Law Schools

The Best Law Schools For Getting A Biglaw Job (2018)

Use these rankings wisely -- or ignore them, at your peril.

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She got a Biglaw job!

Rankings season is upon us, and many publications are rolling out their best offerings for readers’ perusal, in advance of the release of the 2019 U.S. News & World Report Law School Rankings and the latest edition of the Above the Law Top 50 Law School Rankings.

For more than a decade, Law.com has published a list of the best law schools to go to if you want to work in Biglaw after graduation. Law.com refers to these institutions of higher education as the “go-to law schools,” and this year, they’re ranked by the percentage of 2017 graduates who took associate positions at the 100 largest law firms based on lawyer headcount.

Before we get to the list of the go-to law schools, it’s worthwhile to speak about the landscape for entry-level employment in the legal profession. While offer rates were sky-high this summer, hiring percentages from America’s top law schools are still dramatically different than they were during Biglaw’s heyday. But things continue to improve from the doldrums of the recession. Law.com has more info:

New associate hiring held strong in 2017, with the country’s largest 100 law firms bringing on 4,199 recent law graduates. Among the 50 schools most popular with those firms, 29 percent of last year’s graduates landed associate jobs, up slightly from the previous year.

That said, things are looking up for the Go-To Law Schools. Here are the Top 10:

  1. Columbia Law: 68 percent
  2. U. Chicago Law: 60 percent
  3. NYU Law: 57 percent
  4. UVA Law: 56 percent
  5. Penn Law: 52 percent
  6. Northwestern Law: 52 percent
  7. Duke Law: 51 percent
  8. Harvard Law: 50 percent
  9. Cornell Law: 48 percent
  10. Berkeley Law: 46 percent

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You can access the full list of the Top 50 Go-To Law Schools by clicking here.

With more than 50 percent of its graduates heading to Biglaw firms after graduation, Columbia has ruled this ranking for the past five years. While U. Chicago was able to hold on to its second-place finish, there was otherwise a great deal of movement in the rankings. NYU is up three places to No. 3, UVA is up three places to No. 4, and Penn is up three places to No. 5. Of note is the fact that Cornell sank from No. 4 to No. 9, and Berkeley switched places with Stanford, sending the higher-ranked T14 school packing. (It’s worth mentioning the fact that clerkship placements aren’t considered in this ranking, which is likely the reason why Yale barely made it into the Top 20 on this list, and why Stanford was booted from the Top 10.)

Law.com also has a list of “Firm Favorites,” noting the law schools that specific firms recruited most heavily from. Here are some highlights from that list:

Latham: Georgetown (20 students)
Skadden: Harvard (20 students)
Cleary: Columbia (19 students)
Sidley: U. Chicago (18 students)
K&E: Northwestern (17 students)
Ropes & Gray: BU (17 students)

Things still aren’t where they used to be, but they’re getting better each year. More notable than these numbers are the tuition figures appended to this year’s rankings. While the total costs aren’t wildly different, the employment percentages are. Why pay $58,000 to go to a school that sends 26 percent of its graduates to Biglaw when you can pay the same amount to a school that sends 56 percent of its graduates to Biglaw?

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Either way you slice it, this list is incredibly useful. It’s a great way for law students, both current and prospective, to gauge their employment prospects in a still-recovering market. Use these rankings wisely — or ignore them, at your peril.

The 2018 Go-To Law Schools [Law.com]
The Top 50 Go-To Law Schools [Law.com]
Go-To Law Schools: Firm Favorites [Law.com]
Columbia Ranks No. 1 as Go-To Law Schools Enjoyed Strong Recruiting Cycle [Law.com]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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