How to Judge a Law School's Reputation?

Today, the Chronicle of Higher Ed posted an article which points out one of the flaws with the US News Law School Rankings. Today's reason for taking the rankings with a grain of salt is that the people who are voting on reputation don't know anything about the law schools they are ranking (except how they have already been ranked by the magazine in the past). It's a self-fulfilling prophecy based on an unglued house of cards.

All of this is very important to law school applicants; make informed choices about where to apply. Don't buy into the Rankings in making life decisions unless you understand the methodology behind them. You're entering a profession where you will be trained to think and approach all sides of an issue. Start now.

Thanks to AboveTheLaw for calling my attention to this, and to PrawfsBlawg's posting with fascinating comments following on the subject of judging a law school's repuation.