Best Law Schools in New York

Home to fifteen American Bar Association accredited law schools, New York State is widely known for its top-ranked universities.
 
The schools listed below continually top the rankings based on criteria such as selectivity/average LSAT scores, bar passage rates, academic offerings, job placement rates, and opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience through simulations and clinics.

 

 
Here's a look at the top 10 law schools in California.
 
10.University at Buffalo School of Law
 

Admissions Statistics (2019 Entering Class)
Acceptance Rate	46.80%
Median LSAT Score	154
Median Undergraduate GPA	3.49

Source: American Bar Association Standard 509 Disclosure
 
While most of the law schools included in this list are located in the New York City metropolitan area, the University at Buffalo School of Law's location offers a different set of opportunities. Located on an international border, the UB School of Law has created a cross-border legal studies concentration and offers numerous cross-border learning opportunities. The school also created short courses in January to allow students to gain experiences to complement their legal educations. Options include travel to New Zealand, France, and Thailand to study alongside lawyers practicing their craft.
 
9.CUNY School of Law
 

Admissions Statistics (2019 Entering Class)
Acceptance Rate	37.72%
Median LSAT Score	154
Median Undergraduate GPA	3.49

Source: American Bar Association Standard 509 Disclosure
 
The City University of New York welcomes over a quarter of a million students through its eleven senior colleges, seven graduate schools, and six community colleges. Located in Queens, CUNY School of Law is ranked #1 in the nation for public interest law. The school's commitment to public service was praised by Carnegie Foundation and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. CUNY tuition is just a fraction of what other schools on this list charge. Consistently ranked in the Top 10 Law Schools in clinical training, CUNY students must complete three years of rigorous work. This includes a minimum of 89 credit hours of coursework, clinics, and Lawyering Seminars to earn a JD.
 
8.Syracuse University College of Law
 

Admissions Statistics (2019 Entering Class)
Acceptance Rate	46.16%
Median LSAT Score	154
Median Undergraduate GPA	3.33

Source: American Bar Association Standard 509 Disclosure
 
Opened in 2014, Syracuse Law is housed in Dineen Hall, a 200,000 square foot, five-story facility. Dineen was designed to support the needs of 21st-century legal education and encourage student-faculty interactions. Like all top law programs, Syracuse Law provides loads of experiential learning to less than 200 students each year. Students can choose from nine clinics, including the Veterans Legal Clinic, Community Development Law Clinic, and Elder Law Clinic, and develop their skills through trial advocacy courses and moot court. Students who want to gain experience away from New York can take advantage of externship programs in Washington DC and London.
 
7.Brooklyn Law School
 

Admissions Statistics (2019 Entering Class)
Acceptance Rate	47.19%
Median LSAT Score	157
Median Undergraduate GPA	3.44

Source: American Bar Association Standard 509 Disclosure
 
Home to over 1,000 J.D. students from 163 undergraduate colleges and universities, Brooklyn Law School takes pride in the diverse collegial community. The school's convenient location places it close to various legal services organizations, government agencies, state and federal courthouses, and business incubators. Brooklyn Law students have a vast network of clinic and externship opportunities. The faculty are supportive, and students are engaged with over 40 organizations focused on cultural groups and legal areas. Interested students can take advantage of Brooklyn Law's 4-year extended J.D. option.
 
6.St. John's University School of Law
 

Admissions Statistics (2019 Entering Class)
Acceptance Rate	48.11%
Median LSAT Score	159
Median Undergraduate GPA	3.62

Source: American Bar Association Standard 509 Disclosure
 
The St. John's University School of Law is located on the university's main campus in Queens, and each year enrolls around 230 students. The location enables the school to offer a number of externship and internship placements in the New York City area. Students can choose between nine clinics, including the Child Advocacy Clinic, Domestic Violence Litigation Clinic, and Securities Arbitration Clinic. Home to seven student-run legal journals, St. John's University School of Law is proud of its innovative education.
 
