Any advice about which one to chose for securities and corporate law? I believe I will take Harvard but the doubt is killing me...

I know it does not answer your question but where are you from (just to know about Columbia's process)?

I'm from Spain.

My feeling is that Harvard is more "academic" oriented.
Maybe it is something to take into account.

The view amongst academics is that at Columbia the new wave of top flight academics are coming into their own, whilst some of the 'big names' at Harvard are past their best.
NYC is cooler than Cambridge, especially if you're coming from abroad! Generally,the only difference is that Harvard has a greater global prestige, so far as I can tell.

Hello,

Go to Harvard, not only because Harvard has a great curriculum in your field (and not that academic), but also because the three law schools that are considered above the others are Yale, Stanford and Harvard. If you make it within one of them, you should not hesitate. Hesitation should only come into account if you're admitted to several of them.

Someone wrote that best Harvard professors are past their peak. In my field (legal history), at least, Harvard has undertaken recently an aggressive recruitement campaign to coup some of the best scholars (Michael Klarman, Bruce Mann, and Mary Dudziak) from other schools. Is something similar happening in other fields?

Thank you vey much for all your thoughts. I really appreciate your advice. I believe I will take Harvard but I am convinced that Columbia is a very good school in my field of interest and it is in NYC...
Regarding the recruitment process I know Harvard recruited professor Tarullo for International Economic Law...

Any other thought guys? Thanks a lot for your responses!

HLS is not bad in the field of corporate governance.