rankings dont mean shi%

[ilsox7]

Y'all need to realize that Top 20 to one employer is different than Top 20 to another employer.  For instance, in San Francisco Hastings is probably considered "Top 20." 

Basically, Top 20 really has nothing to do with USNEWS, either.  These firms have a LONG history hiring students from schools.  They will base their determination of the quality of a law school by the quality of lawyer they hire.  If a Boston firm has always favored BC grads over BU grads b/c of the type of lawyer they get, that will not change unless their success with BC grads declines and their success with BU grads increases.  They really don't give a damn that BC is now ranked below BU in in magazine.

Businesses/firms keep files and statitics on where every hire comes from.  If Emory drops another 10 spots next year, yet the firms that recruit there have no drop off in quality hires, those firms won't all of a sudden stop recruiting at Emory.

As for new firms coming to a campus?  I would guess this has more to do with lateral hires or partners coming to a firm with a background in recruiting at the new school or are alums from that school. 

[jessesamuel]

i would like to see a ranking that's as well-funded and widely available as USNWR but that eliminates selectivity as a factor. alternately, i'd like to se usnwr provide more data and make it manipulable so each user can determine the relative importance of each factor. maybe i'll do that instead of practicing law when i finish school!

[Erapitt]

With the rankings, what does it mean when two schools are in the same slot.  Like GW/BU both being at 20 this year (if those rankings are real).  Why is the next school listed 22?  What happened to 21 lol?

[Hotel Yorba]

if three schools have a rating of 69, which is tied for 17th they are all listed in this position.

15th  72  school A,B
17th  69  school C,D,E
20th  68  school F
21st  67  school G,H....................

I can't believe how many people struggle with this concept - no offense meant, but damn_ how will you ever problem solve as a lawyer.

[PSUDSL08]

I've spoken to several lawyers and they all say that in the grand scheme of things, nobody really cares about the rankings.

[Erapitt]

It was just a question regarding the system jerk off.  Sorry I don't review the U.S. News as gospel and know everything about the system.  You have a lot of nerve yorba.  Look at where you will be attending vs. where I will be attending.  It was just a simple question.

[NerfHerder]

The biggest scam in the world is college rankings. In particular, I can vouch that undergrad school doesn't count for *&^%. I graduated from a POS public school and am making twice as much as friends who went to HYP. I've seen this scenario play out many times. It's what you know and how hard you work your ass off that determines where you go and how far/fast you climb the ladder.

That being said, the favoritism that exist with law employers for recent graduates certainly is evident in hiring patterns but anyone can still move up and succeed. I know many lawyers that work with my parents who went to TTTs and are retiring with redunkulous neteggs after careers as CLOs and lead councels.

The moral of the story is, go where you want to go and where you will be the happiest. A few years down the road will show you that what law school you went to doesn't matter too much.

[Julie Fern]

it depend upon your goals.  if you want to be law professor, then harvard, yale, and stanford are best.  if you want to make lots of money, higher-ranked better because that's where big firms recruit.  if prefer to keep debt low or plan to work in smaller cities (which is where 80% of law grads end up, by way), then lower-ranked schools are fine.

[NerfHerder]

it depend upon your goals.  if you want to be law professor, then harvard, yale, and stanford are best.  if you want to make lots of money, higher-ranked better because that's where big firms recruit.  if prefer to keep debt low or plan to work in smaller cities (which is where 80% of law grads end up, by way), then lower-ranked schools are fine.

Julie sum up nicely. She know how it is.

[Hotel Yorba]

erapitt...If you read my other posts I put little stock in the USnews rankings, but the fact remains that their methodology is simple to understand. You made a comment about them, if you had not been so lazy and simply looked into the info or given it a couple seconds of thought you could have figured it out.

Also it seems you are a bit of a snob...

It was just a question regarding the system jerk off.  Sorry I don't review the U.S. News as gospel and know everything about the system. You have a lot of nerve yorba. Look at where you will be attending vs. where I will be attending. It was just a simple question.

otherwise you would not be flaunting your supposed superiority. We'll see who has the skills to land a good job...my guess is it will be the person who can think for himself and is able to find answers to much more complicated questions than the aforementioned on his own.