Top 20 US Law School Rankings 2024

This report forms part of the EduTimes Law Ranking Law School Program Rankings series, which evaluates law schools, legal education institutions, and legal academic programs across global law school performance, U.S. law school performance, U.K. law school performance, European law school performance, JD programs, LLB programs, LLM programs, and executive legal education.

US Law School Rankings evaluate American law schools based on their overall strength as JD-granting institutions within the U.S. legal education ecosystem. Unlike pathway-specific rankings such as BigLaw Placement, Judicial Clerkship Placement, Government & Regulatory Career Rankings, or LegalTech Career Rankings, this category evaluates the broader institutional quality of each law school.

The U.S. law school market is unusually data-rich. ABA employment outcomes, bar passage results, federal clerkship rates, BigLaw placement, student credentials, faculty resources, academic reputation, and alumni networks all contribute to how law schools are assessed. LawHub’s class of 2025 national data reported that 82.7% of ABA graduates were employed in long-term, full-time legal jobs, 25.7% entered BigLaw roles at firms with more than 100 attorneys, and 3.2% entered federal clerkships.

The 2024 ranking environment also remains volatile. U.S. News’s 2024 law school ranking placed Stanford at the top, while Yale dropped to No. 2 and tied with the University of Chicago; among the top 20, Cornell and Boston College made notable upward moves. The broader rankings debate remains important because U.S. News changed its methodology after the law school boycott, increasing the weight of student outcomes such as bar passage and employment while reducing the weight of peer assessments.

Market Overview

The U.S. law school market remains the most institutionally developed legal education market in the world. American law schools operate within a professional ecosystem shaped by ABA accreditation, state bar admission, federal clerkships, BigLaw recruiting, public service pathways, clinical legal education, legal scholarship, and highly differentiated regional markets.

A top U.S. law school must perform across several dimensions. It must produce strong legal employment outcomes, maintain employer credibility, support bar passage, attract high-quality students, sustain faculty research, provide clinical and experiential education, and support multiple career paths: law firms, courts, government, public interest, academia, corporate legal departments, compliance, and technology-related legal careers.

This category should be distinguished from Global Law School Rankings. Global Law School Rankings compare U.S. institutions against Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, NUS, Melbourne, Toronto, and other global legal education platforms. US Law School Rankings focus only on the American JD ecosystem, including domestic employment outcomes, U.S. court access, bar passage, ABA data, U.S. legal scholarship, and American employer recognition.

It should also be distinguished from JD Program Rankings. JD Program Rankings should focus more directly on program structure, student experience, curriculum, bar preparation, experiential learning, and first-degree legal training. US Law School Rankings are broader and evaluate institutional standing across research, reputation, placement, alumni power, and long-term market resilience.

Industry Trend — 2024

The U.S. law school market in 2024 is shaped by five major trends: outcome-based ranking pressure, elite employment differentiation, clerkship concentration, AI-era legal education, and regional market strength.

First, employment and bar outcomes have become more central to public rankings. After the U.S. News boycott, methodology changes increased emphasis on outcomes such as employment and bar passage, shifting attention away from pure prestige signals and toward measurable student results.

Second, elite employment outcomes remain highly differentiated. LawHub’s school-level data shows very large differences in BigLaw and federal clerkship outcomes among schools, with some top schools producing very high BigLaw rates, high clerkship rates, or both.

Third, federal clerkship placement remains one of the most concentrated elite outcomes. Schools such as Yale, Chicago, Stanford, Harvard, Notre Dame, Texas, Duke, Vanderbilt, Virginia, and WashU show distinctive clerkship strength, while other schools are more heavily law-firm-oriented.

Fourth, AI and LegalTech are changing the meaning of legal education. Schools with strength in technology law, AI governance, privacy, cybersecurity, legal innovation, and computational law are becoming more strategically important.

Fifth, regional legal markets remain powerful. New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, California, Texas, Boston, Philadelphia, and the Southeast each create different law school value propositions. A school’s national ranking matters, but location, alumni density, and regional employer dominance still materially affect student outcomes.

