Even though the official release date of the 2009 law school rankings is due on Friday March 28th 2008, the new rankings are already published on the internet (in particular on amlaw and theshark).

According to such websites (where you can find a pdf version which lists all top 100) the purported new top 10 is as follows:
1/ Yale University
2/ Harvard University, Stanford University
4/ Columbia University
5/ New York University
6/ University of California Berkeley
7/ University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania
9/ Northwestern University, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, University of Virginia

So, apparently, this year big winners are Columbia, Berkeley and Northwestern....

PS. I have just found this out by typing "u.s. news law school rankings 2009" on google

I found the same rankings on abovethelaw:
1. Yale Law School (100)
2. (tie) Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School (91)
4. Columbia Law School (88)
5. New York University School of Law (85)
6. University of California Berkeley (formerly Boalt Hall) (81)
7. University of Chicago Law School / University of Pennsylvania Law School (80)
9. Northwestern University School of Law / University of Michigan Law School (Ann Arbor) / University of Virginia School of Law (79).

So, YLS is still in a league of its own, HLS, SLS and CLS are running behind with - more or less - 10 points difference, NYU is in middle earth and all the others are tied in two points (81-80-79).

Will Berkeley celebrate the 6th place?

Compared to last year rankings:
CLS gained 1 place, up to #4 (and five points increase!);
Berkeley went straight from 8 to 6;
Uchicago and UPenn lost one spot and so do UMichigan;
while UVA gained 1 and NW gained 3.

Comments?
I checked on abovethelaw: American students are discussing a lot over the new rankings and it is quite interesting to actually see how rankings are important in the US

Could you provide us with the link? I simply don't see it. Thanks.

You may google "2009 Law School Ranking" and get it...

This is the link to the pdf
http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/ca/USNews.pdf

This is the link to the pdf
http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/ca/USNews.pdf

You can find the new (leaked and unofficial) 2009 U.S. News & World Report Law School Rankings on:
http://www.abovethelaw.com/2008/03/us_news_rankings_1.php

I've got it. Thanks!

If you plan to look for a job afterwards, you might want to consider the novel law school ranking by Vault. http://www.vault.com/lawschool/top25/

Since Vault is a very respected institution in matters of law firms and legal careers, this ranking might become quite influential in the near future.
best regards

123

Hey all

I found the column "employed 8 months after graduation" really interesting [and mportant], do anybody here have this information for LLM graduates?

I guess the pdf stats apply to JD only.

Thanks
maurice

The rankings apply only to J.D.
I don't think there are any stats concerning LLM graduates...but anyhow, and with all due precautions, the J.D. rankings can be used also by foreign graduates applying to U.S. Law schools

So sad to see NYU down one spot to 5th place again...maybe we will come back next year!

Last year the thread relevant to the new rankings was very active, apparently this year a lot of people read the thread but do not provide any comments...strange, because rankings are cited almost everywhere on this internet website.

I'd like to take that as a good sign; these sorts of rankings are not only significantly flawed at the J.D. level, but for an LL.M. in particular I hope they would only play a tiny part in the decision-making process.

Obviously a degree from Harvard will move your career along faster than one from the Alabama Institute of Technology, but otherwise these "rankings" shouldn't affect a choice between Harvard and Yale, or between Stanford and NYU.

I agree with you Bender...if you have time on your hands have a look at the blog on abovethelaw.com; american students are crazy about rankings: people from UChicago are feeling miserable because of the drop while Berkely students are celebrating! It sounds incredible but that's the way it is

The official ranking is out:


http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/law/search

Thank you dynamo!
So the leaked version was correct.

Does anyone have the new specialized rankings? IP for example..

It's nice to see "my" university ranked #11 (vault ranking) and #15 (us news ranking).


Taken into account the exclusive size of the llm program, the academic excellence of the director of the program (who is also prof. in corporate law), and the unbelievable efforts from really everyone at the law school to make every student feel welcome, vanderbilt has definitely one of the best llm programs in the US.