The 2011 US News rankings will be released in about 2 days: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools

I have long sustained that LLM decisions should not be based purely on these rankings (see http://www.llm-guide.com/board/87303), but it is undeniable that they play an important role in the decision of which school to attend.

In what may be a sign of changes to come, a March 2011 note by US news said that the survey of hiring partners put, for the first time, Harvard ahead of Yale:
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2011/03/07/law-firm-recruiters-rank-best-law-schools

The table below highlights the top 25 law schools as ranked by hiring partners at the U.S. News-Best Lawyers Best Law Firms. To see the complete list of more than 100 schools, visit usnews.com on March 15.

Rank School Average Reputation Score (5.0=highest)
1. Harvard University 4.9
2. Stanford University 4.8
2. Yale University 4.8
4. Columbia University 4.7
4. University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 4.7
6. New York University 4.6
6. University of Virginia 4.6
8. Cornell University 4.5
8. Duke University 4.5
8. Northwestern University 4.5
8. University of California--Berkeley 4.5
8. University of Chicago 4.5
13. Georgetown University 4.4
13. University of Pennsylvania 4.4
15. Vanderbilt University 4.3
15. Washington University in St. Louis 4.3
17. University of Texas--Austin 4.2
18. Boston University 4.1
18. Emory University 4.1
18. University of California--Los Angeles 4.1
18. University of Minnesota--Twin Cities 4.1
18. University of Notre Dame 4.1
18. University of Southern California 4.1
18. Washington and Lee University 4.1
25. Boston College 4.0
25. University of Iowa 4.0
25. University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill 4.0
(Note: due to ties, there are more than 25 schools listed here.)

Again, THIS IS NOT THE NEW RANKING, but solely one of its components!
EDIT: PROF. LEITNER ACCUSES US NEWS OF FRAUD: http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2011/03/us-news-rankings-fraud-watch.html

Feel free to express your opinion and please post the new RANKINGS as soon as you see them!

Little question about the rankings : they're all for JD

So at which extent do they apply to LLM students? Do hiring law firms follow those ranking for LLM guys the same way they do for JD ?

Little question about the rankings : they're all for JD

So at which extent do they apply to LLM students? Do hiring law firms follow those ranking for LLM guys the same way they do for JD ?

I think this rankings question has been done to death. I also think that in terms of LLM, there is less focus on the institution and more focus on the program one is intending to specialise in. So for example, I am told by my professor that for global health, GULC and Uni of Toronto are the best programs to attend in North America, but of course someone who is interested in tax law would find NYU more appealing.

And this importance of rankings also seems to me to overshadow other considerations too - your future career intentions and your academic performance, where you wish to be based long term. For me, I wish to go back to Australia for academia and so the main thing is that I show good research potential with a good research track - as long as I completed my studies at a reasonably reputable university, it is acceptable. Rankings take a back seat to my own merit and ability. Sorry, but sometimes when I see people putting all their decisions on something as subjective as rankings, I really wonder!

I believe most of us understand this ranking record is an evaluation of their J.D. program. We, the LLM applicant, may take this ranking as a reference for our application list, not a serious one.
I have to admit that this record does have a kind of function, especially when you know little about your future choice. However, I would like to say the truely attractive characteristic of every profession is based on his/her achievements and potential of study, rather than what school he/she attended.
As we all know that different schools may have their own powerful fields and many schools are too close to rank.

All in all, just choose your own favorite school and that will be your best place to go.

Greetings Oldtimer, I've been reading most of your recent posts and I should say I share your opinions. I also consider myself a senior guy (maybe not so senior as you lol, but still a senior please take this as a praise) comparing to the majority of the colleagues and friends which join this Guide. Fortunately, I took the right decision of taking an LLM at US on my thirties (something i'm doing now) . And I assert that with the peace of mind that years of experience provide to a person. The experience I had of jumping into a LLM two months after getting my first law degree had shown me how precious is to get some real good experience before spending some $ on another one. (and i'm not talking about a couple of years only which seems to be the most used expression to distinguish an experienced lawyer from a rookie)
A Note: For those passionate readers who might understand this as a message that get into a postgraduation (wherever it may be, home country or abroad) right after your first law degree is a waste of time and money... please, DONT! As I said, I did mine and I dont regret at all. It helped me a lot on getting real good job positions during my first years, but it is undeniable that my lack of experience that time prevented me of having a more participative role during classes (at least as the way I wanted) and, mainly, squeezing out all the knowledge and wisdom from those prestigious professors. So, if I'm up to spend some green dollars on a US LLM, guess I have better tools now to enjoy it from the very first second I step into the classroom.

Now, having introduced myself, let's get straight to the point: Rankings!
hmm, let's see...very interesting...for instance, it seems that University of Chicago has been plunged to the eighth, neck to neck with Northwestern, Duke, Cornell, behind Michigan and one step ahead of Georgetown.

