NU Law Dean Adjusts 'Super Lawyers' Rankings to Reflect Law School Size
A new ranking of law schools by the Super Lawyers magazine admittedly didn’t take into account the number of graduates.
And class size does matter, according to Northwestern University School of Law Dean David Van Zandt. So he has reconfigured the rankings, which are based on the number of Super Lawyers produced by each law school, to factor in the number of graduates, reports Above the Law.
His revised list of the top 14 law schools, which Van Zandt sent out in an e-mail to students, still puts Harvard Law School in the No. 1 spot, followed by the University of Michigan. But it moves Northwestern up from 18th to 8th place.
The new list also puts Yale University and the University of Chicago in third and fourth place, respectively, replacing the University of Texas and the University of Virginia. Virginia now ranks fifth on the new list, and Texas isn’t in the top 14.
“As you know, I am a proponent of rankings in general and believe they provide a useful source of consumer information for applicants as well as employers,” says Van Zandt in the e-mail. “While their methodology needs improving, I applaud Super Lawyers Magazine for developing a ranking that is based on career performance outputs.”
A Northwestern law school spokeswoman confirms to the ABA Journal that Van Zandt sent the e-mail to students but says he does not wish to comment further.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Schools Ranked by ‘Super Lawyers’ Produced”
Updated at 4:04 p.m. to include Van Zandt’s comments from e-mail and clarify Northwestern’s ranking on original Super Lawyers list.
