According to a recent survey conducted by U.S. News & World Report, Harvard has been ranked number one by legal recruiting firms across the country, receiving a score from recruiters of 4.9 out of 5 for its reputation.
The survey was sent out to 750 hiring partners and recruiters that were named Best Law Firms in 2010, which is produced by Best Lawyers and U.S. News. They were given a 1 to 5 scale to rank law schools with, with one being marginal and five outstanding. Of those who were sent the survey, fourteen percent responded.
Of the other big law schools that were ranked in the survey, the next in ranking were Stanford and Yale, who were tied for second place, with 4.8 out of 5. Columbia University and the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, were next down the list, and were also tied at 4.7 out of 5. Next on the list are New York University and the University of Virginia, which both had a score at 4.6 out of 5. Cornell University, Duke University, Northwestern University, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Chicago were also tied, all scoring 4.5 out of 5. A total of over 100 schools were ranked in the survey.
Although Harvard had a slight edge in this ranking, Yale University is still ranked number one in the Best Law School rankings, which is also published by the U.S. News.