Top 50 U.S. law faculties in scholarly impact, 2024

Professor Greg Sisk & colleagues at the University of St. Thomas have updated their scholarly impact rankings (last edition), looking at mean and median citations to tenured faculty scholarship for the years 2019-2023 inclusive, using fall 2024 faculty rosters as the benchmark (so, e.g., faculty on indefinite leave in government service are not counted).  (Sisk et al. studied 100 faculties and ranked 64; I print the top 50 below, but the full rankings are available in their article.)  The weighted score represents the sum of the mean citations for the tenured faculty times 2, plus the faculty median.  Where the median is low relative to the immediate competition that's an indicator that a few highly cited faculty are carrying the school; in other cases, where the median is quite high, it's an indicator of more across-the-boards scholarly impact.  By noting age, one can see that some faculties are heavily dependent on their most senior members for their citations.  Ties reflect the normalized weighted scores.

The citation counts were done in late May/early June of this year in the Westlaw law journals database as follows:  TE(Brian /2 Leiter) and date (aft 2018) and date (bef 2024).  "TE" limited the results to the body of the text, thus eliminating references to names in acknowledgments.  Although the searches were done in late spring/early summer, it's clear the pre-2024 database expanded slightly after then .  Across whole schools this won't matter, since the database was relatively stable during the window when the data was collected.   Professor Sisk & colleagues this year took extra steps to include authors in et al. cites (the details are in their article).

Citations to faculty scholarship in law journals are, of course, only one metric of scholarly distinction and accomplishment (for limitations of the measure, see the discussion in the Sisk article).  Still, it is a useful check on uninformed opinions, and tracks rather well the actual scholarly output of different schools.  Do remember that citation counts vary by field, which is why the ten most-cited faculty at each school is dominated by faculty in fields like constitutional and public law, corporate law, criminal law & procedure, law & economics, and intellectual property.

Over the next six months or so, I will post new lists of the most-cited scholars by specialty utilizing the Sisk data.  I may post shorter lists this time around (e.g., top 5 rather than top 10), depending on my schedule.

Results for the top 50 below the fold:

Table 2:  Detailed Scholarly Impact Ranking of Law Faculties, 2024

Ranking	Law School	Weighted Score	Mean	Median	Ten Most Cited Scholars (* indicates 70 or older in 2024)
1	Yale University	1255	465	325	*Ackerman, Bruce A.; Amar, Akhil R.; Ayres, Ian; Balkin, Jack M.; *Eskridge, William, Jr.; Gluck, Abbe R.; Macey, Jonathan R.; *Post, Robert C.; *Resnik, Judith; Siegel, Reva B.
2	University of Chicago	1120	411	298	Baude, William; Ben-Shahar, Omri; Bradley, Curtis A.; Ginsburg, Tom; Huq, Aziz; *Nussbaum, Martha; Posner, Eric; *Stone, Geoffrey R.; Strahilevitz, Lior; *Strauss, David A.
3	Harvard University	1016	379	258	Bebchuk, Lucian A.; *Fallon, Richard H.; Goldsmith, Jack Landman; Kaplow, Louis; Klarman, Michael; Lessig, Lawrence; Manning, John F.; *Shavell, Steven M.; *Sunstein, Cass R.; Vermeule, Adrian
4	New York University	898	324	250	Barkow, Rachel E.; Choi, Stephen; *Epstein, Richard; Friedman, Barry; Hemel, Daniel; *Issacharoff, Samuel; Kahan, Marcel; *Miller, Arthur R.; *Miller, Geoffrey Parsons; Pildes, Richard H.; *Waldron, Jeremy
5	Columbia University	813	304	205	*Coffee, John C., Jr.; Crenshaw, Kimberlé Williams; *Fagan, Jeffrey A.; *Gordon, Jeffrey N.; Greene, Jamal; Hamburger, Philip; *Merrill, Thomas W.; Metzger, Gillian E.; Pozen, David; Wu, Timothy
6	University of California, Berkeley	747	285	177	Bridges, Khiara M.; *Chemerinsky, Erwin; *Farber, Daniel A; Haney Lopez, Ian F.; Kerr, Orin; Menell, Peter S.; Merges, Robert P.; *Samuelson, Pamela; Solomon, Steven Davidoff; Yoo, John Choon
7	University of Pennsylvania	739	265	209	Coglianese, Cary; Fisch, Jill E.; Hoffman, David; *Hovenkamp, Herbert; Mayson, Sandra G.; Parchomovsky, Gideon; Pollman, Elizabeth; Roberts, Dorothy E.; *Robinson, Paul H.; Skeel, David Arthur
8	Stanford University	728	262	204	Engstrom, David Freeman; Karlan, Pamela S.; Lemley, Mark A.; McConnell, Michael W.; O’Connell, Anne Joseph; Ouellette, Lisa Larrimore; Persily, Nathaniel; *Polinsky, A. Mitchell; *Rabin, Robert L.; Sklansky, David Alan
9	Vanderbilt University	695	250	195	Bressman, Lisa S.; Guthrie, Chris; King, Nancy J.; Rossi, Jim; *Rubin, Edward L.; Ruhl, J.B.; Sitaraman, Ganesh; *Slobogin, Christopher; Stack, Kevin; Thomas, Randall S.
10	University of Virginia	669	246	177	Cahn, Naomi R.; Citron, Danielle K.; Duffy, John F.; Gulati, G. Mitu; Nelson, Caleb E.; Prakash, Saikrishna; Re, Richard M.; *Schauer, Frederick; *Solum, Lawrence B.; *White, G. Edward
11	Duke University	636	226	184	Adler, Matthew; Blocher, Joseph; *Cox, James D.; Garrett, Brandon; Lemos, Margaret H.; Purdy, Jedediah; Rai, Arti K.; *Schwarcz, Steven L.; Siegel, Neil S.; Young, Ernest A.
11	University of California, Los Angeles	636	235	166	Bainbridge, Stephen M.; Carbado, Devon Wayne; Crenshaw, Kimberle W.; Cummings, Scott L.; Eagly, Ingrid V.; Harris, Cheryl I.; Hasen, Richard L.; Kang, Jerry; Schwartz, Joanna; Winkler, Adam
13	Cornell University	612	219	174	*Clermont, Kevin M.; Dorf, Michael C.; Grimmelmann, James; Heise, Michael; *Johnson, Sheri Lynn; Lahav, Alexandra D.; Omarova, Saule; Pasquale, Frank; Rachlinski, Jeffrey J.; Rahman, K. Sabeel; Tebbe, Nelson
14	University of Michigan	571	207	157	Avi-Yonah, Reuven S.; Bagley, Nicholas; Crane, Daniel; Fletcher, Matthew L.M.; Litman, Leah; *MacKinnon, Catharine A.; Mortenson, Julian Davis; Price, Nicholson; Primus, Richard; Schlanger, Margo; Walker, Christopher J.
15	Georgetown University	562	206	150	*Barnett, Randy E.; Butler, Paul; Cohen, Julie E.; Cole, David D.; Goodwin, Michele; *Gostin, Lawrence O.; *Langevoort, Donald C.; Ohm, Paul; *Thompson, Robert B.; Vladeck, Stephen
16	Northwestern University	552	203	146	*Black, Bernard; Calabresi, Steven G.; Clopton, Zachary; *Diamond, Shari; Koppelman, Andrew M.; McGinnis, John O. ; Pfander, James E.; *Redish, Martin H.; Schanzenbach, Max M.; Schwartz, David L.; Tuerkheimer, Deborah
17	George Washington University	507	189	129	Abramowicz, Michael; Dodge, William; Franks, Mary Anne; *Glicksman, Robert L.; *Kovacic, William E.; Lee, Cynthia; Murphy, Sean D.; *Pierce, Richard J., Jr; Rosen, Jeffrey; Solove, Daniel J.