5.Cardozo School of Law
 

Admissions Statistics (2019 Entering Class)
Acceptance Rate	42.18%
Median LSAT Score	162
Median Undergraduate GPA	3.60

Source: American Bar Association Standard 509 Disclosure
 
A part of Yeshiva University, Cardozo School of Law, has its own campus located in Greenwich Village. Unlike its parent institution, Cardozo has no specific religious mission other than its focus on social justice and welcomes students of diverse backgrounds. The school takes advantage of its location to engage students with New York City's active areas of law connected to business, entertainment, fashion, media, criminal justice, and public service. The school's programs in intellectual property and conflict resolution rank highly in U.S. News & World Report. Cardozo is well known for being the Innocence Project host, an initiative that has helped free over 350 wrongly convicted prisoners.
 
4.Fordham University School of Law
 

Admissions Statistics (2019 Entering Class)
Acceptance Rate	27.25%
Median LSAT Score	164
Median Undergraduate GPA	3.64

Source: American Bar Association Standard 509 Disclosure
 
Located in Manhattan's Upper West Side, Fordham University's School of Law enrolls around 400 students each year. It is one of the more prominent programs in the nation. Many of the school's specialty areas, including International Law, Clinical Training, and Trial Advocacy, are ranked in the top 20 nationally. It has also been rated high by U.S. News & World Report.
 
Five of Fordham's student journals are among the most cited in judicial opinions. These include Fordham International Law Journal, Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law, and Fordham Law Review.
 
Other points of pride for Fordham include the 152,000 hours of public interest work performed by the class of 2018 during their time at the law school. Fordham takes pride in its graduate outcomes as 52% of the Class of 2018 had federal clerk jobs or in big law firms.
 
3.Cornell University Law School
 

Admissions Statistics (2019 Entering Class)
Acceptance Rate	21.33%
Median LSAT Score	168
Median Undergraduate GPA	3.81

Source: American Bar Association Standard 509 Disclosure
 
Located in the small city of Ithaca, one of the country's best college towns, Cornell Law is a top-ranked law school with highly selective admission and impressive graduate outcomes.
 
Cornell's Law school curriculum begins with the Lawyering Program, designed to help students develop the professional skills they'll need as practicing attorneys. The course focuses on legal writing, research, legal analysis, oral presentation, client counseling, and interviewing.
 
Cornell Law highly values experiential learning, and the school has enough seats available in clinics for all students to participate. The options are wide-ranging: Farmworker Legal Assistance, Campus Mediation Practicum, LGBT Clinic, Protest, and Civil Disobedience Defense Practicum, Juvenile Life Without Parole Clinic Labor Law Clinic, and many more.
 
2.New York University Law School
 

Admissions Statistics (2019 Entering Class)
Acceptance Rate	21.60%
Median LSAT Score	170
Median Undergraduate GPA	3.80

Source: American Bar Association Standard 509 Disclosure
 
Located in New York City's Greenwich Village, New York University Law School offers legal education in the heart of a major global financial center. NYU Law students can take classes at NYU's highly regarded Stern School of Business. For students with international ambitions, NYU's Guarini Institute for Global Legal Studies focuses on international law. NYU administers programs in Buenos Aires, Paris, and Shanghai. NYU offers summer funding for students who aspire to work in government or public interest positions.
 
1.Columbia Law School
 

Admissions Statistics (2019 Entering Class)
Acceptance Rate	15.86%
Median LSAT Score	171
Median Undergraduate GPA	3.82

Source: American Bar Association Standard 509 Disclosure
 
Consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States, Columbia Law School held its first law class in 1858 and is the alma mater of Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
 
The school's location in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan provides students with a network of opportunities for hands-on learning experiences.
 
With its 30 research centers, Columbia Law School offers students real-world legal training in areas varying from corporate governance to human rights.
 
A Columbia legal education begins with its Foundation Year Moot Court program, allowing students to prepare legal briefs and present oral arguments to judges in the first year. Students gain further experiential learning through a range of simulation classes, clinics, and policy labs. Clinic students become members of Morningside Heights Legal Services, Inc., Columbia's very own law firm focused on public interest issues.
 
Columbia Law Review is the second-most cited law journal in the world.