New USNWR law school rankings

[NotInRHouse]

The difference is that doctors will make WAY more money especially out of residency. Their starting salaries will likely double, at least, white shoe law firm salaries in many fields.

Also, my friend who is finishing his residency next year told me he could go to a desolate place like Montana and make a million a year off the bat. Meanwhile, lawyers are desperately needed in urban and rural communities for legal services will be they will be lucky to make 50k a year doing so.

The fact of the matter is, white shoe firms and midsize firm and corporations dont need all the lawyers being churned out. Legal services and government do. And with the costs rising, local lawyers who do divorces, municipal violations, closings, etc will either disappear or become prohibitively expensive for the middle class that needs them.

The sensible way to do it is keep 100, maybe 125 law schools, stop raising tuition exponentially, and forgive debt faster for those in public service and other needed fields.

The law schools themselves are also at fault. They are mostly provincial. Go to a law school around here and ask for career help at getting something other than clerkship or white shoe job or a job outside of the tri-state area and expect a blank stare. They were caught so flat footed by the recession it's really pathetic.

 

[NotInRHouse]

Originally posted by camdenlawprof:
The chief determinant of the USNWR rankings is the quality of the entering class, especially its LSAT. Everything else pretty much correlates with that. Irvine, due to its location, attracts a terrific student body.

If thats the case, San Diego should up their game. Orange County has nice weather, but otherwise its more expensive and more traffic-clogged NJ.

 

[retired711]

Originally posted by NotInRHouse:

Originally posted by camdenlawprof:
The chief determinant of the USNWR rankings is the quality of the entering class, especially its LSAT. Everything else pretty much correlates with that. Irvine, due to its location, attracts a terrific student body.

If thats the case, San Diego should up their game. Orange County has nice weather, but otherwise its more expensive and more traffic-clogged NJ.

U. San Diego, the leading law school in San Diego, has indeed come up in quality. But my point about "location" was ambiguous I didn't mean that Orange County is that great (although it's nicer than N.J. in lots of ways), but only that, as one of two public law schools in Southern Califiornia (a very populous area), it is bound to do well in attracting applicants.

BTW, I just learned that U. of San Diego's law school tuition is about the same as Berkeley's law school for in-state students, and about the same as UCLA's and Irvine's for out of state students. The University of California knows it has a good reputation for law schools, and is not afraid to charge accordingly.

 

[cyrock3]

After reading about the talent attracted to teach at UC-Irvine, I find their ranking to be... disappointing.

 

[NotInRHouse]

If UC Irvine is so great, I'm wondering whats stopping other law schools from similarly investing.

California's budget and help for higher ed isn't so great. It's pretty amazing to have all this initiative. What's the impetus, and how can we get than impetus here? Orange County does have a lot of similarities with NJ- sandwiched between two metros, expensive, very suburban, lots of first generation Americans...nicer weather though.

It's very frustrating to have such a small minded government...everytime something big happens in NJ it's as if it's in spite of the system. They can't even get funding to get the Hudson Bergen Light Rail into Bergen County despite every local mayor and legislator being on board and every indicator it would do wonders for the area.

 

[retired711]

Having spent time in Orange County, I think you are underestimating it.

The University of California is very good at spending money on new facilities. It hired a very well-known scholar as Dean, and he is an effective fund-raiser. He was also allowed to recruit a very good faculty. It is my understanding that the school is innovative in some ways; For details, google "UC Irvine law school."

There was once talk of the University taking over U. San Diego's law school, but it never happened.

 

[NotInRHouse]

My question is what made the leadership of UC sit down and say "You know what we need? A top law school at Irvine" and then somehow got very qualified people to run it. Clearly that conversation hasn't happened at RU since the end of the Cold War if not before.

My friend recently moved to OC and I visited. It really does remind me of NJ in some ways. His apartment complex is attached to a mall right off a freeway, and its close to a nice downtown with a beach. Of course it also has 24-7 sunshine, but no public transportation to anywhere. I can see the attraction but I think I would get bored with it. It's also crazy expensive- rent is nearly JC level and a good hour at least to LA and SD. Amazing Vietnamese food though.

 

[retired711]

Originally posted by NotInRHouse:
My question is what made the leadership of UC sit down and say "You know what we need? A top law school at Irvine" and then somehow got very qualified people to run it. Clearly that conversation hasn't happened at RU since the end of the Cold War if not before.

My friend recently moved to OC and I visited. It really does remind me of NJ in some ways. His apartment complex is attached to a mall right off a freeway, and its close to a nice downtown with a beach. Of course it also has 24-7 sunshine, but no public transportation to anywhere. I can see the attraction but I think I would get bored with it. It's also crazy expensive- rent is nearly JC level and a good hour at least to LA and SD. Amazing Vietnamese food though.

The University of California saw an opportunity. With UCLA, the only public law school in Southern California, there obviously was a market for another. And when the University of California sets out to establish a program, it goes all out. It figures the money needed to build a good building and to hire a prominent dean is money well-spent.. Rutgers historically does not have that attitude, and I'm not just talking about the law schools.

You didn't mention California women who, because they can work out all year, tend to look better than those in Jersey.

 

[NotInRHouse]

That I will give you!

 

[RUseaweed]

The board approved merger of law schools. This was expected and should be good news, right camdenlawprof?

NJ.com Article

 

[retired711]

Originally posted by RUseaweed:
The board approved merger of law schools. This was expected and should be good news, right camdenlawprof?

let's hope so.

 

[Ole Cabbagehead]

I would think a major factor in the tumbling rankings is that Rutgers administration (at least in Newark where I attended) has no interest in running the best law school they can. Rather, their goal is to operate the most diverse law school in the nation. Once you make that decision, you are no longer maximizing the school's academic profile.