<p>I am a high-school student who plans to become a lawyer. I have heard of "BIGLAW." What exactly is meant by this, and how many schools, and which schools, fall under this umbrella? I believe there are fourteen.</p>
<p>I believe that “big law” refers to large prestigious firms in major markets, not the law schools. The “14” you are thinking of are what are commonly referred to as T14 Law Schools (top 14) as ranked by USNWR. </p>
<p>The general opinion is that if your best chance to be hired by “Big Law” is to attend a T14 school and probably to graduate at the top part of your class.</p>
<p>There are some who will argue this point, both saying that even a T14 won’t get you into big law these days because there are no jobs (see floridadad55), and others who will say big law will hire from schools outside T14, especially if they are regional.</p>