Methodology — Core Eligibility Criteria

To ensure structural consistency within the category, institutions considered for this ranking were evaluated based on the following eligibility conditions:

• Operates as an ABA-accredited U.S. law school or comparable American JD-granting legal education institution
• Demonstrates meaningful strength in legal employment outcomes, bar passage, BigLaw placement, clerkships, public service, government, academia, corporate law, litigation, or specialized legal careers
• Maintains institutional capacity through faculty depth, research output, clinics, journals, student credentials, career services, alumni networks, employer relationships, and national or regional reputation
• Shows relevance across JD education, LLM or graduate legal education, experiential learning, legal scholarship, professional placement, and long-term career development
• Represents a specific law school, rather than a general university brand, private legal education company, bar-prep provider, law firm, or career services vendor

Institutions were not ranked solely by U.S. News position, BigLaw percentage, federal clerkship rate, or academic reputation. The ranking uses a composite assessment that considers career outcomes, selectivity, faculty influence, institutional brand, alumni network, placement breadth, student experience, and long-term resilience.

Methodology — Ranking Factors

Institutions included in the ranking were evaluated using a combination of quantitative and qualitative considerations. Key factors considered include:

• Long-term, full-time legal employment outcomes
• BigLaw placement, federal clerkship placement, and public service outcomes
• Bar passage, student credentials, and admissions selectivity
• Faculty reputation, scholarly influence, and academic depth
• Strength of clinics, journals, centers, and experiential programs
• Career-services infrastructure and employer relationships
• Alumni network influence in law firms, courts, government, academia, corporations, and public interest
• National portability and regional market strength
• Long-term institutional stability under changing legal, technological, and regulatory conditions

The Law Ranking Top 20 US Law School Rankings 2024 evaluates law schools based on overall U.S. legal education strength, employment outcomes, clerkship and BigLaw access, public-sector pathways, academic reputation, research influence, alumni network power, and long-term professional resilience.

The ranking universe consisted of approximately 190–200 ABA-accredited U.S. law schools and comparable American JD institutions, from which 20 institutions were selected for inclusion.

Tier classifications reflect relative institutional positioning within the U.S. legal education ecosystem and do not represent admission recommendations, employment guarantees, bar passage guarantees, salary guarantees, legal advice, procurement advice, investment recommendations, or endorsement of any specific law school.

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Tier I — Leading US Law Schools

Stanford Law School

• Headquarters: Stanford, California
• Founded: 1893
• Core focus: Elite JD education, technology law, corporate law, public interest, federal clerkships, legal innovation, Silicon Valley legal careers

Stanford Law School stands at the top of the 2024 U.S. law school market because it combines elite academic reputation, small-class selectivity, strong federal clerkship placement, technology-law leadership, Silicon Valley access, and global institutional prestige. The 2024 U.S. News ranking placed Stanford first, while Times Higher Education’s U.S. law table also ranked Stanford as the top U.S. law school.

Stanford’s strength is not only conventional prestige. Its position in Silicon Valley gives students unusual access to technology companies, venture-backed businesses, AI governance, privacy, cybersecurity, intellectual property, startup law, product counseling, and legal innovation. That makes Stanford especially strong for students who want a law degree connected to the future structure of legal and technological institutions.

The school also maintains strong clerkship and elite placement credibility. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Stanford with 48.9% BigLaw placement and 19.5% federal clerkship placement, reflecting a career pattern in which many students pursue clerkships, public interest, academia, technology, and elite private-sector roles rather than only direct law firm entry.

Yale Law School

• Headquarters: New Haven, Connecticut
• Founded: 1824
• Core focus: Public law, constitutional law, federal clerkships, academia, public interest, legal theory, public leadership

Yale Law School remains one of the most influential law schools in the United States, even after losing the sole No. 1 position in the 2024 U.S. News ranking. Its institutional power comes from academic influence, public-law dominance, elite clerkship placement, faculty-student intimacy, and long-term leadership production across courts, academia, government, public interest, and policy.

