How to Pick a Law School

Thanks to Brian Leiter for posting a link to this article in the WSJ. Here is more support for why you shouldn't shoose law schools based on rankings alone, and a list of factors you should consider when deciding where to apply and where to attend.
I'm thrilled this issue is garnering publicity at this crucial point in the law school application season. Remember, the idea when choosing where to apply is to keep your options open so you have decisions to make in the spring/summer.

UC Irvine to Open Law School in 2009

UC Irvine will be home to California's next public law school. It's sure to be competitive from the beginning - a state school in Orange County. (San Diego and LA are both inconvenient to those who live in Orange County due to traffic in the area). More information is available here.

Brian Leiter agrees re: Law School Location

On his blog, Brian Leiter talks about rankings vs. location of law schools.

I absolutely agree with him about the silliness of choosing a law school based on any particular year's ranking. He has a good anecdote about a law student regretting his choice of Vanderbilt over Hastings when he wants to practice in the Bay Area.

See also: This post about weblogs that share information more relevant in choosing a law school than the stats used by U.S. News.

Picking a Law School? Location, Location, Location

Thinking about where to apply to law school? Put the rankings aside. It's all about location. Where do you want to live your life and practice law? If it's Los Angeles, then pick Loyola over BU any day of the week. If it's New York, why go to Indiana-Bloomington instead of Cardozo just because U.S. News says so?
There are so many flaws with ranking logic, that's a topic for a different day. Of course, you don't want to go to a 4th tier school when you could go to a top 20, but there are exceptions to this too (like scholarship money!). But, in general, trust local lawyers and law firms over U.S. News every time. You'll want to work during your 2L and 3L years, and these are the jobs that will lead to your entry-level attorney job.
Don't be a snob; think about where you want a job.