Law school rankings by magazines have historically been a fruitless and misleading exercise, but The Week may have just bucked that trend.
Well, slightly, anyway.
As a welcome change from the ludicrous (perhaps paid) rankings of every year, The Week has come up with a list that is more acceptable, with a few exceptions.
Each law college is ranked in order of its “Composite Score”. It comes as no surprise that NLSIU Bangalore tops the list, followed by NALSAR Hyderabad and Faculty of Law, Delhi University. WBNUJS Kolkata is in fourth, followed by NLIU Bhopal, NLU Jodhpur and Faculty of Law, Banaras Hindu University. GNLU Gandhinagar, ILS Pune and Symbiosis Pune complete the top ten.
There are five other CLAT law colleges that feature in the top 35: HNLU Raipur at 13th, RMLNLU Lucknow at 14th, RGNUL Patiala at 16th, NUALS Kochi at 17th, and CNLU Patna at 23rd.
Here is the list of the top 35 law colleges:
Rank | University | Rank | University |
1 | NLSIU Bangalore | 19 | NLU Delhi |
2 | NALSAR Hyderabad | 20 | Faculty of Law, Jamia Milia Islamia |
3 | Faculty of Law, DU | 21 | TN Ambedkar Law University |
4 | WBNUJS Kolkata | 22 | Faculty of Law, Allahabad University |
5 | NLIU Bhopal | 23 | CNLU Patna |
6 | NLU Jodhpur | 23 | New Law College, Pune |
7 | Faculty of Law, BHU | 25 | Faculty of Law, Calcutta University |
8 | GNLU Gandhinagar | 26 | University College, Osmania University |
9 | ILS Pune | 27 | ILNU, Nirma University |
10 | Symbiosis Pune | 28 | Christ School of Law |
11 | Amity Law School, IP University | 29 | CMR Law School |
12 | GLC Mumbai | 29 | University Law College, Bangalore |
13 | HNLU Raipur | 31 | Kerala Law Academy |
14 | RMLNLU Lucknow | 32 | KC Law College, Mumbai |
15 | Faculty of Law, AMU | 33 | KLE Law College, Bangalore |
16 | RGNUL Patiala | 34 | MS Ramaiah Law College, Bangalore |
17 | NUALS Kochi | 35 | Law College, Dehradun |
18 | AIL Mohali |
But every list has its share of anomalies, and this is no different. Take NLU Delhi’s low ranking of 19 for instance, or Faculty of Law BHU’s high ranking of 7. Perhaps if the components behind this “Composite Score” was revealed, we could get a better idea of the basis for assigning the ranks to the above mentioned colleges.
Despite the fact that this list gives prospective law students a more accurate idea of the top law schools in the country than India Today’s, the fact remains that there is an element of subjectivity that creeps into these exercises. The Week’s rankings are after all based on the perception of 57 experts and 151 current students from various colleges.
Here is a list of the top private law colleges:
Image taken from here.