Law Schools

The Best Law Schools In The World (2026)

Is your law school one of the best in the world? Find out here.

By Staci Zaretsky on July 09, 2026 2:27 pm
(Image via Getty)

The dog days of summer are now upon us, and we’ve got just what every lawyer and law student wants to see to get them through the rest of the week: a ranking of the best law schools in the world.

Move over U.S. News, because we’re about to go global.

Before we get to the World Law School Rankings, let’s take a look at the methodology used by the Quacquarelli Symonds team at Top Universities. Researchers analyzed schools’ academic reputations, employer reputations, research citations per paper, H-indices, and international research networks. You can explore more in-depth explanations here if you’re interested.

We know you want to see if any American law schools made it, so we won’t keep you waiting. Here are the top 10 best law schools in the world:

1. Harvard University

2. University of Oxford

3. University of Cambridge

4. Yale University

5. Stanford University

6. National University of Singapore

7. New York University

8. Columbia University

9. The London School of Economics and Political Science

10. University of California, Berkeley

USA! USA! USA! More than half of the world’s top 10 law schools are in America! In fact, almost half of the T14 is represented here. Unlike in the U.S. News rankings, Harvard continues to reign supreme, beating Yale and Stanford in this worldwide law school ranking. No more crying in ivy for Harvard, since according to this ranking, it’s still the most elite law school on the planet.

Farther down the list, but still within the top 25 law schools in the world, you’ll see Chicago (#12), Georgetown (#21), and Penn (#22). Going deeper, but still within the top 50 law schools in the world, you’ll find Cornell (tied at #26), UCLA (#31), Michigan (tied at #42). Duke (tied at #44), and UVA (#47).

Also representing for America in the top 100 law schools in the world are Northwestern (#79), BU (#80), GW (tied at #86), Texas (tied at #86), Penn State (tied at #96), and American (tied at #100). Still within the top 150 law schools, we find UC Irvine and Notre Dame. Further down the list, but still with in the top 200 law schools in the world, we find Arizona State, CUNY, UC Davis, U. Washington, and Vanderbilt. It’s great that so many U.S. law schools are ranked so highly on a global scale.

What do you think about these worldly law school rankings? Congratulate or condemn your alma mater — but be careful, the world is watching.

QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026: Law & Legal Studies [Top Universities]

Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked 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 Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.