NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION APPLAUDS ABA RESOLUTION TO EXAMINE RANKINGS OF LAW FIRMS AND LAW SCHOOLS

The New York State Bar Association applauded the American Bar Association (ABA) for adopting a resolution to “examine any efforts to publish national, state, territorial and local rankings of law firms and law schools.” The measure was approved by the ABA House of Delegates at its mid-year meeting in Orlando, Florida.

In a report submitted to the ABA, the New York State Bar wrote that the ABA has an obligation to carefully review all issues related to attempts to rank law firms and urged further study of the issue.  “If the rankings are not valid,” the report stated, “lower ranking law firms and lawyers will be unfairly penalized.” 

New York State Bar Association President Michael E. Getnick, (Getnick Livingston Atkinson & Priore of Utica and of counsel to Getnick & Getnick of New York City) said, “Our efforts were prompted by the plan of U.S. News & World Reports, in partnership with Best Lawyers, to publish a ranking of the best law firms in the country.  But there are large numbers of these ‘rankings’ in a wide array of publications, and readers are generally unaware of methodology, criteria and reliability of the data.  The ranking of law firms can have a profound impact if the ranking is unreliable and invalid.

“An objective review of these studies by a respected body like the ABA will provide the opportunity for much needed guidance to the profession. The New York State Bar Association looks forward to working with the ABA as it develops protocols for examining law firm and law school rankings,” he added.

Read the full news release here.