NLJ: Law School Rankings by Graduates in BigLaw Jobs

National Law Journal, The Go-To Law Schools:

The new associate hiring picture at large law firms improved for the third straight year in 2014, but that growth wasn’t due to firms enlarging the size of the first-year associate classes. Instead, a smaller cohort of new law graduates meant that a higher percentage of them could land associate jobs at the largest 250 law firms in the country, even though those firms hired roughly the same number of new associates as in 2013.

We’ve ranked the top 50 law schools by percentage of 2014 juris doctors who took jobs at the largest 250 firms by lawyer head count—as identified in The National Law Journal’s annual survey of the nation’s 350 largest law firms. We also identified the schools that saw the most alumni promoted to partner, and highlighted the 20 schools that outperform their U.S. News & World Report ranking when it comes to large firm hiring. We take an even deeper dive into our annual law school report in our special interactive feature.

The Top 50 Go-To Law Schools:  These schools sent the highest percentage of new graduates to the largest 250 law firms:

Rank	Law School	2014 Grads at NLJ 250	2014 JDs	% Grads at NLJ 250	Tuition	U.S. News Rank
1	Columbia	310	468	66.24%	$60,274	4
2	Pennsylvania	177	278	63.67%	$56,916	5
3	Chicago	129	211	61.14%	$55,503	4
4	NYU	287	479	59.92%	$56,838	6
5	Harvard	326	586	55.63%	$55,842	2
6	Cornell	101	191	52.88%	$59,360	13
7	Northwestern	144	291	49.48%	$56,434	12
8	Duke	105	215	48.84%	$55,588	10
9	Virginia	163	349	46.70%	$51,800	8
10	Stanford	85	187	45.45%	$54,366	3
11	UC-Berkeley	115	287	40.07%	$48,166	9
12	Michigan	153	390	39.23%	$51,398	10
13	Georgetown	239	625	38.24%	$53,130	13
14	Yale	80	224	35.71%	$56,200	1
15	USC	71	216	32.87%	$57,507	20
16	Texas	113	351	32.19%	$33,162	15
17	UCLA	102	336	30.36%	$45,226	17
18	Vanderbilt	56	194	28.87%	$49,722	16
19	Boston Univ.	71	246	28.86%	$47,188	27
20	Fordham	119	462	25.76%	$52,532	36

• Associates to Partner:  "The schools that saw the most alumni promoted to partner during 2014."
• Columbia Leads in Sending Grads Into Big Law:  "It wasn't a return to the go-go days before the recession, but first-year associate hiring picture improved at the nation’s largest law firms during 2014. Columbia Law School retained its place as the top provider of law graduates hired by those big firms, and the University of Pennsylvania jumped from fifth to second place on our annual Go-To Law Schools list."
• Firm Favorites: "The schools that NLJ 250 firms most relied upon for first-year associates."
• Ground for Measured Optimism:   "Increased hiring and reduced law school enrollment could spell happy futures for graduates, according to NALP director James Leipold."
• Interactive: Explore the Data:  "For the third year in a row, we are making all of the data from our Go-To Law Schools report on large firm associate hiring available in a searchable format. And check out our cost benefit analysis chart to find out which of our top 50 Go-To Law Schools offer the best bang for the buck when it comes to getting a job at an NLJ 250 firm."
• Landing the Big Law Jobs:  "From on-campus interviewing to summer clerkships, landing an associate job at a large law firm is a marathon—not a sprint. We’ve asked partners involved in hiring at eight of the country’s largest firms to offer their best advice for students."