The Five Best Law Schools in the World
If it were just a matter of analyzing the graduates' grade point averages, then making a list of the best law schools would be easy. However, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, and others use a more substantive formula to grind-out their annual lists.
This article is international in scope, so input from various world governments, ministries of education, and legal scholars, will be considered while determining which are among the five best law schools in the world. They are presented in no particular order.
1. YALE LAW SCHOOL
LOCATION: USA (New Haven, CT)DISTINCTION: Many top law schools in the U.S. have deans that went to YLS.
Yale Law School (YLS) was established in 1824 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. Small, prestigious, and highly selective, YLS bestows the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D., and M.S.L. degrees.
This program features visiting researchers and scholars of the first rank, and is supported by a number of state-of-the-art legal research centers. YLS has been ranked #1 in every law school survey published by U.S. News & World Report, which is a premier annual college listing.
Many leading politicians and judges are YLS graduates, making for uniquely powerful alumni. Former President William Howard Taft resigned from his teaching post at YLS to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Today's crop of Yalies includes Senator Joseph Lieberman, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Sonia Sotomayor. YLS grads work at the highest levels of government and industry in the financial, technological, and political capitals of the world.
2. UNIVERSITY OF HEIDELBERG
LOCATION: Germany (Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg)DISTINCTION: Probably the oldest law school in the world.
The Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg is what's known in Germany as a public research university, and is located in Heidelberg in the state of Baden-Württemberg.
It was the fourth university chartered in the Holy Roman Empire, and the first built in Germany, in 1386. It only began admitting women in 1899. Heidelberg has been a leading German law school for (literally) centuries.
Heidelberg accepts only one of every 10+ applicants for its "first professional degree" program, and top grades in mathematics, German, and at least one foreign language, must be complemented by the applicants for additional individual merits.
Heidelberg has been deemed a German Excellence University, and is a founding member of the League of European Research Universities, as well as a leading light of the European University Association.
3. OXBRIDGE (OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE SCHOOLS OF LAW)
LOCATION: England (Oxford and Cambridge, obviously)DISTINCTION: If you want to move up the ladder in British law firms, you go here.
"Oxbridge" is the obvious shorthand to use when you speak of the law schools at both Oxford and Cambridge. Oxbridge graduates make up about half of the new partners announced annually at the top five London law firms, called "the magic circle."
Expanding the survey to all British firms results in a finding that over one quarter of all new partners in recent years have been Oxbridge alums. Top students, top connections, top prospects – yep, top school.
4. UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LAW SCHOOL
LOCATION: Canada (Toronto, Ontario)DISTINCTION: Once they started rating Canadian law schools, a clear winner emerged.
Maclean’s, a leading Canadian magazine, started doing U.S. News-style college rankings in 2007, with a formula designed by a leading academic critic of the U.S. News methodology.
With a system that evaluates law schools in five distinct areas in two categories – graduate quality and faculty quality, weighted 50-50 – Maclean’s has named the University of Toronto Law School number one every year.
The University of Toronto Law School is among the most selective law schools in Canada, with one of the longest-standing professional faculties. As with all top law schools in the world, its alumni occupy top positions in law firms, government, business, education, and the academy.
Law school graduates include current justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, former prime ministers, current and former parliamentarians, provincial leaders, elected officials, and professors at such top international institutions as Harvard.
5. HARVARD
LOCATION: USA (Boston, MA)DISTINCTION: It is the most famous name among all the famous law schools.
Harvard is an iconic American institution, and its law school has been among the top five on most of the well regarded lists since, well, forever.
Its name has become synonymous with both high quality and snob appeal, while its many detractors (rejected applicants perhaps?) criticize the school for its size, among other things.
Although it has been accused of being a diploma mill for the rich and well connected, the grades, scores, awards, and Supreme Court clerkships, tell a different story.
Like other top law schools around the world, Harvard offers a very good education, and incomparable networking opportunities. Harvard, by these and any other measures, is one of the five best law schools in the world.
BOTTOM LINE
Other top law schools – Boalt Hall at UC Berkeley, India's National Law School, the University Pantheon-Sorbonne in France, Stanford, Leiden University in the Netherlands – can make an excellent case for inclusion in a "top 5" or "top 10" list, and standings can change somewhat from year to year. The five "best of the best" law schools above, however, offer a combination of schooling, cachet, connections, and career potential that is truly superior.