What is the most prestigious and well respected law school?

I have a friend who just completed his pre-law degree at a local university, and is now trying to decide where to go to get his law degree. I suggested Harvard, he's thinking of Stanford or Yale, and another of his friends suggested the University of Oxford, in Britain. Does anyone have any idea which is more respected?

As already noted, Oxford would be a silly place to go if he wants to practice law in the US.

A degree from any of Harvard, Yale or Stanford law school will be very well respected. Harvard is the more readily recognizable name, and has more alumni than the other two (probably more than the other two put together).

I wouldn't pick among those three based on which is most respected. All three are sufficiently well-respected that that's scarcely an issue. If I were him, I'd consider other issues. The three are actually quite different, pedagogically, socially, etc. Harvard is large and relatively traditional. Yale is quite small and has a somewhat more purely intellectual orientation. Stanford is in California.

A few others, not already mentioned:

Columbia should be an obvious one.

University of Virginia

University of Pennsylvania

Michigan

As for Princeton, it would probably have a very good law school, if it had a law school. It doesn't.

It's somewhat moot, as Oxford and Harvard are of course in different countries and over the past two centuries their legal systems have diverged... I suppose you could study law in the UK, but you'd have to take additional classes in the US to understand US law well enough to pass the bar exam...

In general Yale seems to have the best reputation among US law schools, with Harvard number two, followed by Stanford, Georgetown, U Chicago, Berkeley, etc...

In the UK Oxford and Cambridge are more or less universally considered the top schools, and that would probably go for their law programs, but an American should get an American JD unless he wants to practice outside the US.

Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Columbia, Univ. Chicago, Northwestern, NYU, Berkley, Univ. Penn, Univ. Michigan, Cornell, Duke, and Georgetown.

If he can get into any of the big 3, H/S/Y, he'll be just fine. But I would take a hard look at Columbia....

I'll throw my two cents out there.

Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are of course at the top.

But as said above, Duke. I highly recommend the Duke Law School.

I'd say Harvard, but Stanford and Yale are also very good schools. If he plans to practice in the US, it probably makes more sense to choose a US school.

Harvard, Yale and Duke if you're going in the US. People forget about Duke sometimes, but that's a top top school.