Enduring Hierarchies in American Legal Education

137 Pages Posted: 2 Oct 2013 Last revised: 27 Jun 2018

See all articles by Olufunmilayo Arewa

Olufunmilayo Arewa

Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University

Andrew P. Morriss

Bush School of Government & Public Service / School of Law; PERC - Property and Environment Research Center

William D. Henderson

Indiana University Maurer School of Law

Date Written: 2013

Abstract

Although much attention has been paid to U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of U.S. law schools, the hierarchy it describes is a long-standing one rather than a recent innovation. In this Article, we show the presence of a consistent hierarchy of U.S. law schools from the 1930s to the present, provide a categorization of law schools for use in research on trends in legal education, and examine the impact of U.S. News’s introduction of a national, ordinal ranking on this established hierarchy. The Article examines the impact of such hierarchies for a range of decision-making in law school contexts, including the role of hierarchies in promotion, tenure, publication, and admissions, for employers in hiring, and for prospective law students in choosing a law school. This Article concludes with suggestions for ways the legal academy can move beyond existing hierarchies and at the same time address issues of pressing concern in the legal education sector. Finally, the Article provides a categorization of law schools across time that can serve as a basis for future empirical work on trends in legal education and scholarship.

Suggested Citation

Arewa, Olufunmilayo and Morriss, Andrew P. and Henderson, William D., Enduring Hierarchies in American Legal Education (2013). Indiana Law Journal, Vol.89, No.3, 2014, pp.941-1068., UC Irvine School of Law Research Paper No. 2013-141, Indiana Legal Studies Research Paper No. 269, U of Alabama Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2343381, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2333771

Olufunmilayo Arewa (Contact Author)

Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University ( email )

3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

Andrew P. Morriss

Bush School of Government & Public Service / School of Law ( email )

4220 TAMU / Room 2141
2129 Allen Building
College Station, TX 77843-4220
United States

PERC - Property and Environment Research Center

2048 Analysis Drive
Suite A
Bozeman, MT 59718
United States

William D. Henderson

Indiana University Maurer School of Law ( email )

211 S. Indiana Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47405
United States
812-856-1788 (Phone)
812-855-0555 (Fax)

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