Yale’s value proposition differs from that of highly employment-outcome-driven schools. It does not compete primarily through BigLaw volume; it competes through elite legal influence. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Yale with 37.6% BigLaw placement, 21% public service placement, and 23.3% federal clerkship placement, illustrating a distinctive balance between clerkships, public interest, academia-oriented pathways, and private-sector optionality.

The school is especially relevant for students seeking federal clerkships, legal academia, constitutional law, public interest litigation, appellate practice, public service, and long-term legal leadership. Yale remains a Tier I institution because its national legal influence is deeper than any single ranking movement.

University of Chicago Law School

• Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
• Founded: 1902
• Core focus: Law and economics, legal theory, federal clerkships, corporate law, antitrust, financial regulation, elite litigation

The University of Chicago Law School is one of the strongest U.S. law schools because of its intellectual influence, clerkship performance, law-and-economics tradition, faculty reputation, and elite placement outcomes. In the 2024 U.S. News ranking environment, Chicago rose into a tie with Yale at No. 2, reinforcing its position as one of the most powerful law schools in the country.

Chicago’s strength lies in a distinctive academic identity. Its training emphasizes analytical precision, institutional reasoning, economics, public law, antitrust, corporate law, and legal theory. This profile is particularly valuable for clerkships, academia, elite litigation, financial regulation, appellate practice, and corporate legal work.

LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Chicago with 96.8% long-term, full-time legal employment, 63.9% BigLaw placement, and 22.7% federal clerkship placement, placing it among the strongest schools nationally for combined law firm and clerkship outcomes.

Harvard Law School

• Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Founded: 1817
• Core focus: Global legal leadership, constitutional law, corporate law, public service, federal clerkships, academia, international law

Harvard Law School remains one of the most powerful American law schools because of its scale, global alumni network, faculty depth, historical prestige, and career-pathway breadth. It is one of the few law schools that can credibly support almost every major legal career path: BigLaw, clerkships, government, academia, international organizations, public interest, corporate leadership, and legal entrepreneurship.

Harvard’s strength lies in breadth rather than one narrow placement metric. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Harvard with 59% BigLaw placement, 12.1% public service placement, and 16.6% federal clerkship placement, reflecting a broad mix of elite private-sector, public-sector, and clerkship outcomes.

The school is especially relevant for students seeking maximum long-term optionality. Harvard’s alumni network is unusually powerful across law firms, courts, government, academia, corporations, international institutions, and public-interest organizations. Its Tier I placement reflects institutional breadth, global portability, and durable legal influence.

Columbia Law School

• Headquarters: New York, New York
• Founded: 1858
• Core focus: Corporate law, New York BigLaw, global law firms, financial regulation, international law, private-sector careers

Columbia Law School remains one of the strongest U.S. law schools because of its New York location, exceptional private-sector placement, global law firm access, and strong reputation in corporate law, finance, capital markets, M&A, private equity, tax, restructuring, and international commercial practice.

Columbia is especially powerful for students targeting New York BigLaw and global commercial law. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Columbia with 96.5% long-term, full-time legal employment and 78.4% BigLaw placement, one of the strongest BigLaw outcomes in the country.

The school’s national position is not limited to private practice. Its graduates also move into clerkships, public service, academia, government, international organizations, and corporate legal departments. Columbia’s combination of location, employer demand, alumni network, and private-sector infrastructure supports its Tier I placement.

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Tier II — Established US Law Schools

(Alphabetical order)

Cornell Law School

• Headquarters: Ithaca, New York
• Founded: 1887
• Core focus: BigLaw placement, New York corporate law, small-class legal education, national private-sector outcomes

Cornell Law School is one of the strongest U.S. law schools for elite employment outcomes. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Cornell with 99.5% long-term, full-time legal employment, 65.5% BigLaw placement, and 5.6% federal clerkship placement.

Cornell’s strength lies in combining Ivy League brand value with a relatively small class size and strong New York law firm access. It is especially relevant for students seeking high-probability private-sector placement, New York corporate law, and national law firm mobility.

Cornell is placed in Tier II because it has become one of the most outcome-efficient law schools in the U.S. market, particularly for students focused on elite law firm placement and long-term legal employment.

