Major Changes at the Top of the Above the Law Ranking
Call it a changing of the guard in the new Above the Law ranking of the Top 50 American law schools. Last year, Virginia Law and Chicago Law held the #1 and #2 spots respectively. This year? Well, they’re still Top 5, but behind two programs often relegated to the bottom of most Top 10 lists.
Yes, the Above the Law ranking challenges convention. Yale Law, the long-time darling of U.S. News & World Report? Not even Top 5. Harvard Law? Doesn’t even crack the Top 10. Stanford Law? Think 21st – and the fourth-best law school in California!
Why such a drastic difference from U.S. News? According to Above the Law, the methodology is focused on outcomes – as in jobs and bar passage – over inputs like LSAT scores.
“Our formula incorporates six factors. Employment represents the bulk of a school’s score as the key element of two separately weighted criteria: legal employment (full-time, long-term jobs that require bar passage) and “quality jobs” (which include positions in large, typically high-paying law firms and federal judicial clerkships). Ours are the only rankings that include the latest ABA employment data for the Class of 2024. We also factor in first-time bar passage rate and the cost of obtaining a law degree. The final two components weigh the number of alumni serving as federal judges and the number who have clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court.”
To see the exact weights, click here.
Which are this year’s surprises at the top? Which schools are rising and falling from the previous year? Click here to see this year’s Above the Law ranking.
Want A’s In Law School? Try AI
Reuters: “The latest generation of generative artificial intelligence can ace most law school final exams, a new study has found.
OpenAI’s newest model, called o3, earned grades ranging from A+ to B on eight spring finals given by faculty at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, researchers found in a new paper published on SSRN.
Those high grades represent a significant improvement from previous studies done on earlier versions of ChatGPT, also from OpenAI, which scored B’s, C’s, and even one D’s when researchers had them take law school finals in 2022 and 2023, according to the paper.
To continue reading, click here.
Notre Dame Law School
Notre Dame Law Starts Veterans Clinic
Notre Dame University: “Notre Dame Law School is proud to announce the launch of a new Veterans Law Clinic, dedicated to providing free legal assistance to U.S. military veterans in matters such as disability claims and appeals.
The clinic will begin operation in the Fall of 2025, and it will offer critical support to veterans while creating opportunities for law students to gain hands-on experience advocating for those who have served the nation.
“Our new Veterans Law Clinic is essential for two reasons: it provides students with the opportunity to apply what they’re learning in the classroom to real-world cases, and it serves veterans who need help navigating the complexities of the disability benefits system,” said G. Marcus Cole, the Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law. “At Notre Dame Law School, we firmly believe that anyone who has served our country deserves the benefits they’ve earned, and as Notre Dame Lawyers, we have a special obligation to ensure veterans receive those benefits.”
To read more, click here.
