of law they want to practice. While minds might change over time, it’s an important factor to consider.
Right now, LST Reports is running a special for Accepted blog readers. Enter the code “accepted” at checkout for $10 off the LST Pro.
Jessica Pishko graduated with a J.D. from Harvard Law School and received an M.F.A. from Columbia University. She spent two years guiding students through the medical school application process at Columbia’s Postbac Program and is a former Accepted admissions consultant. Want an admissions expert help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!
Related Resources:
• The Law School Admissions Guide: 8 Tips for Success, a free guide
• 5 Ways You (as a College Junior) Can Increase Your Chance of Getting Into Law School
• Law School Applicants: Things to Think About When You Apply, a podcast episode