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« TLS Profiles - TLS Programs - TLS Stats - Rankings Stanford Law School
While Stanford may still be behind Yale Law School in academic reputation, I believe the many intangibles Stanford Law School offers make it the best law school in the nation. Stanford Law School combines great academics with an enjoyable but challenging law school curriculum, all enjoyed in beautiful Palo Alto, California which enjoys 300 days of sunshine a year. Stanford Law School Admissions "Who could resist a world-class law school in paradise?" Admission to paradise is not easy, with Stanford Law School receiving over 4000 law school applications to fill its 2007 class of 170 students. With an acceptance rate of just above nine percent, the median LSAT for accepted students is a lofty 170 and the median G.P.A. is above a 3.80. Stanford Law School seeks a diverse student body and encourages minorities or those with unique life experiences to apply. Paradise comes at a price, with annual tuition now over $39,000 coupled with the San Francisco Bay Area's high cost of living make attending Stanford Law School costs nearly $60,000 per year. Financial aid for law students is available, but the one consistent complaint Stanford Law School students mention is their heavy debt load upon graduation. However, this investment is well worth it and will pay dividends throughout your entire legal career. First Year Curriculum The Autumn semester consists of the traditional classes of Civil Procedure, Contracts, Criminal Law, Torts and Legal Research and Writing, with one of these classes being taught in a small section of 30 students. The Spring Semester only requires Property and Constitutional Law as well as the final component of Legal Research and Writing. Beyond these requirements, students can take two to four electives Spring semester and are totally free to determine their class offerings in their final two years. Second and Third Year Curriculum For its small size, Stanford Law School offers a diverse range of classes that blend traditional legal doctrines with an interdisciplinary approach to viewing the law. Not beholden to tradition but rather seeking innovation, Stanford Law School prepares its students to both understand legal precedent and more importantly create new precedents as well. While many classes and seminars are offered each semester, the greatest selection of classes occurs in the fields that Stanford Law School is renowned for, including Business and Corporate law, Intellectual Property law, Environmental law, International law, Clinical Programs and Dispute Resolution. Business and Corporate Law Both Stanford Law School and its business school have supplied much of the talent that fueled the explosive technology boom that recently occurred in Silicon Valley. While the cooling economy has lessened the demand for corporate lawyers, Stanford Law School still excels in producing corporate lawyers expert at representing technology companies and venture capitalists. For those with strong work experience prior to law school, the combined JD/MBA degree opens up innumerable doors and has been the launching pad for many entrepreneurs. Stanford Law School is also considered amongst the top ten law schools for tax law. Intellectual Property Law Stanford Law School's proximity to Silicon Valley also explains their expertise in intellectual property law, with Stanford always being considered amongst the top ten law schools in this field. Numerous course offerings are taught by highly respected faculty, including Professor Lawrence Lessig, recently poached from Harvard Law School. In 2000, Stanford Law School founded the Center for Internet and Society, which examines the interrelationships between the Internet and our society and the many constitutional and public policy legal issues that are being raised by the Internet. Environmental Law Environmental conservation is a top priority in beautiful Northern California. As a result, Stanford has built a solid reputation and course offerings in environmental law and is generally considered one of the five best law schools in environmental law. Note that most environmental law graduates are forced with choosing between working for high paying "bad guy" corporations or low paying "good guy" non-profits, so research this choice heavily before fixating upon utilizing environmental law to save the world. International Law Due to the great amount of exports and imports that flow out of Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area, Stanford Law School is well positioned to be among the top law schools for International Law. The greatest focus at Stanford Law School is upon Pacific Rim countries, with East Coast schools like NYU Law School more focused upon the European Community. The diverse offerings of Stanford Law School coupled with its low student-faculty ratio of 12.5 to 1 make attending this top law school in paradise arguably the best law school in the nation. The University and Quality of Life Stanford students study hard, but enjoy life and bike over the sprawling campus and hike in the nearby foothills. Stanford University excels in both academics and athletics and embraces the Ancient Greek ideal of both physical and mental excellence. Stanford students generally live, study and party on campus, for its 8,000 acres provide enough activities for its students. For when Stanford students do venture out, charming Palo Alto downtown is just minutes away, and you can drive to the ocean or San Francisco in under one hour. World class wine tasting in Napa Valley and great skiing in Squaw Valley are only a few hours away. In sum, Stanford Law School offers the most attractive overall combination of academics, quality of life, and location than any of the best law schools in the nation. While Yale Law School will continue to be regarded as the nation's foremost academic powerhouse, I do not believe Stanford students tanning themselves in the golden California sun are very jealous. |
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The rapid ascendance of Stanford Law School over Ivy League icons founded centuries before Stanford was recently evidenced when Stanford was rated as the second best law school in the nation after Yale Law School in many national law school rankings. 
This appropriate quip from Kathleen Sullivan, Dean of Stanford Law School, accurately sums up Stanford's winning combination of architectural beauty, a small student body that fosters a close sense of community, and excellent job prospects upon graduation. 
While many top law schools do not allow first-year students any electives in their rigidly prescribed first year curriculum, Stanford Law School lets students take two to four elective classes in their Spring semester.
Stanford's combination of world class academics set amongst thousands of acres of sunny California rolling hills has helped propel Stanford to become one of the world's finest research universities. Once called the "Harvard of the West," Stanford has carved out its own unique reputation and equals or exceeds Harvard in many disciplines. Stanford University's student body of 14,000 students is composed of 7500 graduate students and only 6500 undergraduate students.