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Where Did America’s “Super Lawyers” Go To School?

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s…a lawyer?
Among comic book heroes, we know that Batman (Bruce Wayne) is a Yale Law alum, while Daredevil (Matt Murdock) earned his J.D. from Columbia Law. But neither would qualify to be a “super lawyer.” You see, Super Lawyers is a magazine and rating service that evaluates attorneys from “more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.” Super Lawyers adds that its “selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.”
So forget secret identities, cool gadgets, and heightened senses here. Super lawyers are just the best-of-the-best, whose track records and contributions make them the go-to people in the legal profession.
There is a cliché that goes like this: ‘It’s not where you start but where you finish that matters.’ Of course, it is much easier to reach your destination when you start from the right place. Maybe that’s why Online Paralegal Programs recently compiled a chart showing, state-by-state, what percentage of super lawyers attended which law schools.
Wondering which law schools produce the high performers in your state. Check out this infographic. It’s packed with surprises:

• Despite grading out at #9 overall in the latest U.S. News Law School rankings, California-Berkeley ranks behind California-Hastings in the percentage of super lawyers in northern California. But don’t shed a tear for Berkeley, which comprises 13% of northern California’s super lawyers. Stanford only has 5% (despite ranking #3 overall).

• So where do most super lawyers in New York come from? Try the University of Buffalo-SUNY, The University of Albany-SUNY, and Syracuse. However, Columbia and NYU are the two highest producers of super lawyers in New York City. 

• Looking to make a splash in South Carolina? Well, you’d better earn a J.D. from the University of South Carolina. 78% of super lawyers in the palmetto state are Gamecocks. Talk about a network!

• Think Ann Arbor graduates the most distinguished lawyers in Michigan. Nope. That honor belongs to Wayne State, where 1 of every 4 super performers once studied at midtown.  

• Alaska doesn’t have a law school. So where do their attorneys come from? The highest percentage of Alaska’s super lawyers arrived from Williamette College in Oregon. And who’s #2? Would you believe Harvard?

• UCLA and USC may rank #17 and #18 respectively on U.S. News, but UCLA has produced 14% percent of southern California’s super lawyers, while USC lags behind at 8%. And Loyola ranks above both of them.

Source: Business Insider