Happy Halloween!
Time for something a little scary: American Lawyer's ranking of firms' summer associate programs!
It's always a little amusing the extent to which we as a society -- and the law industry in particular -- are so enamored of listings and rankings. Brian Leiter fairly frequently addresses the pitfalls of rankings -- the way they unhelpfully influence behavior by both students and institutions -- in general; and Jeremy Blachman has some good insights and amusing commentary on the AmLawyer survey linked to above.
In many ways, the simplistic methodology and dubious rationale behind most rankings represent direct affronts to the deeper thinking that law school is supposed to encourage. But law school also teaches some hard lessons about time management, and thus law students are also famous for their willingness to forsake the hard work of thinking for whatever time-saving shortcuts they can find that does their thinking for them -- be these shortcuts commercial outlines or firm rankings. And hence the whole cottage industry that has evolved around ranking schools and firms, producing study aids of all sort, and so on.
I leave it to readers to glean any insights from the AmLawyer survey. You can make up your own mind as to whether I've just given you a trick or a treat.
It's always a little amusing the extent to which we as a society -- and the law industry in particular -- are so enamored of listings and rankings. Brian Leiter fairly frequently addresses the pitfalls of rankings -- the way they unhelpfully influence behavior by both students and institutions -- in general; and Jeremy Blachman has some good insights and amusing commentary on the AmLawyer survey linked to above.
In many ways, the simplistic methodology and dubious rationale behind most rankings represent direct affronts to the deeper thinking that law school is supposed to encourage. But law school also teaches some hard lessons about time management, and thus law students are also famous for their willingness to forsake the hard work of thinking for whatever time-saving shortcuts they can find that does their thinking for them -- be these shortcuts commercial outlines or firm rankings. And hence the whole cottage industry that has evolved around ranking schools and firms, producing study aids of all sort, and so on.
I leave it to readers to glean any insights from the AmLawyer survey. You can make up your own mind as to whether I've just given you a trick or a treat.
Labels: Rankings And Associated Bullshit
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