There are several commercial websites that rank American Bar Association approved law schools. You might also find national and regional rankings in magazines, newspapers, or on television.

The most prominent website is hosted by U.S. News & World Report Inc and ranks the top fifty American law schools according to criteria established by its editors. The website also lists the top schools in specialty categories such as tax law and dispute resolution. In Canada, a similar survey is conducted each year by Maclean’s magazine. The main drawback of these rankings is that they are based on a relatively small set of variables, which are assumed to be common to all schools. These assumptions are often inaccurate, especially when one considers the potential differences in curriculum and programs among law schools.

Furthermore, some ranking schemes take into account the prestige or “reputation” of a larger institution, as well as the presence of high-profile faculty members, which are nearly impossible to quantify accurately. Also, the results of these rankings are often republished without explaining the methods used in the original survey.