An acquaintance who is currently a lawyer sent me these rankings as alternative US News. Does anyone take them seriously? For me, I want to practice in Phoenix so was planning on going to ASU (ranked like 120 here) but I was also accepted to Florida (#8) and Tulane (#36). It makes me feel like I am being an idiot to choose ASU over UF...
http://www.superlawyers.com/toplists/la ... ates/2009/
Super Lawyers rankings Forum
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dextermorgan
- Posts: 1134
- Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:37 am
Re: Super Lawyers rankings
These are sham rankings no one cares about. Use the search button.
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MSUPHL
- Posts: 105
- Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2009 9:07 am
Re: Super Lawyers rankings
all i needed to hear, thank you.
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ms9
- Posts: 2999
- Joined: Sun May 03, 2009 4:28 pm
Re: Super Lawyers rankings
They simply favor large law schools with more alumni than the smaller schools. It is one-dimensional.
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KibblesAndVick
- Posts: 533
- Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2010 5:29 am
Re: Super Lawyers rankings
Their retort... http://blog.superlawyers.com/2009/11/ar ... ze-matter/
"Above the Law reports that Dean Van Zandt of Northwestern Law School believes we should have taken class size into account when ranking law schools. Our rankings are based on a simple count of lawyers selected to 2009 Super Lawyers. The Dean ran his own numbers using a weighted average method based on enrollment in 1999. Using this approach, Northwestern rises from our ranking of 18th to 8th in the nation.
Prior to releasing our rankings, we too prepared a test ranking using a weighted average based on the enrollment figures from the ABA for 2007-08 (we gave a 1/2 weighting to part time students). When we ran the numbers, Northwestern didn't fare so well. In fact, they dropped out of the top 25.
The Dean's approach sounds completely reasonable (although we're not sure what numbers he used). And he is certainly not alone in believing that we should have employed a weighted average approach. But this also illustrates the problem of trying to apply a weighted average based on ever-shifting class sizes over the last 10 to 30 years. It's not as simple and easy as it sounds. Change the enrollment year, change the weight you accord part-time students, and the rankings shift.
We are open to employing a weighted average approach the next time we release our rankings. One method we're studying would be based on total living alums which I'm told is reported by law schools to the ABA each year. This might solve the changing enrollment problem.
As for our head count method-- a straightforward outcome-based measurement of excellence -- I maintain there is beauty in simplicity . "
Even if we accept the metric as valid in and of itself, it only shows how many people from a given school go on to become "Super Lawyers". The fact that 5% of UF's class goes on to achieve this doesn't help you much if you're in the other 95%. You're going to want a metric or metrics that describes what happens to the average as well as below average students.
"Above the Law reports that Dean Van Zandt of Northwestern Law School believes we should have taken class size into account when ranking law schools. Our rankings are based on a simple count of lawyers selected to 2009 Super Lawyers. The Dean ran his own numbers using a weighted average method based on enrollment in 1999. Using this approach, Northwestern rises from our ranking of 18th to 8th in the nation.
Prior to releasing our rankings, we too prepared a test ranking using a weighted average based on the enrollment figures from the ABA for 2007-08 (we gave a 1/2 weighting to part time students). When we ran the numbers, Northwestern didn't fare so well. In fact, they dropped out of the top 25.
The Dean's approach sounds completely reasonable (although we're not sure what numbers he used). And he is certainly not alone in believing that we should have employed a weighted average approach. But this also illustrates the problem of trying to apply a weighted average based on ever-shifting class sizes over the last 10 to 30 years. It's not as simple and easy as it sounds. Change the enrollment year, change the weight you accord part-time students, and the rankings shift.
We are open to employing a weighted average approach the next time we release our rankings. One method we're studying would be based on total living alums which I'm told is reported by law schools to the ABA each year. This might solve the changing enrollment problem.
As for our head count method-- a straightforward outcome-based measurement of excellence -- I maintain there is beauty in simplicity . "
Even if we accept the metric as valid in and of itself, it only shows how many people from a given school go on to become "Super Lawyers". The fact that 5% of UF's class goes on to achieve this doesn't help you much if you're in the other 95%. You're going to want a metric or metrics that describes what happens to the average as well as below average students.
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kittenmittons
- Posts: 1453
- Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2009 1:24 pm
Re: Super Lawyers rankings
Super Lawyers is just a business development scheme
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