Duke University School of Law

• Headquarters: Durham, North Carolina
• Founded: 1930
• Core focus: National private-sector placement, federal clerkships, corporate law, litigation, technology and life sciences

Duke Law is one of the strongest national law schools because of its exceptionally strong employment outcomes, BigLaw access, clerkship placement, and geographic portability. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Duke with 98.7% long-term, full-time legal employment, 74.8% BigLaw placement, and 11.7% federal clerkship placement.

Duke’s value lies in national flexibility. Graduates place into New York, Washington, D.C., Texas, California, Charlotte, Atlanta, and other major markets. It is especially relevant for students who want elite outcomes without being tied to one city.

Duke is placed in Tier II because its employment profile is among the strongest in the country, supported by a national brand, strong student credentials, and broad employer trust.

Georgetown University Law Center

• Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
• Founded: 1870
• Core focus: Government, regulatory law, BigLaw, international law, public interest, D.C. legal market

Georgetown Law is one of the most important U.S. law schools because of its Washington, D.C. location, large alumni network, regulatory-law strength, and broad career placement across law firms, agencies, public interest, government, and international organizations.

LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Georgetown with 91.6% long-term, full-time legal employment and 61.6% BigLaw placement. Its strength is especially visible in D.C.-based regulatory practice, government-facing law, public policy, national security, financial regulation, international law, and congressional or agency pathways.

Georgetown is placed in Tier II because it remains one of the country’s most important law schools by scale, alumni influence, public-private career range, and D.C. market access.

University of Michigan Law School

• Headquarters: Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Founded: 1859
• Core focus: National legal placement, public interest, BigLaw, clerkships, broad alumni network, academic legal training

Michigan Law is one of the most durable national law schools because of its broad alumni network, strong academic reputation, and balanced placement across private practice, public service, clerkships, government, and academia.

LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Michigan with 95.9% long-term, full-time legal employment, 59.5% BigLaw placement, 16.3% public service placement, and 9.9% federal clerkship placement. This balance gives Michigan a strong position in an overall U.S. law school ranking.

Michigan is especially relevant for students who want national portability and multiple career options rather than a narrow BigLaw-only pathway. Its Tier II placement reflects long-term institutional strength and broad legal-market credibility.

New York University School of Law

• Headquarters: New York, New York
• Founded: 1835
• Core focus: International law, tax, corporate law, public interest, financial regulation, technology law, New York legal market

NYU Law is one of the strongest U.S. law schools because of its New York location, private-sector placement, tax strength, public interest infrastructure, international law programming, and regulatory-policy relevance. Times Higher Education’s 2024 U.S. law table ranked NYU second among U.S. law schools, reflecting its strong research and academic profile.

LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported NYU with 98.1% long-term, full-time legal employment, 67.4% BigLaw placement, and 20.1% public service placement. This combination is unusually strong: NYU can support elite private-sector outcomes while preserving major public-interest and international-law pathways.

NYU is placed in Tier II because it is one of the most versatile law schools in the United States, especially for students targeting New York, international law, tax, public interest, and global private-sector careers.

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

• Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
• Founded: 1859
• Core focus: BigLaw placement, Chicago and national legal markets, business-oriented legal education, experienced student profile

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law is one of the strongest U.S. law schools for private-sector outcomes and business-oriented legal education. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Northwestern with 92% long-term, full-time legal employment and 71.6% BigLaw placement.

Northwestern’s strength lies in professional maturity, Chicago market access, national law firm placement, and a student profile historically associated with prior work experience. This makes the school especially attractive to employers seeking polished, business-aware associates.

Northwestern is placed in Tier II because of its strong elite employment outcomes, market credibility, and continued relevance to Chicago, New York, and national law firm recruiting.

University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

• Headquarters: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Founded: 1850
• Core focus: Corporate law, interdisciplinary business education, BigLaw placement, finance, private equity, public-private careers

Penn Carey Law is one of the strongest U.S. law schools because of its business-law orientation, interdisciplinary culture, and elite private-sector placement. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Penn with 97.2% long-term, full-time legal employment, 71.4% BigLaw placement, and 7.9% federal clerkship placement.

