Law school rankings in the United States

[9] While these schools have seen their position within the highest-rated group shift frequently, they have consistently placed within the top 14 of the U.S. News annual rankings.

An article by Espeland and Sauder (2007),[22] published in the American Journal of Sociology, discusses the increasing use of public measures for evaluating the performance of individuals and organizations, highlighting their significant social impact on accountability and governance.

Using media rankings of law schools as a case study, it emphasizes the concept of reactivity—how people change their behavior in response to being evaluated.

The authors demonstrate that these measures have numerous unintended consequences and identify mechanisms like self-fulfilling prophecy and commensuration that drive reactivity.

The article suggests that the growing influence of these measures necessitates more systematic scholarly investigation due to their profound negative impact on institutions and the potential to perpetuate inequalities.

Lastly, it raises ethical concerns about the implications of these measures, noting their influence on the redistribution of resources and the reinforcement of inequalities.

Carl Monk, its former executive director, once went so far as to say "these rankings are a misleading and deceptive, profit-generating commercial enterprise that compromises U.S. News & World Report's journalistic integrity.

This reference, called The Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools is provided free online and also in print for a small cost.

[25] While the report was hailed as a "template for modern legal education", its practice-oriented tenets have met resistance by law schools continually ranked in the "top 13.

[28] They go on to suggest that the ABA should use its accreditation power to mandate greater transparency in law schools' statistical reporting.

[28] In March 2011, Loyola Law School Dean Victor Gold in Los Angeles penned an op-ed in the Huffington Post, accusing U.S. News & World Report of "refus[ing] to consider diversity as a factor in its ranking system.

[34] Despite these criticisms, law school rankings in general and those by U.S. News in particular play a role in the world of legal education.

[35] In a March 2003 article in Student Lawyer, Jane Easter Bahls stated that, in order to appear more selective, some law schools reject applicants whose high LSAT scores indicate that they probably would go somewhere else.