Yale University Law School, in New Haven, Connecticut, has held the No. 1 ranking since U.S. News & World Report began ranking law schools, and is first again in the 2010 rankings. Yale's admission standards are extremely high. Alumnae include former President Bill Clinton, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton and Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor.
Yale University Law School
127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
http://www.law.yale.edu
Harvard Law School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts is second, according to U.S. News. Harvard is a significantly larger law school than Yale, with an average of 600 graduates a year. Harvard offers a Juris Doctor, a LL.M- Master of Law and an SJD--Doctor of Juridical Science, as well as joint degrees and concurrent degrees with other schools in the Harvard University system.
Harvard Law School
1563 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
http://www.law.harvard.edu
Stanford University, in Stanford, California, ranks third. Stanford has a student-to-faculty ratio of 8.6 to 1, and small class sizes, with 66 percent having 20 or fewer students. Since the spring of 2004, Stanford students have worked on 63 Supreme Court cases.
Stanford Law School
Crown Quadrangle
559 Nathan Abbott Way
Stanford, CA 94305-8610
http://www.law.stanford.edu/
Columbia University Law School in New York, New York, was established in 1858 and is consistently ranked among the best law schools in the United States. Columbia is extremely selective in its admissions policies, and has a high job placement rate.
Columbia University Law School
435 West 116th Street
Mail Code 4004
New York, NY 10027-7297
http://www.law.columbia.edu
The University of Chicago, in Chicago, Illinois, ranks fifth, according to U.S. News & World Report. The university's law school has a highly respected faculty and is known for teaching the application of social science to the study and practice of law.
University of Chicago
111 East 60th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637
http://www.law.uchicago.edu
New York University, in New York, New York, is sixth. NYU's focus is on the public sector of legal study, and it calls itself the preeminent global law school. NYU was one of the first law schools to admit women, and is considered a leader in the fields of interdisciplinary colloquia and global studies.
New York University
40 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
http://www.law.nyu.edu
The University of California at Berkeley School of Law may be the most affordable of the law schools in the U.S. News top-10 rankings, and its academic focus is intellectual property, environmental and international law.
UC Berkeley School of Law
215 Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
http://www.law.berkeley.edu
The University of Pennsylvania Law School is in the heart of Philidelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1790, Penn law has a long tradition of excellence, including a strong interdisciplinary program that allows law students to earn certificates and joint degrees at schools such as Wharton, the Annenberg School for Communication, and the Center for Bioethics.
University of Pennsylvania Law School
3400 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
http://www.law.upenn.edu
The University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, focuses on a collaborative learning environment, which is in sharp contrast to the competitive nature of some top-10 schools. Michigan has highly inclusive admissions policies, and it was the second law school to graduate an African-American student.
University of Michigan Law School
625 S. State Street
200 Hutchins Hall #29
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1215
http://www.law.umich.edu
The University of Virginia School of Law, in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 10th in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. Founded by Thomas Jefferson, UVA is the oldest law school in the United States, and has had a prestigious reputation since 1819.
University of Virginia School of Law
580 Massie Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903
http://www.law.virginia.edu