Penn’s advantage is especially strong for students interested in corporate law, finance, M&A, private equity, healthcare, regulatory work, and business leadership. Its proximity to Wharton and the broader University of Pennsylvania ecosystem strengthens its value for law-and-business careers.

Penn is placed in Tier II because it is one of the strongest corporate-law and interdisciplinary legal education platforms in the United States.

University of California, Berkeley School of Law

• Headquarters: Berkeley, California
• Founded: 1894
• Core focus: Technology law, privacy, cybersecurity, environmental law, public interest, California legal market

UC Berkeley Law is one of the leading U.S. law schools for technology law, privacy, cybersecurity, environmental law, public interest, intellectual property, and innovation-economy legal careers. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Berkeley with 96.8% long-term, full-time legal employment, 62.2% BigLaw placement, and 6.4% federal clerkship placement.

Berkeley’s strength lies in its alignment with the Bay Area economy. Students interested in technology companies, platform regulation, climate law, privacy, AI governance, venture-backed businesses, and public interest innovation are especially well served.

Berkeley is placed in Tier II because of its academic reputation, technology-law strength, Bay Area positioning, and strong elite employment outcomes.

University of Virginia School of Law

• Headquarters: Charlottesville, Virginia
• Founded: 1819
• Core focus: BigLaw placement, federal clerkships, D.C. legal market, litigation, corporate law, public service

The University of Virginia School of Law is one of the strongest U.S. law schools by combined BigLaw and clerkship outcomes. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported UVA with 98.1% long-term, full-time legal employment, 69.2% BigLaw placement, and 10.7% federal clerkship placement.

UVA’s strength lies in its national placement power, D.C. market access, alumni network, and strong culture of public and private legal careers. It is especially relevant for students interested in litigation, appellate practice, corporate law, regulatory practice, and clerkship-to-firm pathways.

UVA is placed in Tier II because it remains one of the most reliable national law schools for elite employment, clerkship optionality, and broad legal-market portability.

Vanderbilt University Law School

• Headquarters: Nashville, Tennessee
• Founded: 1874
• Core focus: BigLaw placement, federal clerkships, Southern and national legal markets, corporate law, litigation

Vanderbilt Law is one of the strongest U.S. law schools outside the traditional coastal clusters. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Vanderbilt with 98.2% long-term, full-time legal employment, 60.7% BigLaw placement, and 11.3% federal clerkship placement.

Vanderbilt’s value lies in national reach, strong employment outcomes, and placement flexibility across New York, Texas, Atlanta, Nashville, Washington, D.C., and other markets. It is especially relevant for students seeking elite outcomes with strong regional and national mobility.

Vanderbilt is placed in Tier II because its employment performance and clerkship outcomes place it firmly among the leading U.S. law schools.

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Tier III — Strong US Law Schools and National / Regional Leaders

(Alphabetical order)

Boston College Law School

• Headquarters: Newton, Massachusetts
• Founded: 1929
• Core focus: Boston legal market, BigLaw placement, corporate law, litigation, Northeast legal careers

Boston College Law School is one of the strongest regional-national law schools, especially for students targeting Boston and Northeast legal markets. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported BC with 92.5% long-term, full-time legal employment and 56.8% BigLaw placement.

BC’s strength lies in its Boston market access, alumni network, private-sector outcomes, and placement into firms serving life sciences, private equity, healthcare, financial services, technology, and litigation clients.

The school is placed in Tier III because it has unusually strong BigLaw and employment outcomes, though its national portability is somewhat more regionally concentrated than the Tier I and Tier II schools.

University of Notre Dame Law School

• Headquarters: Notre Dame, Indiana
• Founded: 1869
• Core focus: Federal clerkships, constitutional law, public law, BigLaw, religious liberty, national legal placement

Notre Dame Law School is one of the strongest U.S. law schools for clerkship placement and public-law-oriented legal careers. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Notre Dame with 93.3% long-term, full-time legal employment, 40.9% BigLaw placement, and 16.5% federal clerkship placement.

