The 5 Top US Law Schools

If you are considering a career as an attorney, you know that attending and completing law school is critical to your career success. And if you are looking to rise with the cream of the crop, the top-rated law schools can give you an edge. Using data supplied by US News and World Report, the following are the top five law schools in the nation. 

1. Yale University

Yale Law or YLS is located in New Haven, Conn. The school is small with no more than 615 students enrolled as of 2013-2014. Its small size, prestige and academic rigor have kept Yale Law on top since US News first began to track law schools two decades ago. Yale Law was founded in 1824 and has 149 faculty members. Its notable grads include Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Clarence Thomas, Sonia Sotomayer, Samuel Ailito and William Howard Taft. The school says that 96.3 percent of its students pass the bar exam.

2. Harvard University

Founded in 1817, Harvard Law or HLS is one of the oldest professional graduate schools at this Ivy League institution. The Cambridge, Mass., school has three times as many students as Yale Law. Notable graduates include Barack Obama, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Elena Kagan, and Sumner Redstone. Harvard Law publishes several well known law journals including the Harvard Law Review, Harvard Business Law Review, and the Harvard Journal on Legislation.

3. Stanford University

In third place is California’s stellar law school, Stanford Law or SLS. The law school was established in 1893 and is located near Palo Alto in the Silicon Valley. It is a small school with just 571 students. Notable alumni include Michael Arrington, Warren Christopher, Sandra Day O’Connor, Chuck Armstrong, and Peter Thiel. Stanford Law is a recognized leader in several areas including e-commerce, biosciences, law and economics, and international law.

4. Columbia University

With a student body of nearly 1,300, Columbia is also one of the most selective law schools in the country with fewer than 1 in 5 students admitted. The New York City school is a leader in several areas including gender studies, constitutional law, administrative law, tax law, and public interest. Both Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt are graduates; other graduates include Eric Holder, Oscar Hammerstein, Paul Robeson, Benjamin Kaplan, Lanny Breuer, Caroline Kennedy, and Sidney B. Silverman.

4. University of Chicago

Tied with Columbia Law for fourth place, the University of Chicago Law School was founded in 1902, by a consortium of donors led by John D. Rockefeller. It is a small school with fewer than 600 students enrolled. Chicago boasts a 95.15 percent bar exam pass rate, one of the highest in the nation. Chicago Law is known for three policy initiatives: animal law policy, climate change policy, and foster care to adulthood. Notable graduates include Robert Bork, LIz Chaney, Ramsey Clark, Carol Moseley Braun, and Jerome Frank.

Law School Considerations

Of course, if you are considering law school, there are several factors to weigh including price. Law school can easily cost more than $50,000 per year, an expense that students usually have to bear themselves. Moreover, you should try to find a school that is the best fit for you, which means looking beyond the top five for some students. Another factor to consider are test scores with that entrance requirement eliminating hundreds of students that might otherwise apply.

Author Information
Caleb Frankford is a professional blogger that shares legal advice on divorce and family law situations. He writes for Campo Blumenfeld LLP Attorneys At Law, a divorce and family law firm in Milwaukee.