Texas law schools are rising through the ranks

[AfricanMustang]

Nearly all Texas law schools improved their standing or stayed the same in U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 Best Graduate Schools rankings, which is one of the most important resources students use to decide where to go to law school.

Fort Worth-based Texas A&M University School of Law jumped from 148th last year — which was among the worst — to 111th this year. The 37-spot increase is the best improvement of any law school in the U.S., but it still puts A&M in the bottom half of law schools.

The University of Houston Law Center moved up nine places, from 59th to 50th, which ties it with Florida State, Temple University, Tulane University and the University of California Hastings College of the Law.

The ranking increase for the University of Houston means that Texas now has three law schools in the U.S. News Top 50. The University of Texas School of Law maintained its No. 15 spot on the list nationwide, while SMU Dedman School of Law moved from 46th to 45th. Baylor School of Law moved from 56th to 55th.

Jennifer Collins, dean of the SMU Dedman School of law, said she was pleased with the new rankings.

“I always caution students, however, that rankings should not be the factor driving their decision about where to attend law school,” Collins said. “A school’s curriculum, faculty, job placement statistics, alumni network and geographic location are far more important considerations, and all of us at SMU Dedman School of Law are so proud of what we offer students in terms of those factors.”

U.S. News didn’t publish rankings for Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston, South Texas College of Law in Houston and St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio. The magazine excludes schools when they don’t provide sufficient information or when they rank in the bottom 25 percent of law schools. South Texas was ranked 149th last year.

U.S. News did not grade Dallas’ newest law school, the University of North Texas School of Law, because it is only 2 years old.

Yale, Harvard and Stanford law schools have dominated the U.S. News rankings since they were created in 1987.

Critics of the report say that U.S. News gives too much credit to law schools with large endowments and large building programs and puts too little emphasis on diversity or scholarships to low-income and minority students.

U.S. News ranked the University of Houston’s part-time or night law school program as sixth-best in the country. Of the 41 part-time law programs, SMU Dedman came in 10th, down from 7th last year. A&M is listed as 28th.

A&M law dean Andrew P. Morriss in Fort Worth said there are multiple explanations for its increase in the rankings: It hired additional faculty members last year, reduced class sizes, lowered tuition and increased scholarships.

Morriss pointed out that five of the faculty hires are in intellectual property law, which helped A&M move into the U.S. News’ new ranking of intellectual property programs. He also pointed out that A&M ranked No. 18 in dispute resolution.

“We’re focused on what we think is right for our students and the state, like hiring 12 new faculty and cutting tuition,” Morriss said. “Fortunately, those things also helped us go up in the rankings.”

Unlike some legal educators who have criticized the U.S. News rankings as having too much weight in the perception of law schools, Morriss said the rankings matter.

“Prospective students, potential faculty hires and journal editors all look at them,” he said.

For a longer version of this article, visit TexasLawbook.net.

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/head ... -ranks.ece

[SoCal_Pony]

Thanks for these posts AM, I like them.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings

Looks like for schools ranked #20-#50, at $50k per year, SMU is in the pricier range, no real surprise.

What I want to know is how can UC-Irvine, who started its law school in 2009, be can ranked #28?

Also, in terms of GDP by city, Dallas only lags NYC, LA and Chicago. Is it unrealistic to think our law school could crack the Top 20?

[PonyKai]

Re. UC-Irvine, Erwin Chemerinski is the Dean; that's why.

It's not unrealistic for SMU to crack the Top 25, but there's such little movement between 15 and 20 (and there's really no movement between 1-14 except space swapping), that it's a steep hill. And a lot of work (and gaming those stupid rankings) is required to get from 45 to 25. There are a lot of quality schools that sit between those two spots.

Regardless, SMU has been languishing as a barely T1 law school for a long time. And for that price, mostly what it buys you is an exceptional network in Dallas for national law firms that have a Dallas office. I love SMU, and want it to be the best in every respect possible, but grew to loathe the law school under the previous Dean. The application process and the school's attitude quickly taught me that I would never consider it, and would take my massive loans to a much better institution. I'm hopeful that under new leadership a litany of substantive changes have been made.

[AfricanMustang]

Thanks for these posts AM, I like them.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings

Looks like for schools ranked #20-#50, at $50k per year, SMU is in the pricier range, no real surprise.

What I want to know is how can UC-Irvine, who started its law school in 2009, be can ranked #28?

Also, in terms of GDP by city, Dallas only lags NYC, LA and Chicago. Is it unrealistic to think our law school could crack the Top 20?

