The Most Important Characteristics in Evaluating Law Schools

With 184 votes cast on last week's poll, here are the five factors deemed most significant in evaluating a law school by the largely academic readership of this blog:

Scholarly distinction/quality of the faculty Students numerical credentials (LSAT, GPA) Emphasis on legal doctrine & analytical skills Emphasis on legal research & writing skills Small class sizes

"Bar exam pass rates" weren't that far behind "small class sizes," but both were well behind the top four, and #3 and #4 trailed #1 by a wide margin.