U.S. News released its law school rankings today, with few surprises among the top 20. Yale Law School took its place at the top of the list (where it has been for the last two decades) and was followed by the rest of the top 5 regulars—Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, and Chicago.
There is one new school on the T14 (top 14) horizon this year—the University of Texas’ Austin School of Law tied for 14th place alongside the Georgetown Law Center. Significant jumpers in the top 50 this year include the University of Maryland School of Law which jumped from 48th to 42nd and the University of California’s Davis School of Law which leapt from 28th to 23rd.
Here are the top 14 law schools of 2012:
1. Yale University
2. Harvard University
3. Stanford University
4. Columbia University
5. University of Chicago
6. New York University
7. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
7. University of Pennsylvania
9. University of California, Berkeley
11. Duke University
12. Northwestern University
13. Cornell University
14. Georgetown University
14. University of Texas, Austin
You’ll see below that U.S. News added a new perspective to the law school rankings. This year, in addition to the regular rankings (above), new rankings based on a five-point “average reputation” scale judged by recruiters at the top law firms (as determined by the 2010 Best Law Firms rankings) were added. Please see the U.S. News‘ article, “Law School Rankings Methodology,” for more details on how the law school rankings were determined.
2012 Best Law Schools Ranked by Recruiters (average reputation score, 5.0=highest, in parentheses)
1. Harvard University (4.9)
2. Stanford University (4.8)
2. Yale University (4.8)
4. Columbia University (4.7)
4. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (4.7)
6. New York University (4.6)
6. University of Virginia (4.6)
8. Cornell University (4.5)
8. Duke University (4.5)
8. Northwestern University (4.5)
8. UC Berkeley (4.5)
8. University of Chicago (4.5)
13. Georgetown University (4.4)
13. University of Pennsylvania (4.4)
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