Best Law Schools for Getting a Biglaw Job (2012)

Which law schools excel at sending their graduates into jobs at large law firms, i.e., Biglaw? Check out the National Law Journal's annual ranking of the top 50 law schools by the percentage of 2011 juris doctor graduates who took jobs at NLJ 250 firms.

By David Lat on February 28, 2012 11:12 am

You can check out the “Firm Favorites” over here. The NLJ has some highlights:

Skadden had the largest first-year associate class.
As it did last year, Jones Day recruited from the most schools.
Harvard made a strong showing, with nine of the firms on our list taking the largest number of new associates from there.

And here are the top ten Biglaw partner factories (click to enlarge):

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By Above the Law

You can view the full partner-minting rankings, which go all the way down to 60, at the NLJ. Note that they are not adjusted to reflect the size of a given law school (which partially explains why Harvard and Georgetown, each with a graduating class in excess of 500 students, do so well).

For more statistics and commentary on top law school placement rates at the major law firms, check out the links collected below.

It’s tough out there [National Law Journal]
The Go-To Law Schools [National Law Journal]
Firm Favorites [National Law Journal]
Associates Promoted to Partner [National Law Journal]
Class of 2011 big law employment stats [Inside the Law School Scam]
Law School Rankings by BigLaw Jobs [TaxProf Blog]
Law School Rankings by BigLaw Partners [TaxProf Blog]
Looking for the Top Biglaw Feeder Schools? [WSJ Law Blog]