The "Go-To" Law Schools, According to the Biggest Law Firms

Law school applicants getting ready to choose a law school will undoubtedly face a competitive legal hiring market, along with the prospect of servicing enormous debt on graduation. While it's fair to say that not everyone graduating from law school wants to or will be able to work in a big law firm, there's no escaping that one measure of a law school is the rankings and statistics that tell us how that school does with placing graduates in the biggest law firms. So, even if you think you might opt to work in the public sector or in another position outside of the big law firm world, it's worth looking at law school placement numbers at the big law firms when making that decision.

The National Law Journal (NLJ),has compiled its rankings of the Top 50 "Go-To" schools based on the percentage of 2009 J.D. graduates who landed jobs at NLJ 250 firms by Sept. 30, 2009, using survey data submitted by the 250 top law firms as ranked by NLJ.


At the top of the NLJ list is Northwestern University School of Law, which placed 55.5% of its graduates at NLJ 250 firms -- a sharp decline from 2008, when the highest percentage of graduates heading to NLJ 250 firms was 70.5%.

The top 25 schools in The National Law Journal’s annual Go-To Law School List are as follows:
1) Northwestern University School of Law -- 55.9%
2) Columbia Law School -- 55.4%
3) Stanford Law School -- 54.1%
4) University of Chicago Law School -- 53.1%
5) University of Virginia School of Law -- 52.8%
6) University of Michigan Law School -- 51%
7) University of Pennsylvania Law School -- 50.8%
8) New York University School of Law -- 50.1%
9) University of California, Berkeley School of Law -- 50%
10) Duke Law School -- 49.8%
11) Harvard Law School -- 47.6&
12) Vanderbilt University Law School -- 47.1%
13) Georgetown University Law Center -- 42.8%
14) Cornell Law School -- 41.5%
15) University of Southern California Gould School of Law -- 41.3%
16) University of Texas School of Law -- 36.6%
17) University of California at Los Angeles School of Law -- 35.9%
18) Yale Law School -- 35.3%
19) Boston College Law School -- 34.6%
19) Boston University School of Law -- 34.6%
21) George Washington University Law School -- 31.6%
22) Fordham University School of Law -- 29.4%
23) University of Notre Dame Law School -- 28.8%
24) Washington University School of Law, St. Louis -- 27.5%
25. University of Illinois College of Law -- 26.7%

The NLJ reports that "the 2009 percentages include deferred associates, so an even smaller group actually went to work last year. Remember, the list consists of the very top performing schools, where job prospects in years past have proven recession-proof. Not so in 2009. We’ve ranked the top 50 law schools by the percentage of 2009 juris doctor graduates who snagged jobs at NLJ 250 firms by Sept. 30, 2009. Numbers are based on information gathered from our annual NLJ 250 survey—statistics we get from the nation’s largest law firms."

The NLJ also identified firm favorites—the schools from which the top law firms on the NLJ 250 recruited most of its first-years in 2009.

Listen to our full podcast "Choosing the Right Law School," for more information on this topic.

Law School Application Update: Up, Up, and Away!

The law school application season is just beginning to wind down, and the application numbers coming in are up, up and away. Applications are up at many schools, but the "away" award goes to Cornell Law School -- reporting a 52% increase over applications filed last year. Cornell Law School's Dean of Admissions, Richard Geiger, told the University’s paper he was as mystified as anyone. “The increase is probably the result of a number of things working together,” Geiger told the Cornell Daily Sun. “What I can’t explain is why it’s 50 percent and not 20 percent.”

A 20 percent increase is more consistent with trends nationwide. The number of people who took the LSAT climbed 20 percent in October 2009, reaching an all-time high of 60,746. The New York Times recently reported that many other schools have reported substantial increases in applications over last year. "Washington University in St. Louis has had a 19 percent year-to-date increase in applications to its college of law. At the University of San Francisco School of Law, applications are up 35 percent over last year, and at the University of Iowa’s College of Law, applications are up 39 percent." According to the New York Times, "applications to the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University have risen 54 percent this year, an increase that might be related to its rise in the U.S. News & World Report rankings to 23 in 2009, from 36 the year before."

Richard Geiger, Cornell's Dean of Admissions, cannot point to any obvious reason for the increase in applications. He told the New York Times, “I’m a little thrown off by the fact that our increase is much bigger than expected. There’s nothing big we’re doing to explain that kind of increase.” Cornell's U.S. News & World Report Ranking has remained relatively stable.

Dean Geiger said that the 52 percent increase in applications means that “we’ll be a little more cautious in making decisions.” He explained that “the increase in applications will make us scrutinize things a little more carefully since we don’t fully understand what this is all about.”

What does this mean for applicants? Well, increased competition, most likely. The Cornell University newspaper reports that the law school "does not plan to increase its enrollment cap and remains committed to continue as 'a small, intimate collegial law school.'”

