The Paul M. Hebert Law Center ranked 79th among 145 of the nation’s best law schools in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 rankings. 
The Law Center jumped five spots from its 84th-place ranking last year and widened the gap from its 91st ranking in 2008.
Law Center Chancellor Jack Weiss said these rankings indicate that the Law Center is moving in the right direction, but the faculty and students should not be satisfied.
Weiss said the improvement in ranking could be attributed to a number of factors, but he pointed out that the recent classes of students have performed better than in past years.
“Our students keep getting better and better,” Weiss said. “The top 25 percent of students seven or eight years ago resembles our bottom 25 percent of students today.”
He said the Law Center substantially increased merit scholarship assistance in the last few years in an attempt to attract good students.
“But it is not all about numbers,” Weiss said. “There are a series of factors we consider when we admit a student, including leadership, diversity ranging from experience in a foreign culture to socioeconomic diversity and the numerical factors – GPA and test scores.”
Weiss said hiring new, talented faculty in the past five years has also improved the school’s overall reputation.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been super impressed with the faculty and the level of intelligence they have,” said Matthew Lognion, first-year law student.
Weiss said although he is proud of the rankings and the progress the Law Center has made in the past five years, he and the faculty have to keep reaching for innovative ways to build the law program.
“The longer I’ve been here, the more I’ve realized that you can’t let the rankings run your law school,” Weiss said. “You have to do what’s best for your students and your community.”
One of those innovations is the development of an energy law program at the Law Center.
“The purpose of the new program is to build one of the preeminent programs in the country in a broad range of subjects that comprise energy law,” Weiss said.
The subjects include nuclear energy, renewable oil, gas, energy taxation, energy finance, energy security and energy transportation.
Weiss said he hopes the program will link to the strengths of the LSU main campus, such as the School of the Coast and Environment, the Department of Geology and multiple engineering departments.
“Students who would come here could gain specialized training in energy law and also enhance their knowledge of the sciences, business and other practical aspects of the energy world they would not receive elsewhere,” Weiss said.
Weiss said his focus is the growth and improvement of the Law Center, not just national rankings.
“What I am most proud of is our future. I think it is even brighter than our past,” Weiss said.
 
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Contact Lea Ciskowski at [email protected]