Why&#39;s it ironic for Big Law and law schools to compete in rankings, even if they disagree with the method or think it is detrimental to their mission?
<p><a href="https://law.utk.edu/directory/benjamin-barton/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Benjamin Barton</a> JD magna magna cum laude, 1996, University of Michigan. <a href="https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0190205563" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Glass Half Full: The Decline and Rebirth of the Legal Profession</em> (2015)</a>. <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=P_bzCAAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA177&amp;lpg=PA177&amp;dq=%22Ironically,+Big+Law+and+law+schools+are+probably+smart+to+compete%22&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=JkTIDshq-M&amp;sig=qZwovtnU16o484XcyU3_vxXBNDM&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwj--5jDmqPdAhWCt1MKHaXKDgAQ6AEwAHoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">p. 177 Bottom</a>.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/0cp4T.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/0cp4T.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Please see the sentence pinpointed by the red arrow. What exactly is ironic? </p>

<p>The irony is that even though rankings actually tell you little about the quality of the education that you are receiving in the author's opinion, that the signaling value of a degree from a high prestige school still makes it worth the institution's effort to maintain that status, and your effort to try to attend a school who behaves in that way. This is true even if factors like a focus on publications over teaching at a high prestige law school may mean that you get a lower quality experience as a student there.</p>

<p>N.B. At the time this was published, the University of Michigan Law School was <a href="https://tippingthescales.com/2014/03/u-s-news-2015-law-school-rankings/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ranked #10</a> and it was ranked #8 when he and I were applying to attend it. FWIW, it really is a gorgeous facility and if you live on campus you get working fireplaces and steak every Friday.</p>

<p>Fun fact: I was a year and a half ahead of the author at the same law school, so we overlapped in our attendance and may have even taken a class or two together, although I don't remember him personally.</p>

lawyer