The Guide relies on the time-tested metrics and rankings of law schools made by U.S. News & World Report. Backed with BCG Attorney Search’s own knowledge bases and research data, the Guide creates a dependable study for law firms, legal recruiters and potential law students.
The BCG Attorney Search Guide to America’s Top 50 Law Schools assists law firms with objective information crucial to understanding the grading systems of top law schools and the various academic programs and journals in which students at these schools participate. For students, the Guide provides a solid and unbiased base of information for making critical and educated choices in their career supported by reliable comparison data.
The 2012 BCG Attorney Search Guide to America’s Top 50 Law Schools lays down key markers that identifies top talent and distinguishes him or her from students at other top law schools. Some of these include (among others):
- the honors distinctions an attorney may have earned, namely summa cum laude, magna cum laude, cum laude, or honors;
- membership to any honors societies, such as the Order of the Coif or the Law Review;
- the average median undergraduate GPA of a law school’s entering class;
- the average median LSAT of the entering class;
- the acceptance rate of the entering class.
This year’s rankings by the U.S. News & World Report threw up some interesting findings. Some schools moved up the ranks while others slid down. Some of the major ranking highlights include:
- Yale Law School continued to hold the top spot.
- Stanford Law School out-seated Harvard Law School to move up to 2nd position.
- Harvard Law School moved down to 3rd position.
- The University of California—Berkeley School of Law and the University of Virginia School of Law both moved up two spots to tie with the University of Pennsylvania Law School for the 7th spot.
- University of Michigan—Ann Arbor Law School slid from 7th to 10th position.
- Cornell Law School, now ranked 14th, and the Georgetown Law Center, at 13th, switched spots from last year’s list.
- The University of Texas—Austin School of Law fell two spots to from 14th to 16th.
- The Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law leapt to the 26th spot, up 14 spots from 40th.
- University of Washington School of Law moved 10 spots up from 30th to 20th position.
- The Emory University School of Law and the Washington and Lee University School of Law both jumped six spots from 30th and remained tied at 24th.
- The Pepperdine University School of Law moved five spots from 54th to 49th to crack the top 50.
The complete Guide can be viewed on the BCG Attorney Search site. Here is the link:
https://www.bcgsearch.com/pdf/BCG_Law_School_Guide_2012.pdf
About BCG Attorney Search
Pasadena-based BCG Attorney Search is a legal recruiting firm with recruiters working across the country. Founded in 2000, BCG Attorney Search has successfully placed thousands of attorneys and started and led various businesses that are at the top of their field in servicing attorneys. These businesses include the largest and most popular legal job site in the world, LawCrossing; the largest student loan company for law students in the world, Law School Loans; the largest outplacement business in the world for attorneys, Legal Authority; and the largest legal resume company in the world, Attorney Resume.
