Top Law Schools

I'm just curious what people think about Above the Law. They have a very different ranking system than USNEWS based almost entirely on employment prospects, and so they end up getting a very different scale. What do people think? I assume people will agree ATL is a better ranking guide, but does it have additional shortcomings? Things like clerkships - I imagine those don't matter to *most* applicants.

Just don't worry about any rankings and just focus on job placement, geographic placement, and cost.

BigZuck wrote:Just don't worry about any rankings and just focus on job placement, geographic placement, and cost.

So in other words - meh

It's a handful of people who operate what essentially amounts to the E! Entertainment of the legal world, which is not very entertaining and thus requires them to scour online blogs for front page material. Although Mr. Mystal seems to be very intelligent, his website serves no purpose whatsoever and certainly shouldn't be relied upon in making any decision of any kind ever. Despite all the flaws in the USNews ranking system, it is infinitely more valuable than the Above the Law rankings, because it has a value greater than 0.

BigZuck wrote:Just don't worry about any rankings and just focus on job placement, geographic placement, and cost.

Thanks for the response. I'm more just looking for a shorthand ranking - I'd obviously pay more attention to specifics when it acceptance letters come rolling in. I use law school reports a lot for the employment figures and find that it's the best quick reference.

atl is a farce, and is stunningly uninformative
penn (ranked 4) is not a better school than yale (ranked 5)
similar w/r/t ut (14), vandy (15), bc (16), iowa (17) unm (18) or ucla (19) vs gulc (20)
no one believes akron (lst employment score: 46.8%) is a "tier 1" school

all rankings are bad
usnwr is really bad
atl is an absolute abomination

One of their 'star' contributors, Keith Lee, is a fifth year associate who graduated from an unaccredited school- Birmingham School of Law- make of that as you wish.

I would post his linked in but laxbrah might have another nervous breakdown.

ATL rankings are a joke. There isn't a one-size-fits-all method to rank law schools--period. If your goal is to work in a major market at a large law firm (and/or to get a federal clerkship before that job), then USNWR is valuable insofar as it indicates 14 or so schools that generally make that happen (though it provides essentially no value w/r/t choosing between the ~14). It's all about the individual's specific circumstances and goals.

the only thing atl is useful for is reporting changes to the associate salary scale

on this front they are incredibly accurate

Brut wrote:the only thing atl is useful for is reporting changes to the associate salary scale

on this front they are incredibly accurate

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Brut wrote:the only thing atl is useful for is reporting changes to the associate salary scale

on this front they are incredibly accurate