Monday, November 17, 2008
Law School Rankings Based on Lawyer Ratings
The lawyer rating website Avvo has produced a Top 5 and Bottom 5 Law School Ranking, based on the average rating of the lawyers who are graduates of the schools. Here are the Avvo ratings for the Top 5 and Bottom 5 schools, along with the schools' corresponding U.S. News overall and peer rankings:
(Hat Tip: ABA Journal.)
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2008/11/law-school-rankings.html
Comments
Want to bet if Princeton started a law school, it's 'lawyer ranking' would suddenly be in the top 10 or something based solely on the school name.
Posted by: PenguinSix | Nov 17, 2008 3:05:32 PM
How accurrate is Avvo? If my ranking is any indication, some lawyers are grossly overrated. Either that or I'm grossly underpaid.
Posted by: Jim O'Sullivan | Nov 17, 2008 3:23:34 PM
Were Dickie Scruggs, Bill Lerach, Melvin Weiss, or Steven Yagman polled for their opinion on this matter?
Posted by: Another Drew | Nov 17, 2008 3:25:06 PM
I see no explanation of the methodology behind the "peer" ratings. I can tell you from experience that the Martindale system is far from objective and is especially skewed against those who serve in specialized areas that bring them into relatively little professional contact with other attorneys in their locales. It's somewhat akin to posting a poll on Sports Illustrated as to who is the best physicist in the state of Missouri.
Posted by: armchairpunter | Nov 17, 2008 5:33:46 PM
AVVO rankings are about as suspect any other ranking. "Professional accomplishments" (i.e., publications) is one of their criteria. Naturally, those who come from any of the top five schools in this ranking will have published a lot more than anyone else. They have a higher percentage of lawyers in the teaching field. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Posted by: Mark Johnson | Nov 18, 2008 6:00:50 PM
Thanks for the coverage.
-Conrad from Avvo
Posted by: Conrad from Avvo | Nov 17, 2008 1:08:12 PM