These ranking are something... Personally, rankings are just one of the various elements of a complex and subjective math which every applicant should do in order to decide the Law School that suits him better. That said, I rather keep with the idea of tiers, where you can group schools together in the same level than just keeping follow this car racing and trying to figure out what should have caused these changing of Law schools positions. I know, its also not a perfect method, but I think is more fair and more likely to avoid majors distortions. But Im curious how those who fiercely justify their opinions as to getting into one law school or another solely based on such ranking argument shall handle with that piece of data. Should they review now their position, should they now consider an adendum on their previous posts? Cls vs Chicago, NU vs Duke, GULC vs NYU, the super ivy league...I just love to read those posts and see how this subject can deeply and emotionally affect some applicants.
Well, I do not intend to discuss the value or reliability of such data, but one thing I cant take for granted: its potential to cause debate and controversy.

See ya

Greetings Oldtimer, I've been reading most of your recent posts and I should say I share your opinions. I also consider myself a senior guy (maybe not so senior as you lol, but still a senior please take this as a praise) comparing to the majority of the colleagues and friends which join this Guide.
...
hmm, let's see...very interesting...for instance, it seems that University of Chicago has been plunged to the eighth, neck to neck with Northwestern, Duke, Cornell, behind Michigan and one step ahead of Georgetown.

someone correctly underlined that we LLMs are not directly concerned by these rankings, as they're based upon JD programs only.

That being said, for the pure joy of betting and speculating, I dare to foresee UChicago and Berkeley narrowing their gap over NYU and perhaps Columbia (it will be a matter of 1-2% points). Yale leading -as always- over Harvard and Stanford. Hope Northwestern gains a position...

someone correctly underlined that we LLMs are not directly concerned by these rankings, as they're based upon JD programs only.

That being said, for the pure joy of betting and speculating, I dare to foresee UChicago and Berkeley narrowing their gap over NYU and perhaps Columbia (it will be a matter of 1-2% points). Yale leading -as always- over Harvard and Stanford. Hope Northwestern gains a position...

Whether you agree with them or not, the new rankings will be out in about 9:00 hrs:
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools

PS: Cannot resist to point that the rationality and moderation of this thread contrasts considerably with the advise given in the "A v. B law school" discussions elsewhere in this board...

Oldtimer, excellent post...However...in the LLM decision there are more factors to take into consideration that this JD ranks list......for example...two points to be considered...1. International Reputation.....in the list...you may see that UCLA stands in the same place as UofMinnesota...nevertheless, although Minnesota is recognized in the US...it does not have the same reputation that UCLA outside the US....considering that many people take the LLM from outside the US.....international reputation is a very important point to be considered....2. In addition to that.....this rankings do not consider that some universities are quite good in some programs...for example...NYU has an excellent reputation in taxation...others in intellectual property...international....i.e..Cardozo has an excellent reputation in some fields..but you do not see as a first tier university.....Then...as mentioned by others...LLM programs cannot be defined by these ranking....

Oldtimer, I say give it till the rankings are actually out provided of course that there are any significant changes as opposed to last year's for the moderation to end :) Of course freepuertorico has a valid point that LLM considerations differ significantly from the JD ones the US News rankings are the first thing all of us bump into when we first consider which law schools to apply to. Is there any hearsay of any expected significant changes in the list?

Thank you FreePuertoRico. I agreewith you on the overall rankings issue. It is not clear how important they are for LLMs, which does not mean they are not important at all.

I also fully agree with you on the reputation in your home country part. Just to give an example, where I come from, Cambridge is the town where Harvard is.. Lol Why, because our politicians go to Oxford so nobody has ever heard of Cambridge university!

On the specialized rankings, just to note that US News also has rankings per specialty on issues such as tax, international law, environmental law etc. The typical discussion you will see in the A v. B discussions in this board is that while one is better positioned in the overall ranking, the other is positioned better in the specialty (think of Harvard vs. NYU in a tax program).

Again, I am big skeptic of taking decisions based on rankings (really, read the other thread I included above) but it is undeniable that they play a role.

lol, the timer changes when you change your time or the date of your computer :
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools

Try to put the date of tomorrow (March 15) and then go back in the website ! ;)

LOL! This probably means that the website was designed by a lawyer! :P

Would somebody in Fiji or Tuvalu please let is know??

Haha Aky, good spy work. However, despite the 0000 on the timer, it's still just the 2010 rankings up. I suppose we have to wait the extra 5 hours unless you have managed to crack the system :)

I am very surprised they have not been leaked at this point like previous years. So much for not caring much about the rankings ... he, he, he =)

I told you oldtimer, everyone will act cool until a few hours before they are released and surely right after if they are spicy enough to change last year's pie ;)

This year there will be some major changes !
You'll see guys ;)

In case you guys are interested, the US News presents a "sneak peek" of the 2012 ranking game, "in alphabetical order", here are the top 10 highest-ranked law schools:

Columbia University (NY)
Harvard University (MA)
New York University
Stanford University (CA)
University of California--Berkeley
University of Chicago
University of Michigan--Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virginia
Yale University (CT)

Below you can find a link to the article:

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2011/03/14/2012-best-graduate-schools-preview-top-10-law-schools