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16 ¦ MARCH 23, 2020 NEWS

¦ From YALE LAW on PAGE 15 University School of Law posted the single larg-
Typically, deans at schools with large moves up or est gain this year, moving up 25 spots to No. 107.
down the rankings either trumpet that improvement That upward movement follows a 13-spot drop
or offer explanations or reactions to major drops. But the previous year. Cleveland-Marshall College of
the rankings may well be overshadowed by the push Law moved up 24 spots to No. 102, while Texas
to keep law schools functioning virtually. Unlike in A&M University School of Law gained 23 spots to
years past, early versions of the rankings did not leak land at No. 60.
on legal blogs ahead of the official publication. The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of
It appears that Fordham’s impressive gain is due Law had the largest drop this year, falling 25 spots
largely to improved employment outcomes for the to No. 133. The school had climbed eight spots on
class of 2018. More than 74% of that class had jobs at last year’s list. The University of Tulsa College of Law
graduation, and nearly 88% were employed at grad- had the next largest drop, at 24 spots. It landed at
uation—up from 62% and 77% No. 111. (The Oklahoma school
last year, respectively. had moved up 11 spots the previ-
“We judge ourselves more by ous year.)
the accomplishments of our stu- U.S. News added four new spe-
dents, faculty and alumni than cialty rankings to its offerings this
by an external ranking, but I am year to the existing seven—busi-
pleased to see the excellence of ness and corporate law, contracts
our law school recognized,” said and commercial law, criminal law
Fordham law dean Matthew With law schools struggling and constitutional law. The spe-
Diller. “Our rise was fueled by to move online amid the cialty rankings are calculated by
strong employment numbers— coronavirus outbreak, it’s survey responses from legal aca-
both at graduation and 10 months unclear whether the new demics.

after, as well as increases in repu- law school rankings will Columbia snagged the top spot

tation among the bench and have their usual impact on in both the business law and con-
bar and strong admissions. The the academy. tracts categories, while NYU took
school also did well in a broad the No. 1 ranking for criminal
range of specialty areas.” law. Yale topped the list for con-
Elsewhere among the top 50 stitutional law.
schools, the University of Florida The rankings released Tuesday
Levin College of Law picked up did not include the much-dis-
seven spots to land at No. 24—a cussed new scholarly impact
gain that comes on the heels of a ranking, which U.S. News has
10-spot move up the list last year. The University of said it plans to release later this year. Legal academ-
North Carolina School of Law also moved up seven ics have fiercely debated the merits of the proposed
spots to No. 27. The University of Illinois College of new ranking, which will based on the citations of
Law and the College of William and Mary Marshall- faculty scholarship.
Wythe School of Law both gained eight spots to tie at ¦

No. 31. Karen Sloan is the Legal Education Editor and
Wake Forest University School of Law posted the Senior Writer at ALM. Contact her at ksloan@
biggest decline among the top 50 schools, falling 11 alm.com. On Twitter: @KarenSloanNLJ Sign
spots to No. 42. The University of Alabama School up for Ahead of the Curve—her weekly email
of Law fell 6 spots to No. 31. update on trends and innovation in legal edu-
As usual, the biggest moves up and down the cation—here: https://www.law.com/briefings/
rankings occurred outside the top 50. Washburn ahead-of-the-curve/

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