Law Schools

Ranking The Best Law School Buildings In America (2018)

Did your school make the list?

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From entering students’ LSAT scores and graduates’ employment statistics right down to the number of books housed in their libraries, just about everything having to do with law school is ranked, so it’s high time that we rank law school buildings.

An impressive law school building definitely isn’t as important as a law school that will help students get impressive jobs, but if students have to spend three years of their lives in that building and pay upwards of six figures in debt-financed dollars to be there, it better be nice.

Did your school make the list of the top 20 best law school buildings in the country?

The National Jurist’s preLaw Magazine compiled a list of the Top 20 best law school buildings in its Spring 2018 edition, a ranking based on campus facilities, aesthetics, technology, libraries, and amenities. It’s worth noting that only two of the top 14 law schools made the list of the top 20, and the school that came in first place came up with a brand new ad campaign to match its placement on the list.

(Photo via Memphis Law)

Memphis Law’s building was ranked No. 1 by preLaw Magazine, touting its “old-school charm and modern amenities.” Memphis Law is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as it used to serve as a U.S. Customs House, then a courthouse, then a U.S. Post Office. Check out the law school’s new ad based on its ranking:

Sponsored

(Photo via Duke Law School)

(Photo via Yale Law School)

In second place, we find Duke Law, a school ranked No. 11 by U.S News that offers 471 square feet per student and has both dining facilities and a gym in the same building. Even further down the list at No. 13, we see Yale Law, the best law school in the country for academics which somehow wasn’t able to earn an A+ rating. We imagine that students are having heart palpitations at the thought of not being the very best.

(Photo via Thomas Jefferson School of Law)

(Photo via Southwestern Law School)

Sponsored

At the bottom of the list, we find perennially rank-not-published schools Thomas Jefferson at No. 17, and Southwestern at No. 20. Southwestern’s building is an historic landmark, while Thomas Jefferson’s is big and shiny. Administrators at both of these schools are probably thrilled to finally be ranked in something. If students aren’t able to pass the bar exam and get jobs, at least they got to spend time in a pretty building.

Click here to see the full list from preLaw Magazine, and congratulations to all of the law schools that made the cut for inclusion in the ranking this year.

Best Law School Buildings [preLaw Magazine]

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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