<p>"I agree that the list of "elite" law schools can change over time and has. The changes, however, have been glacial. UMichigan has fallen a bit--it used to be in everyone's top 5, back when I had a pet dinosaur and was applying to law school. NYU has come up--but it was in the top 12 or so 30+ years ago."</p>
<p>Changes are gradual, as you note. However, UCLA has always, I believe, been ranked in the top 16, and the reputation ratings of schools like Gtown, Cornell, and NU are all generally closer to UCLA than they are to schools like Columbia or Michigan. (Michigan is still actually tied for 5th in the lawyer/judge reputation ranking.) In terms of both reputation ratings and overall ranking, most schools above the 10th spot in USNews have more in common with UCLA than with most schools ranked in the top 10. And the student numbers at UCLA continue to rise. Therefore, it's not inconceivable that UCLA could eventually be considered equivalent to some "Top 14" schools. </p>
<p>It's true that NYU has long been a strong program, but again, years ago, there was a big difference between being on the edge of the top ten, and being a truly elite program, which NYU is today. Also, schools like Gtown and NU weren't considered comparable to "Top 10" schools until fairly recently. If these schools could move up in reputation, then UCLA could possibly as well.</p>
<p>(Check this link for a discussion of UCLA's long-term elite academic reputation: </p>
<p>"Faculty hiring does impact reputation, but not as much or as quickly as Leiter would have you believe. This is, to me, proven by the fact that in order to get these results, he had to give the academics he says he polled a LIST OF ACTUAL FACULTY. When he just asked them to rank the strength of various law schools' faculties, the ranking was a bit different. Seriously, if LAW SCHOOL FACULTY MEMBERS at other schools don't know that UCLA has a stronger faculty than some of its competitors unless Leiter gives them a list of names of actual faculty members, do you think hiring partners do? That judges who hire clerks do? </p>
<p>NYU moved up not only by hiring faculty, but by giving lots of merit money to "buy" a better student body and by building a nice new law school."</p>
<p>I certainly agree that faculty hiring is but one factor in overall reputation, and hardly the most important one. (Leiter overstates this factor because of his own myopic focus on faculty status.) However, factors like being in a desirable region, and in a desirable market, are also important, and UCLA has all of these. It also, again, has a nice structure, in a nice part of town. </p>
<p>The one issue that is unclear is whether UCLA has the necessary funds to buy top students, as you note. There are other public schools with huge endowments, so it's not impossible for UCLA to develop one. However, its public school "mission" may keep its numbers down somewhat.</p>