Rankings

Ranking schools is a tricky business. Not all rankings are helpful.I don’t usually pay a lot of attention to press releases, but my eye was caught the other day by one with this headline: “Stanford Law School delivers top-five financial return for future lawyers, study reveals.”Why do I care who placed fifth? Was this an announcement from Stanford, patting itself on the back?Nope.Instead it turned out to be a release touting a “a new study carried out by legal research company Studicata.”Legal research company? Well, not exactly. If you check out Studicata’s website, you find that it’s actually a law study aid site. There’s no mention of this new study, there’s no link to a full study in the press release, and I’m way too lazy to call someone for an explanation.Anyway, what I’m interested in is the concept of the value of a law school. Assuming you have the credentials to get in, how do you choose your school? Does a study like this help?(Side note: I think the explanation for the Stanford headline is that the release was sent to me, a person in California. But I don’t know.)I’ve always thought there was an element of self-fulfilling prophecy to school rankings. Is a school highly ranked because its educational programs are the best or is it because it gets the best students?The Studicata rankings take a different tack: return on investment. Here’s the chart from the press release:How much can law school make you? (From a Studicata press release)You’re at the top of the rankings if, based on the median income of graduates and the median amount of student debt, it takes you the least amount of time to pay back the debt.Is this useful?The release claims the study rankings are based “on the financial return it offers degree holders.” Let’s check this out.Harvard and Northwestern are at the top of list. Not terribly surprising. But check out number three: Antonin Scalia Law School.Scalia grads make less money than anyone else in the top 10 but they also have the least amount of debt. So they can repay the debt in .6 years.Number 4 in the rankings is the University of Pennsylvania, where grads supposedly earn more than twice as much as Scalia grads and repay their debt in .62 years.Can you see the problem? Those Penn grads will be making $302K (and probably more) while the Scalias are making $135K for years and years.So much for these value rankings.I’m not sure this study is a good advertisement for a study aid company.I should probably point out the other problem with rankings — those annoying kids who want to go into low-paying public service or charitable work. They’re screwing up the earnings numbers for their law schools!Darn those do-gooders.Maybe we need a school ranking for churning out lawyers who do good things for society.Announcement . “This is the most exciting time in history to be a lawyer.”Congratulations, lawyers! I assume all of you are dancing in the streets, or at least cracking a smile.How do I know this? It’s part of an online video announcement by a company called Legora reporting it just raised “$550 million Series E at $8.8 billion valuation to accelerate growth.”Hurray?If you haven’t heard of it, Legora is a company that sells AI legal software to law firms. As far as I can tell, the software can do practically anything and, as depicted in the video, a lawyer can go hiking and just check in to see what the AI did.Exciting, right?Right?Preelection pledge. Despite what you may have heard, I will not be running for president in 2028. You may rest assured that my full attention will be on column writing.You’re welcome.Categories / Education, Law, Op-EdSubscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads