| A Note from the Office of Dean Leonard M. Baynes |
The U.S. News & World Report rankings have been published. This year’s metrics indicate that the University of Houston Law Center continues to excel in several key areas and emerges as a leader in new fields. While rankings are not the sole determinate of a law school’s success, they do provide important insights. Best Law Schools The newly released rankings showcase our longstanding Top 10 status in three specialty programs: Intellectual Property Law, Health Care Law, and Part-Time program. Including these three, the Law Center has a total of 10 specialty programs ranked in the Top 50 nationwide. The top programs, with several making notable jumps, include:
The Law Center also has five programs ranked No.1 in Texas. They include:
Overall, the Law Center ranked No. 60 on the U.S. News & World Report list of Best Law Schools. But we must note that recently, the methodology of the U.S. News & World Report, Best Law School rankings has been criticized resulting in a boycott by 63 law schools, comprising almost 1/3 of all law schools. Given the far-reaching change in rankings methodology, this year’s rankings publication experienced multiple delays, and the preliminary embargoed rankings were significantly revised after initial circulation to the law schools. The criticism, boycotts, and implementation issues may have the effect of undermining the credibility of this year’s rankings. Despite this tumult, law school rankings have and will likely persist because US News will continue to rank all law schools (including those law schools who boycott) with publicly available data. I appreciate that US News is now working with law school deans and other stakeholders to address the criticism. These rankings reflect the new, adjusted methodology. Go-To Law Schools’ for Big Law The UH Law Center was also named a ‘Go-To Law School’ by Law.com for securing Big Law jobs. This year, we ranked No. 32 with 19% of graduates starting careers as associates with the nation’s top 100 law firms. Diversity in Business & Education Earlier this year, the Houston Business Journal named the UH Law Center an Outstanding Diverse Organization as part of the publication’s annual Diversity in Business Awards. The Diversity in Business Awards recognizes “organizations and individuals who have shown exceptional commitment to promoting practices that advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace and in business leadership.” Again, while accolades can help attract talent to our school, they are not the only measure of success. Wherever we rank, we will remain committed to our core values of providing an excellent legal education to a diverse group of students and serving as a scholarly hub for our faculty and the broader legal community. |
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Leonard M. Baynes Share Your Thoughts with the Dean |