The Cooley Law School Rankings

As the college school year ends and perspective law school applicants begin to consider the LSAT and which law schools to which they wish to apply, much consideration is given to the U.S. News rankings as well as much criticism and consternation of what the rankings wrought.  This probably hit its crescendo with the 2007 article in Time magazine entitled The College Rankings Revolt.  Since then many law schools have simply whimpered off, vowing to do whatever is necessary to game the U.S. News rankings.

How bad is the U.S. News ranking system.  Well, I think The New York Times got it right in 2005 with its article The $8.78 Million Maneuver, in which it asked the question "What do the water bills at Stanford have in common with the library expenditures at the University of Illinois"?  The U.S. News rankings are a scam, and in my estimation they are costing law students millions of dollars in excess and unnecessary tuition and expenses.

Also, if it rankings that prospects want, then a comparison should be made of the Cooley Law School's rankings.  As explained by Cooley President and Dean Don LeDuc, the objection to the U.S. News and World Report rankings is that “U.S. News uses a system that lacks objectivity because it is commercial. Their rankings reflect elitist values, like exclusivity in admissions and the inherent prejudice that comes from heavy reliance on reputation, which is introduced without consideration of knowledge about the law schools among those assessing their reputations.”

I have mixed feeling about the Cooley Law School model, but they have helped a lot of students get law degrees and law licenses that might not ordinarily have access to an ABA law school, and its rankings might not be overly commercial, but it might reflect the Cooley model a little too favorably.  For example, although Cooley does not have the audacity to list itself as the number one law school in the country, it believes it is number 12.  That probably is not accurate in the estimation of most experts.  The law school in my estimation is much, much better than the treatment it gets at the hands of U.S. News, and it is not as good as it treats itself in its own ranking of the law schools.  But, it is a point of comparison.  That is what perspective law students need.

Cooley's rankings of all law schools are interesting and seem to rely on more pragmatic data that potential law students should consider.

Here are the rankings in Judging the Law Schools:

1. Harvard University
2. Georgetown University
3. New York University
4. University of Virginia
5. University of Texas
6. University of Michigan
7. Northwestern University
8. Columbia University
9. Yale Law School
10. George Washington University
11. University of Minnesota
12. Thomas M. Cooley Law School
13. Fordham University
14. University of California-Los Angeles
15. American University
16. University of Pennsylvania
17. University of California-Hastings
18. Stanford University
19. University of Maryland
20. University of California-Berkeley

Rounding out the Top 50 were:

21. Loyola Law School
22. Temple University
23. Brooklyn Law School
24. University of Wisconsin
25. Boston University
26. University of Miami
27. Duke University
28. Washington University
29. Chicago-Kent College of Law
30. University of Houston
31. University of Chicago
32. Emory University
33. University of Connecticut
34. University of Iowa
35. Suffolk University
36. Indiana University-Bloomington
37. SMU Dedman School of Law
38. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
39. Boston College
40. Ohio State University
41. University of Alabama
42. Seton Hall University
43. Vanderbilt University
44. University of North Carolina
45. Cornell Law School
46. Catholic University
47. Tulane University
48. University of Illinois
49. University of Denver
50. University of San Diego

Comments

[Larry Brown]

Another great article, Chuck. I personally place little stock in rankings and, as a Cooley student, did not even know where Cooley ranked. I chose Cooley because they gave me a chance that I would not otherwise have had.

I have known lawyers that graduated from "top" ranked schools and are mediocre in practice. I have also known lawyers that graduated from second or third tier schools and are very intelligent, both in legal theory and practice.

I agree that rankings are a scam and have been relegated to nothing more than an all out race to win at all costs. Unfortunately, the costs are usually high and are paid by the students.

[PerGynt]

The rankings don't seem to have much to do with the quality of legal education you get at the rated law schools. Beyond that I'm not sure what the point is.