18	Emory University	474	157	160	Ajunwa, Ifeoma; *Fineman, Martha Albertson; Hutchinson, Darren; Jacobi, Tonja; Nash, Jonathan; Quinn, Kevin M.; Roberts, Jessica L.; Sag, Matthew; Shepherd, Joanna M.; Smith, Fred, Jr.; Witte, John, Jr.
18	University of California, Davis	470	173	124	Amar, Vikram D.; Bhagwat, Ashutosh; Chin, Gabriel (Jack); Horton, David; Joh, Elizabeth E.; Johnson, Kevin R.; Joslin, Courtney G.; Lee, Peter; Shanske, Darien; Ziegler, Mary
20	Fordham University	464	171	122	*Brudney, James J.; Capers, Bennett; Davidson, Nestor M.; Green, Bruce A.; Griffith, Sean J.; Kent, Andrew; Leib, Ethan J.; Pearce, Russell G.; Pfaff, John F.; Squire, Richard; Teachout, Zephyr; Zipursky, Benjamin C.
20	University of Texas, Austin	464	165	134	Chesney, Robert M. (Bob); *Forbath, William E.; Golden, John M.; Grove, Tara; *Levinson, Sanford; *McGarity, Thomas O.; *Sager, Lawrence G.; Silver, Charles M.; Spence, David B.; Wagner, Wendy E.
22	University of California, Irvine	439	154	131	Baradaran, Mehrsa; Barnes, Mario; Fleischer, Victor; Gold, Andrew; Jiménez, Dalié; Lee, Stephen; Leslie, Christopher; *Menkel-Meadow, Carrie; Reese, R. Anthony; Richardson, L. Song; Waldman, Ari Ezra; Whytock, Christopher
23	College of William & Mary	428	155	118	Bellin, Jeffrey; Bruhl, Aaron; Criddle, Evan J.; Devins, Neal E.; Gershowitz, Adam; Hu, Margaret; Larsen, Allison Orr; Porter, Nicole Buonocore; Spencer, A. Benjamin; Zick, Timothy
23	University of Minnesota	427	153	121	Bodie, Matthew; *Carbone, June; Cotter, Thomas F.; Hickman, Kristin E.; Hill, Claire A.; McDonnell, Brett; McGeveran, William; Parisi, Francesco; Schwarcz, Daniel; Wurman, Ilan
23	University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)	425	146	133	Berg, Thomas C.; Grenardo, David; *Hamilton, Neil W.; Kaal, Wulf; Kelly, Daniel; Organ, Jerome M.; Osler, Mark; Paulsen, Michael S.; *Reid, Charles J., Jr.; Sisk, Gregory C.
26	University of Southern California	408	146	116	Barnett, Jonathan; Clarke, Jessica; Epstein, Lee; Gruber, Aya; Guzman, Andrew T.; Keating, Gregory; Klerman, Daniel M.; Rasmussen, Robert K.; Sokol, D. Daniel; Tolson, Franita
27	Boston University	404	153	98	Beermann, Jack M.; *Fleming, James E.; Hartzog, Woodrow; Hylton, Keith N.; McClain, Linda C.; Onwuachi-Willig, Angela; Shugerman, Jed; Van Loo, Rory; Webber, David H.; Meurer, Michael J.
28	Washington University, St. Louis	387	140	107	Boyd, Christina; Epps, Daniel; *Joy, Peter A.; Kim, Pauline T.; *Kuehn, Robert R.; Levin, Benjamin; *Levin, Ronald M.; Richards, Neil M.; *Seligman, Joel; Tamanaha, Brian Z.
29	Brooklyn Law School	374	132	110	Araiza, William D.; Baer, Miriam H.; Bernstein, Anita; Godsoe, Cynthia; Janger, Edward J.; Kim, Catherine Y.; Ristroph, Alice; Roberts, Anna; *Schneider, Elizabeth M.; Simonson, Jocelyn
30	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	369	130	109	Ardia, David; *Conley, John M.; Coyle, John F.; Gerhardt, Michael J.; *Hazen, Thomas L.; Hessick, Carissa Byrne; Hessick, F. Andrew; Jacoby, Melissa B.; Jain, Eisha; *Marshall, William P.; Su, Rick; Wilson, Erika
30	University of Florida, Gainesville	366	136	94	Bambauer, Derek; Bambauer, Jane; Lawson, Gary; Lidsky, Lyrissa Barnett; *LoPucki, Lynn M.; Maclin, Tracey; Noah, Lars; Rhee, Robert J.; Stinneford, John F.; *Wolf, Michael Allan
30	University of Utah	364	130	104	Anderson, Jonas; Anghie, Antony T.; Brown, Teneille Ruth; Cassell, Paul G.; Contreras, Jorge; *Francis, Leslie; Jones, RonNell Andersen; Peterson, Christopher L.; Tokson, Matthew; Warner, Elizabeth Kronk
30	George Mason University	361	132	97	Bernstein, David; Butler, Henry; Garoupa, Nuno; *Ginsburg, Douglas; Greve, Michael; Kleinfeld, Joshua; *Lund, Nelson; Mossoff, Adam; *Muris, Timothy; Somin, Ilya; Zywicki, Todd
34	Cardozo Law School/Yeshiva University	355	126	103	Gilles, Myriam; Herz, Michael Eric; Levine, Kate; Markowitz, Peter; Reinert, Alexander A.; *Rosenfeld, Michel; Schneider, Andrea Kupfer; Sebok, Anthony; *Sterk, Stewart E.; *Zelinsky, Edward