Notre Dame’s strength lies in clerkships, constitutional law, religious liberty, litigation, public law, and national legal placement. It has become increasingly visible as a clerkship-centered law school with strong public-law identity.

The school is placed in Tier III because its clerkship outcomes are among the strongest in the country, even though its BigLaw placement is less dominant than some private-sector-heavy peers.

University of California, Los Angeles School of Law

• Headquarters: Los Angeles, California
• Founded: 1949
• Core focus: Los Angeles legal market, entertainment law, media, technology, public interest, BigLaw placement

UCLA Law is one of the strongest public law schools in the United States and a major legal education platform in Southern California. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported UCLA with 94.3% long-term, full-time legal employment and 60.8% BigLaw placement.

UCLA’s strength lies in its Los Angeles market access, public university brand, and specialization in entertainment, media, technology, sports, public interest, and corporate law. It is especially relevant for students targeting California legal careers with national mobility.

The school is placed in Tier III because it combines strong elite employment outcomes with sector-specific advantages in Southern California and the broader West Coast legal market.

University of Texas School of Law

• Headquarters: Austin, Texas
• Founded: 1883
• Core focus: Texas legal market, BigLaw, federal clerkships, energy, technology, public law, national placement

Texas Law is one of the strongest public law schools in the United States and the leading legal education platform in one of the country’s most important legal markets. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported Texas with 95.8% long-term, full-time legal employment, 43.8% BigLaw placement, and 14.3% federal clerkship placement.

Texas benefits from access to Austin, Dallas, Houston, energy companies, technology companies, state government, regulated industries, and major national firms. Its clerkship and employment outcomes make it especially relevant for students seeking a strong public law school with regional dominance and national credibility.

The school is placed in Tier III because it offers one of the strongest combinations of cost-adjusted value, public-school prestige, Texas market access, and national placement.

Washington University School of Law

• Headquarters: St. Louis, Missouri
• Founded: 1867
• Core focus: BigLaw placement, federal clerkships, Midwest and national legal markets, corporate law, litigation

Washington University School of Law is a strong national law school with notable employment, BigLaw, and federal clerkship outcomes. LawHub’s class of 2025 data reported WashU with 94.1% long-term, full-time legal employment, 53.5% BigLaw placement, and 11.7% federal clerkship placement.

WashU’s strength lies in strong student credentials, national recruiting reach, meaningful clerkship placement, and access to multiple markets, including Chicago, New York, Texas, Washington, D.C., and the Midwest. It is also relevant for students evaluating scholarship-driven value alongside elite career outcomes.

The school is placed in Tier III because it has become a serious national placement institution with strong outcomes across law firm and clerkship pathways.

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Remarks

US Law School Rankings serve a broad benchmarking function within the American legal education ecosystem. They help applicants, students, employers, law schools, policymakers, and institutional stakeholders evaluate which law schools provide the strongest combination of academic quality, employment outcomes, professional access, research influence, and long-term legal-market credibility.

The institutions recognized in this ranking represent law schools with strong combinations of elite employment outcomes, clerkship access, public-sector pathways, faculty reputation, alumni power, student selectivity, and program depth. Tier classification reflects relative institutional positioning within the U.S. legal education ecosystem rather than direct guarantees of admission, employment, salary, bar passage, or professional licensing.

For the Law Ranking taxonomy, US Law School Rankings should remain distinct from Global Law School Rankings, JD Program Rankings, and pathway-specific rankings. US Law School Rankings evaluate overall institutional strength within the American law school market. JD Program Rankings should focus more directly on JD curriculum and student experience. Pathway rankings should evaluate specific career outcomes such as BigLaw, clerkships, government, compliance, or LegalTech.

Tier classification reflects relative U.S. legal education strength, employment outcomes, clerkship and BigLaw access, public-sector pathways, academic reputation, research influence, alumni network power, and long-term institutional resilience. The ranking does not constitute an admission recommendation, employment guarantee, salary guarantee, bar passage guarantee, legal advice, procurement recommendation, investment recommendation, or endorsement of any specific law school.

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