I heard somewhere that we get dinged in rankings for having a part time evening program. With regards to UC Irvine, their admission rate of 26% certainly does not hurt.

http://www.law.uci.edu/admission/class-profile.html

[East Coast Mustang]

Re. UC-Irvine, Erwin Chemerinski is the Dean; that's why.

It's not unrealistic for SMU to crack the Top 25, but there's such little movement between 15 and 20 (and there's really no movement between 1-14 except space swapping), that it's a steep hill. And a lot of work (and gaming those stupid rankings) is required to get from 45 to 25. There are a lot of quality schools that sit between those two spots.

Regardless, SMU has been languishing as a barely T1 law school for a long time. And for that price, mostly what it buys you is an exceptional network in Dallas for national law firms that have a Dallas office. I love SMU, and want it to be the best in every respect possible, but grew to loathe the law school under the previous Dean. The application process and the school's attitude quickly taught me that I would never consider it, and would take my massive loans to a much better institution. I'm hopeful that under new leadership a litany of substantive changes have been made.

You didnt like the Dean who got caught in a prostitution sting?

[friarwolf]

Meanwhile, our business school just drifts away.....Niemi should have been ushered out 10 years ago. Turner is a puss when it comes to holding deans accountable..........

[PonySnob]

Meanwhile, our business school just drifts away.....Niemi should have been ushered out 10 years ago. Turner is a puss when it comes to holding deans accountable..........

But he likes fountains.

[PonyKai]

Without delving into a bunch of specifics that keyboard jockeys would love to try and poke holes in, I think the best way to generally describe the issues with the law school is the following:

They treat(ed) prospective students, and especially alumni, as if they were something to be endured and suffered through, and that the college's mere acknowledgment of their existence is something that should be treasured and valued deeply.

[Digetydog]

1) Unless you go to an ELITE law school, don't do it. The legal market for new grads still stinks.
2) If you get into an ELITE law school, don't do it. Spending $60K per year to work as a "contract" attorney reviewing documents is a bad career move.

[PonyKai]

Are you referring to doing doc review, or being a part-time "contract" attorney. Because one is infinitely worse than the other.

[Digetydog]

Are you referring to doing doc review, or being a part-time "contract" attorney. Because one is infinitely worse than the other.

There are attys in the NYC area with degrees from NYU and Columbia stuck with worst of both: they work as "contract" attorneys (aka hourly employees) for big firms doing only document review. They aren't paid well, they aren't trained to do anything, and the work is boring.

[PonyKai]

Yes. That is, basically, the seventh layer of hell. Was just clarifying that you weren't referring to junior associates at Skadden and Cleary who earn 170,00 annually as a 25 year old first year associate stuck doing doc review in some sweltering trailer in Newark, New Jersey.

[RebStang]

Re. UC-Irvine, Erwin Chemerinski is the Dean; that's why.

It's not unrealistic for SMU to crack the Top 25, but there's such little movement between 15 and 20 (and there's really no movement between 1-14 except space swapping), that it's a steep hill. And a lot of work (and gaming those stupid rankings) is required to get from 45 to 25. There are a lot of quality schools that sit between those two spots.

Regardless, SMU has been languishing as a barely T1 law school for a long time. And for that price, mostly what it buys you is an exceptional network in Dallas for national law firms that have a Dallas office. I love SMU, and want it to be the best in every respect possible, but grew to loathe the law school under the previous Dean. The application process and the school's attitude quickly taught me that I would never consider it, and would take my massive loans to a much better institution. I'm hopeful that under new leadership a litany of substantive changes have been made.

My argument is this: If the flipping University of Alabama can have a top 25 law school, there's no reason that SMU shouldn't have a top 30 law school.

They've played the game well but I would argue that, based on some things I've heard from a friend that just graduated from Alabama Law (finishing his Tax LLM this spring while living in Orlando), the students are not the "best and brightest". He had a class last spring and the professor was explaining some tax implications of interest and apparently over 75% of the class didn't even understand compound interest... and, I'm sorry, if you have a college degree and find compound interest to be a difficult concept then you might want to ask for a refund on that undergraduate degree.

[PonyKai]

If it makes you feel any better, the legal market pretty much sees right through their naked attempts to game the system to look better. That degree isn't opening many doors. Case in point, your anecdotal evidence.

[tristatecoog]

Guess the Coogs are focused on scores and grades again instead of the "whole person." Lower tuition rates don't hurt.

Glad to see that Dedman is in the mid-40s. I thought it was low to mid 50s under the previous admin.

Now to resume progress on the undergrad rankings.