Law School Rankings - Canadian Law Schools

I am always curious about law school rankings and whether they mean very much.  Macleans has not put out law school rankings for many years regarding Canadian Law Schools.  Thoughts? Are they valid?  Worthwhile?

Here's a story from yesterday about US law school rankings:

https://www.law.com/therecorder/2019/03/12/latest-u-s-news-law-school-ranking-offers-few-surprises-403-31111/?slreturn=20190213182342

Top Five Canadian Law Schools Rank Same as 2008

Maclean's put out their 2009 Canadian Law School Ranking in September. No changes in the Top 5. Also, very little changes in 12 to 16.

1. Toronto (1)
2. McGill (2)
3. Osgoode (3)
4. UBC (4)
5. Victoria (5)
6. Queen's (8)
7. Dalhousie (6)
8. Ottawa (7)
9. Alberta (9)
10. Western (12)
11. Calgary (10)
12. Saskatchewan (12)
13. Manitoba (10)
13. New Brunswick (12)
15. Windsor (15)
16. Moncton (16)

I don't put a ton of stock in Maclean's ranking, but it is interesting to see the consistency from year to year. Victoria used to be much higher. I am surprised to see UBC so high the last two years, as it didn't use to rank that high. Calgary keeps dipping. Alberta should be ranked higher, especially given all the money that has been thrown at it lately.

More on the Macleans Rankings

The McGill student newspaper has a good commentary on the Macleans rankings, although they question not only the elements that went into those rankings but the merits of rankings themselves where there are so few law schools.

Most of the criticism that I have read focusses on two considerations: the ranking of faculty by Canadian citations only, and the ranking of students by Lexpert-ranked "elite" firm hiring. Both are, I think, valid criticisms that probably speak to an unfamiliarity with Canadian legal (and Canadian legal academic) culture.

Posted by Russ Brown on October 11, 2007 at 05:17 AM in Law School Issues | Read the entire post here

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