preLaw Magazine - Fall 2008 - (Page 13) As for the bar passage rates, U.S. News currently uses the rate of all first-time test takers from a state regardless of the ABA accreditation of their law schools, according to Morse. This distinction is perhaps most meaningful for the state of California, which has a large number of non-ABAaccredited schools. “It’s a change that will hurt my law school, but probably make sense of an accurate measure of how schools are doing,” Seto said. Morse said they do not plan to make a decision on the issue until fall 2008 or early 2009. But that’s easier said than done. Until recently, the ABA didn’t make all the data available electronically, he said. U.S. News also circulates a questionnaire that is familiar to law schools across the country. “A potential competitor can’t get the data unless it can get law schools to do a survey,” Seto said. Understanding the U.S. New rankings Seto’s new research findings on the U.S. News rankings, to be released in the near future, conclude that the reputation variable is fairly reliable. “Deans, faculty members, judges and lawyers seem to have consistent judgments about law schools across the country over time,” he said. The research also gave special attention to looking at which schools are going up the ranking systematically and going down systematically. “We look at which schools are moving in the direction they’d like to be,” he said. “My view has never been that we should get rid of U.S. News rankings,” Seto said. “But, students and law schools would be better served if there were competing rankings systems, as there are within business schools. Stop trying to cater to one institution would be best.” { ALL LAWYERS ARE EDUCATED. OUR LAWYERS ARE PREPARED. } TOURO LAW CENTER graduates are prepared to practice and driven to succeed. Our hands-on curriculum and collaborative relationships with the Federal and State courthouses next door give Touro Law students the edge in developing legal skills necessary to apply theory in the real world. Touro Law Center: Where the practice of law begins. Editors note: We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts on the U.S. News’ interest in revising their ranking criteria to our Associate Managing Editor at michelle@cypressmagazines.com. Call 631.761.7010 or visit www.tourolaw.edu Fall 2008 13 http://www.tourolaw.edu http://www.tourolaw.edu
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