Top Law Schools in 2015

Discover the top law schools based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020.

In order to help you find leading law schools around the world, we bring you the 2015 law school rankings, part of the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015. Based on a methodology which draws on employer and academic reputation combined with research citations data, the ranking highlights top-performing universities in the field of legal studies, across the globe.

See below for an overview of all the world’s regions’ top law schools, or to view the full list of 200, click here.

Top 10 Law Schools in the World Based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015
Rank	Name of Institution	Location
1	Harvard University	United States
2	University of Cambridge	United Kingdom
3	University of Oxford	United Kingdom
4	Yale University	United States
5	New York University (NYU)	United States
6	Stanford University	United States
7	London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)	United Kingdom
8	The University of Melbourne	Australia
9	University of California, Berkeley	United States
10	Columbia University	United States
See the full law school ranking >

 

Top law schools in North America

The ranking features 36 top law schools in the US and a further 10 in Canada. Of Canada’s 10 leading law schools, three are within the top 50 worldwide: the University of Toronto (20^th in the QS World University Rankings® 2014/15), McGill University (21^st in the world rankings) and the University of British Colombia (43^rd in the world rankings).

As well as taking six of the top 10 spots, the US has a total of 15 law schools within the world’s top 50. Outside of the top 10, these are the University of Chicago (11^th in the overall world rankings), Georgetown University (200^th in the world rankings), the University of Michigan (23^rd in the world rankings), the University of Pennsylvania (13^th in the world rankings), Cornell University (19^th in the world rankings), the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA,37^th in the world rankings), Duke University (25^th in the world rankings) and the University of Virginia (141^st in the world rankings).

Top law schools in Europe

Another region with a strong representation in the law school rankings is Europe, with 27 entrants from the UK alone. Of this number, eight UK universities rank in the world’s top 50 for law, with a further five in the top 100. Close behind those featured in the top 10 are UCL (University College London, 5^th in the overall world rankings), King’s College London (16^th in the world rankings), the University of Edinburgh (17^th in the world rankings), the University of Nottingham (77^th in the world rankings) and Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, 98^th in the world rankings).

Germany follows the UK in terms of numbers, home to 12 of the world’s top universities for law. Of these, six are within the top 100, led by two within the top 50: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (49^th in the world rankings) and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (52^nd in the world rankings).

Nine top law schools are claimed by the Netherlands, with Leiden University (75^th in the world rankings) and Utrecht University (80^th in the world rankings) both within the top 50. Italy, meanwhile, has eight representatives, including Sapienza - Università di Roma (202^nd in the world rankings) and Università di Bologna (UNIBO, 182^nd in the world rankings) both ranked in the top 100 for law.

Both with six offerings are Belgium and Spain. The latter offers three schools within the top 100, while Belgium has six, including KU Leuven in 30^th place (82^nd in the world rankings). France and Switzerland follow, each with five top law schools. While the University of Zurich (57^th in the world rankings) is Switzerland’s top offering at 51-100, the French Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (228^th in the world rankings) ranks 25^th among the world’s leading law schools.

Three more top universities for law are found in Ireland, two of which, including Trinity College Dublin (TCD, 71^st in the world rankings), are within the top 100.

Heading north into Scandinavia, Sweden offers three top universities for law, Denmark two, and Finland and Norway bring one each to the table. Of these, Finland’s University of Helsinki (67^th in the world rankings) and Sweden’s Lund University (60^th in the world rankings) and Stockholm University (182^nd in the world rankings) are ranked within the world’s top 100 universities for law.

And lastly, Austria, Greece, Hungary and Portugal all have one institution ranked among the world’s best for law, including Austria’s University of Vienna (156^th in the world rankings) in the top 150.

Top law schools in Asia

Of the eight universities in China included among the world’s top universities for law, two are within the world’s top 50: Peking University (57^th in the world rankings) and Tsinghua University (47^th in the world rankings). There are a further six top law schools in South Korea, four of which are ranked within the world’s top 100. Seoul National University (SNU, 31^st in the world rankings) is Korea’s top offering at 41^st.

Hong Kong and Singapore boast three entries apiece, the highest of which are the University of Hong Kong (HKU, 28^th in the world rankings), the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK, 46^th in the world rankings) and the National University of Singapore (NUS, 22^nd in the world rankings). Also claiming three top law schools is Japan, with the University of Tokyo (31^st in the world rankings) and Kyoto University (36^th in the world rankings) both ranked within the top 50 worldwide.

With two schools featured, Taiwan is next, with its highest offering  National Taiwan University (NTU, 76^th in the world rankings) at joint 43^rd for law. Malaysia has just one entrant among the world’s top 200 for law – Universiti Malaya (UM, 151^st in the world rankings).

Top law schools in Latin America

Home to five top law schools, Chile appears to be the top country in Latin America to study law. Its top offering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (167^th in the world rankings) is ranked 37^th in the law ranking. Following closely behind is Mexico’s sole entrant, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM, 175^th in the world rankings) at 38^th.

Brazil features twice in the law school rankings, with the Universidade de São Paulo (USP, 132^nd in the world rankings) in the top 100. Home to one top law school each are Argentina and Colombia, with the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA; 198^th in the world rankings) in the top 100 and the Universidad de Los Andes Colombia (262^nd in the world rankings) in the top 150.

Top law schools in Australia & New Zealand

Australia features 17 times within the law school rankings, with nine representatives among the world’s top 100. The leader of these is the University of Melbourne in 8^th place, and also within the top 50 are the University of Sydney (37^th in the world rankings), the University of New South Wales (48^th in the world rankings), Australian National University (ANU, 25^th in the world rankings), Monash University (70^th in the world rankings) and the University of Queensland (UQ, 43^rd in the world rankings).

New Zealand has a total of five leading law schools, four of which are among the world’s top 100. These include the University of Auckland (92^nd in the world rankings) and the Victoria University of Wellington (275^th in the world rankings) in the top 50.

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To find out more about studying in each of these world regions, head to our “Where to Study” guide.

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