<p>Which law school has the best professors? </p>
<p>And by best professors, I mean, the best teachers that actively engage students to take
interest in the subject, are interesting, funny, smart and charming. I’ve heard some great things about the faculty at the University of Chicago, but to my understanding they have lost a lot of their best professors in recent years.</p>
<p>I don’t know about interest, funny, smart, etc. But I can say that in recent years, NYU has been building up quite the faculty, routinely poaching professors from all the top law schools (especially CLS).</p>
<p>I think law school professors may be a bit like college coaches- they can build a reputation at one institution, and then just take the ball and transfer to a “rival” school.
So you may not want to put too much faith in where a particular professor is teaching, as they may be at another school a year or two down the road.</p>
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<p>It just really depends. For lower ranked, schools I’d agree. For the T14, though there are faculty movements every year, there some schools known to be good at retaining and attracting faculty and others known for being poached from. Leiter’s materials on the subject are helpful on the matter. From what I’ve seen, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and NYU (there could be others) have been great at attracting and retaining faculty. </p>
<p>It’s worth considering other factors. With California’s budget crisis, will professors who receive accordingly less funding flock to other law schools? It’s possible, and I think it’s something a prospective student should consider. One should also look at the Dean of the law school’s messages: Has he/she publicly stated his/her intention to poach new faculty? Are they on an aggressive faculty campaign? Some schools, given the economy, are relatively well positioned to pursue faculty; others are not.</p>
<p>As even Columbia which I certainly would not consider a lower ranked school has lost professors to NYU, I’m just saying that any professor at any school may find the grass greener at another institution and go elsewhere.<br>
Therefore, I would look beyond a particular professor at a school being the main factor in deciding where to go to law school.</p>
<p>I can tell you that I know a few families who had kids recruited to play college sports and based their decisions on the reputation and relationship their kid had with the coach when they were recruited. They were more than upset when the coach transferred to another school. The idea of relying on a law professors presence at a particular institution is similar. Life happens- things change.</p>
<p>IMO- I don’t think the presence of a particular professor or two at a law school should be the deciding factor in where to go to law school. It’s a factor- but just realize that unexpected things happen in life.</p>
<p>Yah, I’m just saying that some schools are better than others at retaining faculty. I based my decision to attend my school based on two profs (and now three). This was in 2007. I knew they weren’t leaving then, and they’re still here now (with one verging on retirement).</p>