Law Reviews by School: Directory and Rankings

How Prestigious Is Law Review?

Being selected for a law school’s flagship law review is one of the most sought-after credentials in legal education. Membership signals strong research and writing ability, opens doors to prestigious clerkships and firm jobs, and — for the students who become editors — carries real responsibility for what the journal publishes. The flagship review at a top school is competitive precisely because employers treat it as a proxy for a student’s analytical skill. That said, prestige is relative: a well-regarded specialty journal or a review at a strong regional school can matter just as much for the right career path.

How Law Reviews Are Ranked (Washington & Lee)

The Washington & Lee Law Journal Rankings, published by Washington & Lee University School of Law, rank law reviews and legal journals by citation counts — how often each journal is cited in other journals and in court opinions over a multi-year window — rather than by reputation surveys. The tool lets users filter by subject area, country, and ranking method. Because the ranked tables are the project's own work product, we describe what the rankings measure and link to the official source rather than reproducing the tables.

The Flagship Reviews: Harvard, Chicago, California

Every accredited law school runs a general-subject flagship review, and a handful are cited so often that their names are shorthand for the field: the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, the University of Chicago Law Review, the California Law Review at Berkeley, and the Michigan Law Review, among others. What they share is a general mandate — they publish on any area of law — and a student editorial board that selects and edits every piece. The directory below links to each journal’s official site, where you can read current issues and find submission details.