For applicants still waiting to hear from Cornell, that's not good news. Like most law schools, Cornell accepts students on a rolling basis, and many have already received their acceptance letters. Future law school applicants might want to make note of that for next year. Law school admissions deans around the country have been guests on Law School Podcaster shows and they tell us this over and over -- with rolling admissions, getting a law school application in early is key.

Cornell Law School Dean of Admissions Richard Geiger will be a guest on an upcoming Law School Podcaster segment, "Getting In Off the Wait List."

Summer Associate Offers In January? NALP Report Recommends Changes in Recruiting At Law Schools

Ever wonder about the "logic" behind incoming 2L law students leaving their summer vacations in mid-August, heading back to campus, wearing their nicest business suits, to join the frenzied fray that is known as "on-campus interviewing (OCI)?"

Whether you look at it from the point of view of the students pressured to participate and decide early before fully considering the full range of employment options, the law firms trying to assess and anticipate future hiring needs two years in advance or the law schools pressured to schedule OCI just as the semester is starting, there's considerable dissatisfaction with the timing guidelines for law firm recruiting. Ashby Jones, Lead Writer for the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, observed in a recent Law School Podcaster show "the thing about law school and hiring is that it all happens in advance to a degree that a lot of people find sort of absurd."

These concerns, made worse by the economy, may finally lead to changes in the recruiting timeline. NALP's (National Association for Law Placement) Commission on Recruiting and the Legal Profession issued an initial report (PDF) this week recommending that law firms shift away from rolling offer deadlines to a framework based on specific dates ("Offer Kick-Off Days") before which offers for employment cannot be made. The ABA Journal reports that the NALP Commission recommends moving back the date for summer associate job offers until mid-January of the second year of law school (establishing an "offer kick-off day") and proposes "shortening the period of time during which offers remain open from 45 days to 14 days."

While this initial Phase I of the NALP Commission's report focused on potential changes that could be implemented as early as the 2010-2011 academic year, and thus focused mainly on timing guidelines, the NALP Commission also plans to look more closely at the topic of fundamental legal recruiting model changes. That could be pretty interesting.

While the American Lawyer reports that some law firms are worried the proposed changes will just mean they have to "wine and dine" candidates for a longer period of time, the NALP Commission suggests that a January Kick-Off Day might open up the possibility for employers "to experiment with more in-depth interviewing and assessment techniques" and "allow law firms to make decisions after receiving year-end financial data."

Jim Leipold, is the Executive Director at NALP, and was a recent guest on our Law School Podcaster segment, The Current Economic Envcironment: What It Means for Law School Applicants and Students. He gave us a bit of a preview of what we're hearing now and some insight into why the economy might be driving some of the possible changes in law firm recruiting. "Things were beginning to happen before the recession for a number of reasons but the recession accelerated most of those changes and I think will support those changes. I think, over time, we’ll see more firms drift toward recruiting later so, rather than the focus being on students as they return to school in the beginning of their second year, recruiting will probably begin to happen later in the second year, whether that’s late Fall or early Spring, and there too, different firms may choose to recruit at different times. So students are just going to have to be prepared for a much broader range of practices and understanding for each firm that they’re interested in what course that firm is choosing.”

To hear more on this topic, tune in to the full show, "The Current Economic Environment: What It Means for Law School Applicants and Students."

Making Your Law School Wish Lists? Make sure To Weigh The Costs and Benefits!

It’s a given these days that a law school education is expensive, just about any way you look at it. As you begin to draw up that list of law schools you are considering, you just can’t afford to ignore how cost affects your analysis. That issue came up as we prepared our show, Choosing the Right Law School: Understand the Factors That Will Affect Where You Want To Go To School.

Law School Podcaster Host Bonnie Petrie spoke with Linda Abraham, Founder, Admissions Consultant and Editor at Accepted.com. Accepted.com guides and advises applicants on gaining acceptance to law school. While Abraham says that the undergraduate GPA and LSAT score is the starting point to determine which law schools you’ll want to consider, there also “has to be a weighing up of cost and benefit.”

Abraham advises applicants to calculate the cost/benefit of attending a particular law school. “Look carefully at where graduates of [a] school are going and getting jobs and what is the typical salary they get when they graduate vis-a-vis what’s it going to cost you to attend.” If you go to an expensive private school and it’s not going to get you a job, you’ll have a lot of debt to pay back and not the means to pay it back.” She gave us the basics on how to approach this calculation.

Petrie also interviewed Wendy Margolis of the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC), the non-profit corporation that provides admission-related services to legal education institutions and also administers the LSAT. Margolis also suggested that applicants research thoroughly the placement rates from particular law schools and dig a little deeper at those schools and see what type of placements those are, what kind of jobs people have gotten after graduating from those law schools.” Given the current economy, placement rates are likely to be down, so this type of research may be more important than ever.

In this show, we also hear from Hewlett Askew, Consultant to the American Bar Association (ABA) on Legal Education. Askew gave us the low-down on the ABA accreditation process and what it means to attend an ABA accredited law school as well as when it might make sense for an applicant to consider a non-accredited law school or a non-accredited online school.

