In-House Counsel

Why Princeton Law School Is In The Top 20

In-house columnist Mark Herrmann on why reputation -- of law schools and law firms -- is such an odd thing.

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Too bad Princeton doesn’t have a law school.

Princeton, of course, does not have a law school.

But if you included Princeton Law School on a survey, Princeton would be one of the 20 most prestigious law schools in the country.

Reputation is an odd thing.

First, it gives off an aura.  Princeton’s a good university.  Therefore, its law school is good.  Even though it doesn’t exist.

Bigg & Mediocre has a great corporate department.  Therefore, its litigators are great. 

Or, conversely, Bigg & Mediocre’s corporate lawyers couldn’t help you acquire a dog catcher.  Therefore, its litigators suck.

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(By some similar property of equality, John Jarndyce at Bigg & Mediocre disappointed me on a litigation matter.  Therefore, we should never use Bigg & Mediocre for any litigation matter in the future.

Think having one bad partner doesn’t hurt?  Think again.  It won’t hurt your reputation — next year, Bigg & Mediocre will be ranked precisely as it was this year — but it’ll cost you business.)

Second, reputation is terribly sticky.  Once you’re known to be good, you’re considered to be good for a long, long time. 

Look at the rankings of the best — well, anything — in the country.  Once you’re in the top 15 colleges, or law schools, or law firms, or cities for people to visit, or anything, it’s awfully hard to lose that reputation.  

As a law firm, you could hire a half dozen classes of incompetent associates before your reputation started to decline in the surveys.  The firm that had 50 great partners in the mid-1980s is likely perceived to be great today, even though the original gang has long since moved on or retired.

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Once you’re known to be good, it takes a long time to lose that mystique.

(I suppose I’m talking about the ordinary course of business here.  If your firm goes bankrupt, or collapses, or is indicted, its reputation may change overnight.  But losing your reputation by evolution is a far different thing; it takes decades.)

Third, in niche areas, reputation is unfairly affected by size.

Size doesn’t affect the reputations of law schools.  Top colleges or graduate schools are basically known to the world (or at least to the universe of people likely to be asked in surveys), so size doesn’t matter too much.  Everyone’s heard of Yale, so Yale’s law school will receive a high ranking, even though the class size is small.

But that’s not true of law firms.   A local firm — Small & Great — will be known only to the relatively few people who have retained it.  When some outfit conducts a national or international survey, Small & Great won’t score very high.  It’s a great law firm, but few people have personal experience with it, and few know enough about the firm to name it in response to questions.

On the other hand, Bigg & Mediocre does just fine on the international surveys.  The firm may not be very good, but everyone’s heard of it, so everyone mentions the name.

Should you make a decision — where to go to school; where to work — based on reputation? 

Maybe.

Graduates of Princeton Law School will do just fine in the workforce.  It really doesn’t matter if they got a very good education.  (That’s actually a pretty serious criticism of legal education.  You probably get essentially the same education at many schools.  It doesn’t matter if the person lecturing to you (or questioning you Socratically) is renowned for having written many brilliant law review articles; the law review articles don’t necessarily reflect the quality of the teaching.  And, ultimately, what you learn in law school has little to do with what you’ll do as a practicing lawyer.)

But how about picking a place to work?  If you’re planning to leave your job after two years, go to a place with a great reputation.  It’s easier to jump from prestigious perches.  But if you’re concerned about becoming an outstanding lawyer, you might think twice about taking a job at Bigg & Mediocre, despite its fine reputation.

Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now responsible for litigation and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.

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