the white rabbit, that's what I mean. Law firms both know and have some say in where law schools rank in general (I don't mean the exact number, but they know how the schools that feed into their market compare. Like I've said before, in Philly lawyers probably don't know or care that Temple is exactly #72 (I think I accidentally wrote 75 before). They just know that it's far better than Widener and they have a strong preference for Temple grads, even though Temple is way outside of the T14. So when I say that lawyers care about how a school is ranked in a particular region, I don't mean that law firms in Philly know that Penn is #7, Villanova is #67, Temple is #72, Rutgers-Camden is #80, and Widener is Tier 4. The ranking they care about is 1.Penn (although they're a flight risk unless they can prove they really wanna stay in Philly), 2. Temple, Villanova, 3. Rutgers-Camden, and 4. Widener. Each school has a completely different reputation, though to be honest I can't tell you what the reputation of Rutgers-Camden is. It could be on par with Widener, honestly, but hey, Camden is right across the river.
So yea, I don't think law firms are wetting themselves with excitement over the impending release of the new US News Rankings, but they naturally know how each school stacks up against the others in the area, because it's their opinion of those schools that influences the ranking. Although, someone might notice that I listed Temple an inkling ahead of Villanova. They are definitely peer schools, ranked pretty much next to each other, even though Villanova is ranked ahead, I'd give a slight edge to Temple. But the schools are also completely different. Private and on the Main Line or public, uber-cheap, and deep in the city.