Key points:
- US News 2025 rankings show Northwestern, Columbia, and Penn leading in Big Law placement rates.
- Prestigious schools like Harvard and NYU posted lower Big Law placement than expected.
- Big Law placement remains a major factor for students targeting high-paying legal careers.
The 2025 U.S. News Law School Big Law Rankings have been released, with Northwestern University leading the pack for Big Law placement. According to U.S. News and a trending Reddit discussion, the rankings measure the percentage of graduates who secured positions at major law firms (typically 100+ lawyers).
Here’s the 2025 Top 15 for Big Law placement:
- Northwestern — 67%
- Columbia — 65%
- University of Pennsylvania — 65%
- University of Virginia — 65%
- Cornell — 63%
- Duke/USC (tied) — 59%
- Georgetown — 56%
- Harvard — 56%
- University of Chicago — 56%
- Vanderbilt — 54%
- University of Michigan — 53%
- Howard University — 52%
- New York University (NYU) — 52%
- UCLA — 50%
The list confirms the strong Big Law placement rates at traditional elite schools, but also shows surprising shifts, including Harvard and NYU placing lower than some might expect based on prestige alone. Career paths like public service, clerkships, or academia attract significant numbers of graduates from those schools.
For the complete list and additional breakdowns, visit the official U.S. News rankings site.
