US News & World Reports Law School Rankings came out last week and my Alma Mater Hofstra University School of Law just jumped Fourteen (14)points!
Just two years ago, Hofstra did not even qualify as a tier 1 school. Last year it squeaked in at number 99 but this year it establishes itself as a school on the rise.
As an Alum I am of course very proud of both the faculty and staff as well as the students who made this happen. I am not sure of the efficacy of a law school ranking system to begin with, but if you are going to have one, then I guess it is better to be in the top tier than not.
My fear is that the areas that the USNWR survey thinks are important may become over pronounced and take from the school the things that make it relevant to its students.
For example, Hofstra used to bring in a lot of returning students and students that had little or no intention of practicing law once they got their degrees. That number has been reduced to a large extent because of the shear cost of getting a degree these days. Those returning students however provided a real lesson in perseverance in their younger classmates. Their real life lessons made our classes more "interesting" and frankly less obtuse. If this were to be diminished in search of higher ranked applicants and at the expense of the small class sizes, then I would think that while the ranking would be better, the educational experience would be far lessened.
I am sure that the clinic program and trial program (which US News does not rank highly but whose students regularly win trial competitions against those schools that are well rated in these areas) remain a vital part of the curricular and will as the school's reputation grows become a source of US News pride as well.
For those of you who are thinking about law school, I highly recommend Hofstra School of law. Its proximity to both the hub of Long Island (Nassau County) legal practice and that of NYC, makes it an attractive place to go to school and increases the chance of finding a job Tenfold.
2 comments:
I would just like to say that my attorney, Robert Del Col is a graduate of Hofstra Law and as far as I am concerned one of if not, the best trial attorney on Long Island.
He goes above and beyond what is expected of a lawyer and will take his clients case as far as he needs too.
He has been representing me for the last 6 years against Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, one of the largest and most connected law firms in the world. Bob Del Col goes to court by himself and is up against at least 6 lawyers from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and has beat them every single time.
Bob Del Col always conveys to his opponents that he is just a small country lawyer from Long Island and makes sure that he adds to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, attorneys that he went to Hofstra, not Harvard, Yale Colombia, where many of their partners received their law degree.
Bob does not bluff, so if you need a lawyer to represent you that when he tells the prosecutor he will go to trial, HE WILL, not like other lawyers that basically go through the motions and perform the minimum to stay out of trouble with their clients. If this is a trait Hofstra Law conveys, Hofstra should be number 1.
Stephan,
Thanks for stopping buy and endorsing my old friend Bob Del Col. We've known each other 29 years & He is a fine trial lawyer. Our class was filled with great trial lawyers, Sab Caponi, Rick Collins, Mark Gann and those are just the criminal defense lawyers! One the Plaintiff's side Perry Weitz has won more money for Asbestos victims than anyone else (over a Billion Dollars) and continues to be a tremendous advocate for them. Then there are those that have been leaders of Bar Associations, court systems and the acedemic world.
Yes Hofstra University School of Law Class of '84 is a very special class of lawyers. I am proud to be among them.
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