U.S.News & World Report ranked DePaul University College of Law DePaul University College of Law among the top 100 law schools in the country in its latest survey of America’s professional schools. DePaul’s intellectual property (IP) intellectual property and health law programs also ranked among the best and the College of Law was included among the most diverse.

“The College of Law at DePaul has a sustained commitment to provide its students with a challenging and rigorous course of study that prepares them to make major contributions to the legal community and the world,” said Glen Weissenberger, dean of the College of Law. “Through its clinics, centers and institutes, the law school also is dedicated to serving as a solid legal resource that highlights the university’s mission of strong community outreach and public service.

The latest U.S. News recognition reflects the law school’s exceptional faculty and programs that are among the best in the country.”

The College of Law placed 88th in the U.S. News rankings for 2008, up three places from its 2007 ranking. Six law schools tied with DePaul for 88th place—Catholic University of America; Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge; Northeastern University; St. John’s University; University of Denver and University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

To determine the overall rankings, U.S. News surveyed the nation’s 184 American Bar Association accredited law schools and rated them based on a weighted average of 12 measures of quality. Those averages were calculated by examining a law school’s performance in such areas as selectivity, placement success and faculty resources. Also included in the calculations were the results of two surveys of deans and selected faculty members from each school asking them to rate the other law schools.

DePaul’s health law program landed in 14th place, where it tied with Harvard University, among all such programs in the nation. The IP program was ranked 11th in the country, tied with New York University and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Specialty programs were ranked in the survey based on votes by law faculty and directors of clinical and legal writing programs who nominated up to 15 schools in each field. The 10 programs with the top number of votes appeared in the rankings.

In the area of diversity, DePaul was identified among those law schools that offered a racially or ethnically mixed student body. U.S. News recognized schools on diversity based on the total proportion of minority students—not including international students—and the mix of racial and ethnic groups on campus.

Established in 1912, DePaul’s College of Law enrolled 1,024 students for the 2007-2008 academic year. Its research centers and institutes focus on such issues as health law, international human rights law, intellectual property, law and science, death penalty defense, animal law, international aviation law, family law, public interest law, international weapons control, Asian legal studies and dispute resolution. Included among DePaul’s nearly 12,000 living law alumni are state and federal judges, municipal, county and state leaders and two generations of Chicago mayors.

This is the third consecutive year that DePaul has been ranked among the top 100 law schools in U.S. News. Weissenberger noted it is important for students to weigh rankings with other important factors when selecting a law school.

“Being ranked among the top 100 law schools in America by U.S. News is a wonderful distinction for the College of Law, but it should be considered in concert with numerous other factors when choosing the best law school program for a particular student,” said Weissenberger. “Other factors would include such things as course offerings, faculty scholarship and alumni networks.”

Selected rankings appear in the April 7-14 edition of U.S. News & World Report magazine, which is currently available on newsstands, and in the 2009 edition of the guidebook, “America’s Best Graduate Schools,” available April 1. The premium online edition of U.S. News, which has the most complete, extended rankings, is available at www.usnews.com.

For more information about DePaul University College of Law, visit www.law.depaul.edu.