OT- Bama law school ranked #35

When it comes to law schools, the only rankings that really matter are the t14. After that, you're mostly looking for the best law school you can attend based on the region where you want to work.

I think the biggest issue the law school faces in the rankings is that it's really a regional school and most of the SEC schools ahead of us now are located in larger legal markets* (Vandy grads typically get jobs outside of the Nashville market, but I don't see many UGA, UF, and A&M law grads at firms in NYC or other major metro areas outside of the immediate South).

*I have no idea what the market is for A&M law grads since most people I know who went to law school in Texas were U of Texas or bust.

They re-did how they calculate the rankings. Unfortunately that resulted in UA dropping, but I do think the new calculation makes way more sense.

Before they much more weighted stupid prestige metrics. Categories like "What do other law school admins/faculty think of your school" and "What do lawyers and judges think of your school." They also heavily weighted incoming student data, like incoming LSAT/GPA and admission rate. They also over-weighted money spent per student.

Now they've reduced all those categories to weight what really matters, which is outcome for students. Rates of employment, average starting salary, and bar passage rates are now much more important to the rankings.

And that's what it should be, they made a good call with this. You go to law school to became a lawyer (aka pass the bar), and get a great job. That's what students are looking for when selecting schools, so it makes sense that the rankings, which are a tool for students to select the right school for them, should reflect the quality of outcome a student should expect to get.

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Now they've reduced all those categories to weight what really matters, which is outcome for students. Rates of employment, average starting salary, and bar passage rates are now much more important to the rankings

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1. Rate of employment: Agreed that this is a good metric
2. Avg starting salary: Does this factor location? If so, southern schools are not going to rank real high here
3. Bar passage: Agreed that this is a good metric. But also tough for Louisiana law students as they are under Naploeonic code

I would like them to factor in internships/clerkships in some way but I don't know how they would do that or how they would measure it

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2. Avg starting salary: Does this factor location? If so, southern schools are not going to rank real high here
3. Bar passage: Agreed that this is a good metric. But also tough for Louisiana law students as they are under Naploeonic code

I would like them to factor in internships/clerkships in some way but I don't know how they would do that or how they would measure it

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I believe the salary metric does have a CoL adjustment to it.

The LA French system thing is overblown. LA law schools teach the differences that are necessary for students intending to practice in state. There's no data to suggest the LA bar is any harder than most other states. If anything, California schools are disadvantaged as they notoriously have the most difficult bar exam.

Clerkships (primarily federal) are factored in as well. As are full-time funded fellowships. I don't believe in-law-school internships are a factor. And if you're an intern after graduating law school and passing the bar... you've done something wrong.

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There's the Nashville School of Law that's a great deal but it doesn't rank bc its a night school and it's near impossible to practice out of state.

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This is not correct. Just because something is cheap does not mean it's a good value. Nashville School of Law is an unaccredited school with one of the very worst bar pass rates in the country (below 30%). Statistically, if you attend Nashville School of Law, despite investing 4 years and tens of thousands of dollars into their diploma, you will never be able to practice law. Students would be better off going to paralegal school, or getting an MBA, and making a career through some other path, than going to Nashville School of Law.

And sure, I know there are probably exceptions. A handful of successful lawyers who graduated from there. But for the majority of people who go there, it's a scam. They will never get what they paid for, which is to become a practicing attorney.

Apples vs oranges. The typical NSL student is someone well beyond the typical age of a law student and prob. well entrenched in another field such as real estate or finance.

Any thoughts on my woke comments?

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Apples vs oranges. The typical NSL student is someone well beyond the typical age of a law student and prob. well entrenched in another field such as real estate or finance.

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This doesn't change the fact they will have wasted four years of their life and tens of thousands of dollars. I also doubt NSL is getting high-performing professionals in fields like real estate or finance. Those individuals probably have the competency to both select and gain admittance into a decent program. Or to at least realize that an NSL degree would be a waste of their time and money.

Instead, schools like NSL prey on people in middle to low-middle class households who don't know any better, and are stretching themselves (financially, time commitment, stress, etc.) with the false hope that a law degree from NSL will raise them out of a lower paying job like a secretary position, or law enforcement, or K-12 public school teacher.

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Any thoughts on my woke comments?

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Probably true for state court judges in different places. Might be true of some minority of federal district court judges. It is certainly not true, or at least a very rare exception, to what goes on with the prestigious clerkships at the appellate and supreme court levels. Even if those judges wanted conservative clerks (the strong majority of JDs are politically liberal, by the way), there is a healthy pool of conservative kids to pluck from the federalist society at every top law school in the country.

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How about this school? Is it sufficient for your criteria?

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Detroit Mercy isn't a "good" law school. But, Detroit Mercy is closer to Yale than NSL is to Detroit Mercy. Detroit Mercy grads have an 80+ % 2 year ultimate bar passage rate. You may not be the next Scalia coming from Detroit Mercy, but you will likely have a respectable career as a practicing lawyer if that's what you want.

I find it to a post-modern term that that describes any and everything that supposedly overturns the power structure by rich white males. Among the most notorious examples are 1619 project, critical race theory, and CIA push for diversity.

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Some of the so-called top law schools are being second guessed with judges outright refusing clerks from them due to the recent woke renaissance.

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Left leaning law students at those schools were never going to clerk for those judges so all that does is hurt the right leaning students at said schools.