KU Law ranks No. 19 for faculty impact among public law schools

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas School of Law ranks No. 19 in the nation among public law schools and No. 43 overall for scholarly impact, according to a recent study.

The Sisk Scholarly Impact Rankings Study measures scholarly impact based on law journal citations to the work of tenured faculty members over the past five years. Only law schools placing in the top third for scholarly impact are included in the published rankings. The rankings are widely considered to be a leading measure of faculty productivity within legal academia.

The study, conducted by a team of academics, is updated every three years. KU Law was previously ranked No. 40 overall in 2021, No. 48 in 2018 and No. 64 in 2015.

KU Law again outranked several peer law schools, including Iowa, Indiana-Bloomington, Georgia and Southern Methodist. KU’s scholarly impact ranking exceeded the ranking of several law schools affiliated with fellow members of the Association of American Universities (AAU).

“A faculty that actively addresses important legal issues benefits the profession and brings national attention to the law school,” said Stephen Mazza, dean and professor of law. “Students also benefit when they learn from faculty who are part of policy conversations that affect how the law develops.”

In addition to a school-by-school ranking, the study reports the mean, median and weighted score, along with a list of the tenured law faculty members at each school with the 10 highest individual citation counts. Based on the latest Sisk data, Robin Kundis Craig, the Robert A. Schroeder Distinguished Professor of Law at KU, is the 17th most cited environmental law scholar.

“We are lucky at KU Law to have faculty that are productive in a variety of ways,” Mazza said. “They not only produce scholarship, but they lead clinics, create experiential courses and teach our students the fundamentals of legal research and writing.”

KU Law faculty are routinely called upon to provide expertise and context to Kansas legislators considering law and policy changes. They serve on boards, committees, councils and other bodies that provide direct benefit to residents across the state of Kansas. They also teach continuing legal education programs throughout the state, ensuring practicing attorneys are equipped with the most up-to-date knowledge as they serve their clients.