Where do the most elite law firms in the United States go to hire new lawyers? According to a study released on October 13, Fordham Law School is among the 15 law schools that leading law firms turn to most often when they hire new lawyers.
Using Vault.com’s list of the most prestigious law firms in the U.S., Professor Brian Leiter of the University of Chicago identified the 15 top law firms whose search engines permitted efficient identification of where their associates went to law school and prepared a report comparing how leading law schools fared at these firms. Fordham Law ranked 15th among law schools nationally. The results are posted at www.leiterrankings.com.
Professor Leiter, whose law school rankings website is an influential source of analysis of the comparative strengths of leading law schools, described Fordham as “long a favorite with New York firms.” He attributed Fordham’s presence among the top 15 sources for elite law firms, in part, to its New York City location. New York is home to more elite law firm headquarters and branch offices than any other American city. “Fordham’s presence in New York, the superb quality of our education, and our fiercely loyal alumni combine to give our graduates virtually unrivaled career opportunities,” noted Fordham Law’s Dean William Treanor.
This new ranking is the latest measure of the extraordinary strength of Fordham Law School and a Fordham Law School education. For example, Fordham Law is one of the 15 most selective schools in the nation, measured in terms of the LSAT scores of the most recent graduating class, six of its programs are rated among the top 20, and it is one of the top five law schools, measured in terms of the number of attorneys working at the top 30 law firms. For more information about Fordham Law’s strengths, go to the Fordham Law Facts Page.
Update Oct. 16: Ranking site down due to spam attack, according to Leiter's blog.
Update Oct. 18: www.leiterrankings.com is back up.
How may Fordham grads at Williams & Connolly, WilmerHale, Covington & Burling, Munger Tolles, Irell, Ropes & Gray, and Gibson Dunn?
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delay on this. I've posted your comment and will respond more fully when Leiter's ranking site is back up (it's currently unavailable due to a spam attack).
ReplyDeleteOkay, Leiter's site is back up.
ReplyDeleteSome of the firms you mention (Munger Tolles; Irell, Ropes & Gray; and Gibson Dunn) aren't on Leiter's list because they aren't among the nation's most profitable. Of these firms on Leiter's list, Fordham has two associates at Covington & Burling and none at Williams & Connolly.
As Leiter makes clear, Fordham's great strength in terms of hiring is at the New York based firms, and none of the firms you ask about is a New York firm, so these are not the firms that have the most Fordham associates. A parallel story can be told about many of the other law schools in top 15. For example UCLA (not ranked) has few associates at New York firms, and the same is true of USC (not ranked). Much law firm hiring comes from the leading law schools in the city where the firm has its base. The fact that New York is home to many of the nation's top law firms is a major reason why Fordham Law is among the leading law schools at the nation's top firms.
Fordham Law also has a fervently dedicated alumni body which actively seeks out Fordham law grads to place at their firms. The Fordham hiring star chamber is real and gets stronger year over year. This explains a lot.
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