The basic premise underlying our unique approach to ranking schools: the "new normal" for the legal job market is no longer new, it's just normal. Going to law school no longer guarantees graduates a good job, or even just a job. Given the cost of law school, potential students should prioritize their future job prospects over all other factors in deciding whether and where to attend law school. The relative quality of schools is a function of how they deliver on the promise of gainful legal employment and other desirable results. So in addition to focusing exclusively on such outcomes, ours are the only rankings to incorporate the latest ABA employment data concerning the class of 2013.

Among these, which has a plausible prospect of paying off his student loans? A) Biglaw associate; B) Associate at small local firm; or C) Temp doc reviewer? If you answer "all of the above," there are more than a few law deans who would like to talk to you. In this market, some legal jobs are more equal than others. Our rankings stipulate that an employment outcome that allows a graduate to pay down debt is a “better” one.

We also acknowledge “prestige” plays an outsized role in the legal profession. Our methodology rewards schools for producing Supreme Court clerks and federal clerks because the market rewards people who get those jobs with money and prestige. Don't hate us, we're just the messengers.

We limit our list to 50 schools because there are only a certain number of schools that have real employment prospects outside of their particular region. We want to look at "national" schools, and we want to look at schools that have employment options for students who don't finish in the top five percent of their class. Prospective students always think they'll be in the top five percent of their class, and 95% of them are wrong every year. In any event, the fact that one school in Virginia is #98 and another in Texas is #113—in any rankings system—is not a useful piece of consumer information.

Enjoy the rankings. But please use them responsibly.

Let's put it simply: