Robert Morse, Director of Data Research at U.S. News & World Report, blogs about his recent discussion about law school rankings with Northwestern Dean David E. Van Zandt:

[Van Zandt] visited me recently to discuss the law school rankings. Van Zandt is among a small minority of law school deans who think the law school rankings provide useful consumer information to prospective students. He says it’s time to stop arguing against the rankings because they aren’t going away. …

[A]round 175 law school deans, out of the 195 ABA accredited schools, have signed an antiranking letter that is posted on the LSAC’s website. …. The letter, which has been circulated for several years, strongly urges law school applicants to ignore the U.S. News rankings and use other sources of information in order to determine where to go. Van Zandt says that this letter, which he didn’t sign, is counterproductive and patronizing. He says prospective students are smart enough to understand a variety of sources of information about legal education, and he doesn’t think students slavishly follow the U.S. News rankings. … Dean Van Zandt is right. Prospective students need all the information they can get before they decide to commit to a law school.