Tune in to the show to hear the full discussion of the factors to consider when choosing a law school.

You Law School Application: It's Not Just About Your GPA and LSAT Score

Wouldn’t you like to go behind-the-scenes and hear what the admissions committee really looks at when evaluating all those law school applications? We did that for you in our show titled “Creating the Killer Law School Application: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating the Best Application.” Our host, Diana Jordan, spoke to top law school admissions deans about what they look for in a candidate.

Andy Cornblatt, Dean of Admissions at Georgetown University Law Center advises applicants to “take ownership” of the application and “work hard on that essay” because the admissions committee looks at the total package, not just the GPA and LSAT score. He says that even where the GPA and LSAT score are not quite strong enough, students who present themselves in a particularly compelling manner, can gain admission. One way an applicant can maximize his or her chances, Cornblatt says, is to grab the attention of the admissions committee in “the first paragraph of the personal statement. That’s the one that sort of catches our eye or doesn’t. And that’s really in the applicant’s hands. And so I would say that working on the personal statement is very important in this process in catching our attention. That’s the most important piece of this.…” Cornblatt also shares with us some great tips on timing to submit an application that can really make the difference in getting accepted as well as some of the mistakes that cause an application to “miss the boat.”

What does the admissions committee really want to see in a “killer” personal statement? Ann Perry, Assistant Dean for Admissions at The University of Chicago Law School says that one type of personal statement that tends to stand out is where the applicant focuses on an individual experience that shows what they have accomplished (like an internship or even a single day in an internship) and one that shows how the applicant grew from that experience. Perry suggests that applicants “use that [opportunity] to show how they realized that “law school is the next step.”

We also get expert advice from Accepted.com Senior Consultant, Paul Bodine, author of Great Personal Statements for Law School about how to distinguish your personal statement from others, what to include and what not to include in this important part of your application. Derek E. Meeker, Senior Law School Consultant for AdmissionsConsultants, Inc. and former Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at University of Pennsylvania Law School also weighs in on how to nail those stellar letters of recommendation.

Check out the full show to learn more about the specific things that can make or break a personal statement or a letter of recommendation and that transform your application into a “killer” one.

Law School Podcaster Featured in iTunes "New and Notable"

Our first show is already getting some attention on iTunes. Law School Podcaster has been featured in the “new and notable” category of the Business/Careers section on iTunes. More Law School Podcaster shows are coming soon to iTunes, including “Creating the Killer Law School Application: A Step-By-step Guide To Creating The Best Application” and “Choosing the Right Law School: Understand The Factors That Will Affect Where You Want To Go To School.”

Is Law School In Your Future? It's Not Too Early To Map Out Your Game Plan!

In a tough economy, like the one we face today, there is increased competition to get into law school. If you’re considering law school as an option, you might want to start planning now to help you get into that school of your choice when you apply. You will need to develop a timeline to prepare for and take the LSAT®, consider how you will write a well-developed personal statement, lay the groundwork for securing strong letters of recommendations and, according to our experts inside the admission process, you will need to get your application finished and submitted as early in the application cycle as possible. They tell us to think in terms of a Thanksgiving deadline, to really help your application chances!

If you are in the process of applying to law school or, if you think you might want to apply in the near future, then tune into our show, Law School Strategic Admission Plan: What You Can Do Now to Help You Get Accepted Next Year, and hear how to strategically map out a plan that will improve your chances of being accepted at the law school of your choice.

Our host, Diana Jordan, spoke with law school admissions deans about the importance of developing a timeline early on to navigate the application process.

We discussed the importance of advance planning and a timeline with UCLA Law School's Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid, Rob Schwartz. “It’s best to start thinking about getting recommendations and preparing for the LSAT® at least a year in advance and preferably even as much as two years in advance because the recommendations, at least in our process here, are a very critical part of the admissions process….” Dean Schwartz also advises to prepare for and take the LSAT® as soon as possible in the admissions process. “Many schools will accept the December administration of the LSAT® and some schools will even accept the February administration of the LSAT®, even in the year in which you are applying (and we’re one of those schools). But, it would be my general advice to get it out of the way sooner because, in general, it’s better to be able to apply earlier in the process -- particularly for very selective law schools that are getting thousands and thousands of applicants.”

While the best strategy may be to get that application in as early as possible, Anne Richard, Associate Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at The George Washington University Law School, also advises applicants not to rush to submit an application before it is ready to go the admissions committee. “The time to submit the application is when it is done and in the best shape possible but, earlier is better, because I believe most law schools have a rolling admissions process.”

Check out the full show to hear how to develop a strategic admission plan that is guided and informed by your career goals from Richard Montauk, author of "How To Get Into The Top Law Schools" and get tips about when to begin to prepare for and take the LSAT from Adam Hoff, Director of Admissions Consulting and Research at Veritas Prep. We also talk to current law students to hear the strategies that worked most recently from them.

You can listen to this show on our website or look for us on iTunes and other podcast directories. Join us on Facebook!