34	Ohio State University	353	131	91	Akbar, Amna; Barnett, Kent; Berman, Douglas A.; Colker, Ruth; Foley, Edward B.; Garcia Hernández, César; Schmitz, Amy J.; Simmons, Ric L.; Strang, Lee; Yearby, Ruqaiijah A.
34	University of San Diego	349	141	67	*Alexander, Lawrence A.; Bell, Abraham; Dripps, Donald A.; Fox, Dov; *Hirsch, Adam; Lobel, Orly; McGowan, David; Ramsey, Michael D.; Rappaport, Michael B.; Schapiro, Robert; Sichelman, Ted; *Smith, Steven D.
34	Florida State University	346	122	102	Bayern, Shawn J.; *Johnson, Steve R.; Landau, David E.; Logan, Wayne A.; Morley, Michael T.; O’Hara O’Connor, Erin A.; Ryan, Erin; *Seidenfeld, Mark B.; Slocum, Brian G.; Tsesis, Alexander
38	University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign	344	115	114	*Finkin, Matthew W.; Hurd, Heidi M.; Lawless, Robert M.; Mazzone, Jason; *Moore, Michael S.; Robbennolt, Jennifer K.; Sherkow, Jacob S.; Thomas, Suja A.; Wilson, Robin Fretwell
38	University of Notre Dame	338	119	100	Alford, Roger P.; Bellia, Anthony J., Jr.; Bray, Samuel; Garnett, Nicole S.; Garnett, Richard W.; Kozel, Randy; Miller, Paul; Muller, Derek T.; Pojanowski, Jeffrey; Tidmarsh, Jay
38	University of Arizona	332	108	116	Coan, Andrew; Engel, Kirsten H.; Miller, Marc L.; Orbach, Barak Y.; Puig, Sergio; Sepe, Simone M.; Tsosie, Rebecca; Williams, Robert A., Jr.; Woods, Andrew Keane; Woods, Jordan Blair
41	University of Colorado, Boulder	328	117	94	Anaya, S. James; Carpenter, Kristen A.; Gulasekaram, Pratheepan; Kaminski, Margot; Krakoff, Sarah; Norton, Helen; Roithmayr, Daria; Schlag, Pierre; Skinner-Thompson, Scott; Surden, Harry
42	Brigham Young University	316	118	80	Asay, Clark D.; Baradaran Baughman, Shima; *Fleming, J. Clifton, Jr.; Grow Sun, Lisa; Jennejohn, Matt; Jensen, Eric Talbot; Lee, Thomas R.; Plamondon, Stephanie Bair; Shobe, Jarrod; Smith, D. Gordon
43	Case Western Reserve University	306	113	80	Adler, Jonathan H.; Chaffee, Eric C.; Hill, B. Jessie; Hoffman, Sharona; Korsmo, Charles R.; Nard, Craig A.; Robertson, Cassandra Burke; Rose, Paul; Rosenblatt, Betsy; Scharf, Michael P.
43	University of California, San Francisco (formerly Hastings)	304	109	86	Depoorter, Ben; Dodson, Scott; Faigman, David L.; Feldman, Robin; *Marcus, Richard; Ming H. Chen; Owen, Dave; Price, Zachary; Reiss, Dorit Rubinstein; Short, Jodi
43	University of Kansas	301	111	79	Bhala, Raj; Craig, Robin Kundis; Drahozal, Christopher R.; *Hoeflich, Michael H.; Jefferson-Jones, Jamila; Levy, Richard E.; Outka, Uma; Velte, Kyle; Ware, Stephen J.; Yung, Corey Rayburn
43	Arizona State University	299	111	77	Beydoun, Khaled; Bodansky, Daniel M.; Bublick, Ellen M.; Hodge, James G., Jr.; Luna, Erik; Marchant, Gary E.; Miller, Robert J.; *Saks, Michael J.; Selmi, Michael L.; *Weinstein, James
47	University of San Francisco	293	101	91	Bazelon, Lara; Dibadj, Reza R.; Freiwald, Susan A.; Harris, Lindsay M.; *Hing, Bill Ong; Kalb, Johanna; Kaswan, Alice; Leo, Richard A.; Nice, Julie A.; *Rosenberg, Joshua D.
47	University of Georgia	291	102	87	Bruner, Christopher M.; Burch, Elizabeth Chamblee; Cade, Jason A.; Chapman, Nathan S.; *Coenen, Dan T.; Foohey, Pamela; Levin, Hillel Y.; Rodrigues, Usha; Rutledge, Peter B.; *Wells, Michael L.; West, Sonja R.
47	Temple University	289	102	85	Burris, Scott C.; Dunoff, Jeffrey L.; Gugliuzza, Paul R.; Hollis, Duncan B.; Lin, Tom C.W.; Lipson, Jonathan; Ramji-Nogales, Jaya; Rebouche, Rachel; Spiro, Peter J.; Wells, Harwell
47	Washington & Lee University	287	97	93	Drumbl, Mark A.; Fairfield, Joshua A.T.; Haan, Sarah; Hasbrouck, Brandon; Malveaux, Suzette; Miller, Russell A.; Seaman, Christopher B.; Smith, Catherine E.; Trammell, Alan; Woody, Karen
47	Chicago-Kent College of Law/Illinois Institute of Technology	282	94	94	Baker, Katharine K.; Dinwoodie, Graeme B.; Heyman, Steven J.; Katz, Daniel; Kim, Nancy; Krent, Harold J.; Marder, Nancy S.; Reilly, Greg; Rosen, Mark D.; Schmidt, Christopher W.