The Top 100 Legal Scholars of 2024

Abstract

This article presents the third iteration of our ranking of the current top 100 legal scholars. The ranking addresses some of the limitations of traditional legal scholarship rankings by focusing on recent publications rather than career-long outputs. This approach allows for the recognition of a broader range of scholars who have produced influential work, including those with career interruptions, non-traditional academic roles, and careers with limited time for scholarship.

The methodology emphasizes inclusivity and current impact, highlighting the achievements of all scholars who are actively and substantially contributing to legal scholarship. As we did last year, we include a separate ranking that considers the impact of co-authorship. New this year, we rank law schools by the number of scholars who made our top 100. In another first, we attempt to quantify the surprisingly high impact career publications have in other rankings that do not share our methodology. 

In addition to presenting the ranking, the article discusses the increased representation of women in this year’s ranking and the potential impact of COVID-19 on future rankings. It also explores the role of generative AI in legal scholarship and its potential to level the playing field for time-constrained groups. Carrying forward work we started several years ago, our findings include the identification of common elements in well-cited papers, such as optimal title and paper lengths. We also consider changes across our rankings from this year and last and analyze Gregory Sisk’s latest ranking, comparing the persistence of certain names across both our ranking and his. 

Overall, the article contributes a ranking based on a unique methodology, while providing an analysis of the current landscape of legal scholarship rankings. It also offers valuable insights for scholars seeking to enhance their impact and for institutions aiming to support their faculty’s scholarly endeavors. It should be of interest to anyone looking to identify today’s top legal scholars.

Keywords: law school rankings, legal scholarship, legal scholarship rankings, scholarly impact rankings, best legal scholars, top legal scholars, law faculty scholarly impact, current top legal scholars, scholarly recognition in law, legal scholarship trends, law school faculty rankings, COVID-19 effects on legal research, gender in legal academia, caregiving in academia, inclusive academic rankings, quantifying scholarly impact, academic citation metrics

JEL Classification: K00, K1, K19