Dear Emory Law Community:  

US News & World Report has released its Best Law School rankings, and Emory University School of Law has been slated as #42 among the nearly 200 ranked schools. No single ranking can hope to capture the true value of any school’s law degree, and we are proud of the real story of Emory Law—the one this ranking does not fully tell but that is expressed in our graduates’ outstanding career paths, our leading scholarship, and our recognition as one of the country’s top law schools by the peer experts who rated Emory #19 in the US. At the same time, we know that many prospective law students use this source, and we remain committed to earning broad recognition for excellence in this and other measures of law school success. The work we have been doing, and the plans that are being formalized by our incoming dean, have set us on the trajectory to achieve these goals.  

 Here’s what is important to know.  

There is power in an Emory Law degree. Our students are graduating and getting jobs at the top firms in the country.

• 97% of Emory Law’s class of 2023 secured employment within 10 months of graduation—the highest employment level in more than a decade—with 94% in JD-preferred or bar-required positions (also known as “Gold Standard” positions). 
• Emory Law class of 2023 graduates had more long-term, bar-passage required/JD-preferred jobs (242) than any other Georgia law school. 
• Emory ranks 22nd among U.S. law schools in the percentage of graduates at the largest 100 firms, up from 24th last year.   
• In fiscal year 2023, Emory Law graduates had 41 promotions to partner and counsel in Am Law 200 firms, more than other law schools in the state.   

 An Emory Law education is valuable in both how it prepares students for practice and in how our graduates are perceived. Emory Law consistently outperforms peers on our reputation score among peers, judges, and practitioners. In the 2025 ranking:     

• Emory Law’s reputational ranking improved by one spot to #19 in the country, based on the views of our peer academics.  
• Emory Law maintained its #22 ranking as measured by the views of lawyers and judges. 
• Emory Law achieved top 25 recognition in Business and Corporate Law (#22), Contracts/Commercial Law (#21), Constitutional Law (#25), and Health Law (#21).   

The US News methodology emphasizes bar passage rates, and this is an important measure of a law school’s success. But the methodology does not consider factors such as the diversity and ambitions of law school students.  

• Our student body is highly diverse, including students drawn from across the country and around the world. More than 50 percent of our graduates are employed and sit for a bar exam outside of Georgia. Our graduates sat for the bar in 25 different states within the country.
• In the July 2023 bar results, Emory Law graduates of the class of 2023 achieved an 89.4% first time pass rate on the Georgia Bar exam.   
• The law school’s most recent ultimate bar passage data, for the class of 2021, shows that more than 95% of our graduates pass a bar within two years.  

Focus on Student Success  

The law school and the university are committed to ensuring that Emory Law’s outstanding educational programs and excellent student outcomes place it among the top law schools in the United States. This commitment is driving our implementation of new student-focused programs.    

For example, this year the law school launched the Bar & Academic Success at Emory (BASE) pilot program. The BASE program offers our 1L students a chance to review and deepen their understanding of doctrines introduced in the first year of law school, as well as to improve their mastery of the skills necessary for success on law school examinations and the bar exam. This important new initiative—created, run, and supported by law school faculty for the benefit of our students—is the first of its kind at Emory Law.    

A search is underway for a new faculty Director of Bar Success. This person will work closely with the Associate Dean, faculty, and administration to develop and implement new courses and activities to reinforce the knowledge and skills necessary for success in law school and on current and future bar examinations, such as the NextGen bar.

In addition, the faculty has overwhelmingly adopted a comprehensive set of initiatives on student flourishing proposed by a committee chaired by our incoming dean. Those initiatives will go into effect with the 1L class entering in August. 

As part of the Emory community, you are a participant in our success, and we count on your input and support. As always, reach out to us at lawdean@emory.edu or provost@emory.edu to share your ideas.

Thank you for supporting us in our ambitious plans for Emory Law.

Mary Anne Bobinski, Dean and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law

Ravi Bellamkonda, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs