How Lawyers Rank Law Schools

Source: Tipping the Scales analysis based on U.S. News & World Report 2015 law school ranking
Not all of these programs received low marks. Ohio State, for example, has averaged a 3.5 median score from lawyers and judges for two consecutive years. However, this score is still lower than similarly-ranked schools like Wake Forest or the University of North Carolina (and lower than schools below them like California-Hastings). Similarly, one ‘overperformer’, Florida State University, actually notched a higher score from the U.S. News sample than the previous year.
Overall,most schools labeled as overperformers saw large decreases in their median assessment score, most notably the University of Washington, (-0.3), the University of Utah (-0.3), Louisiana State University (-0.5), and the University of Alabama (-0.4). However, the University of Alabama and the University of Washington have jumped 15 and 10 spots respectively over the past 5 years. What’s more, these schools maintained 86% and 79% placement rates, higher than some top 20 schools ranked above them. In Louisiana State’s defense, they rose 4 spots in the 2015 rankings, along with increasing their placement rate to 83.9%. In short, employers apparently like their graduates more than the U.S. News survey sample did.
The biggest overperformers were the University of Connecticut, Florida State University, Georgia State University, and the University of Houston. Each of these schools ranked in the bottom half of the U.S. News’ top 100 according to lawyers and judges. Collectively, they rank between 45-65 overall (and likely much higher without the survey’s 15% weight holding them down).