Home of the Super Lawyers, Redux
Ryan Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 09:25AM 
As we wrote a couple of weeks ago, BCLS produces quite a few “Super Lawyers.” In addition to dominating the New England region, a hefty number of BCLS grads rank among the top 5% of lawyers nationally. In a new list generated by the publishers of the Super Lawyers magazine, BCLS ranks 17th nationally.
The list is not weighted for class size. The publishers note that this is something of a problem, but cite how difficult it would be to “accurately determine the graduation class sizes of nearly 200 schools through the years.” Noted, but current class sizes can be a little enlightening, no? While far from tiny, BCLS is among the smallest of top tier law schools — taking that into account comes up with a flattering new list.
Considering BCLS to have a class size of ~300, the following list takes out the schools with class sizes of ~350 or more:
1.CA Berkeley (~250)
2.Yale (~200)
3.BU (~300)
4.UCLA (~300)
5.Univ of Pennsylvania (~250)
6.Univ of Chicago (~250)
7.BCLS (~300)
Michigan and Virginia have class sizes of approximately 350 students, and including them puts BCLS 9th. Again, current class sizes don’t necessarily reflect the class sizes of 10-30 years ago, but hey: nice to know that in terms of producing the top 5% of lawyers, we’re at the top place for New England, and very competitive nationally, right?
Reader Comments (6)
http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2009/11/what-the-super-lawyer-ranking-of-law-schools-would-look-like.html
This adjusts for class size and appears even with adjusting for class size, BC would still come in around 17th.
I mean, if you care about rankings. Just goes to show those ridiculous schools on the US News list ahead of us like Indiana, Illinois, Notre Dame are absurdly overranked and don't have the national recognition in major markets other than Chicago.
2L,
Judging by the quality of writing and commentary I see on this site, BCLS's ranking seems inflated to me. And by the tone of your comment, it looks like BCLS doesn't even have its collegiality to boast about anymore.
And where did you go to law school? From the sound of it, you're not a BC Law student. Which clearly begs the question of why you are reading Eagleionline?
Apparently there are plenty of BC Law grads who don't fit your unfortunate stereotype because they are out blazing trails in the legal world (hence all the Super Lawyers from BC Law) and not trolling on the law school's online forum.
We're collegial with one another. And I'm sure there are plenty of BC Law students that don't care about the rankings at all. Some of live in the real world that understand plenty of law firms do care about rankings and know very well that BC Law is a more reputable and well-regarded law school than some of those that outrank us (precisely because of the Super Lawyers that are out there proving that).
One potential flaw in this post: BU slashed its class size in half in recent years to rise in the USNWR rankings. The experienced alums in the superlawyer rankings would be coming from the larger alumni pool.
2L,
It's going to be a tough day for you when you realize that people are judging you more on what you've accomplished and the person that you are than on where you went to school. Don't ascribe so much value to your Alma Mater. You got into law school. Congrats. Now go accomplish something meaningful.
Rotterdam-
I completely agree. Unfortunately that simply isn't the reality for people who want to work in biglaw. OCI is sufficient proof of that. Trust me, I don't get high on my horse about BC Law. I think it is a great school with as good an atmosphere as one can hope for in law school. But I recognize in the world of biglaw, having a degree from Harvard is likely to get you further.
And I certainly hope what you accomplish post-law school means more than the degree on the wall. A Harvard JD mgiht get you a biglaw job but it won't get you any more money in the unemployment line if you suck at what you do.