[1] According to the New York Law Journal 2010 Rankings (PDF, page 31, large file – 6.79 MB), the best New York LL.M. Program in Taxation is New York Law School:
[2] 2010 is the first year in which the New York Law Journal has done rankings. Here is the description of how the survey that supports the rankings was conducted:
The Rankings are not a scientific survey of the marketplace but rather purely democratic. We asked you to vote for your favorites – and did you ever.
With over 2,000 votes, the response exceeded our expectations. The voting was conducted via online ballot, compiled by the sales and marketing teams of the New York Law Journal.
Readers were notified of the ballot through direct emails and online advertisements linking to the ballot across ALM’s network of websites. The ballot consisted of 42 categories encompassing the areas of Technology, Research, Accounting, Insurance, Financial Services, Litigation Support, Education Recruiting and Staffing. In total, over 350 firms were listed on the official online ballot and voters were also given the option of writing in any firms not see listed; almost 400 firms received votes via the write-in option. Ultimately, our goal was to make the voting as inclusive as possible. For the most part we succeeded, however a few rookie mistakes did occur. . . .
Please note that we only allowed legitimate end users to vote. We took great pains to ensure the voting was fair. Any nonattorney or legal professionals (or anyone who we could not validate was a legitimate end user) vote was disqualified.
[3] Paul Caron, NYLS (Not NYU) Named New York's Best Graduate Tax Program, TaxProf Blog, Oct. 1, 2010 ("New York Law School was named the best tax LL.M. program. (NYU has been #1 in each year of the U.S. News tax rankings, and NYLS has never been named among the Top 25 schools in the rankings -- for more on the U.S. News tax rankings, see Pursuing a Tax LLM Degree: Where?)").
[4] In my humble opinion, the 2010 rankings by the New York Law Journal demonstrate that the rankings by U.S. News & World Report are highly unreliable and misleading.
My advice to prospective LL.M. students is to look beyond the rankings and analyze whether a particular school is the right fit.
For example, before deciding to enroll in New York Law School's LL.M. in Taxation program, I looked at
- the courses offered,
- the courses required,
- the professors that teach there,
- the size of the program, and
- the ratio of teachers to students.
I also
- spoke with students,
- attended a CLE workshop offered at NYLS,
- spoke with professors that teach at NYLS,
- got advice from professors at Brooklyn Law School (where I obtained my J.D.),
- attended an informational session at NYLS,
- met with the director of the graduate tax program, and
- conducted my own survey of what practitioners think.
Prospective students can also profit by reading very helpful articles:
(In the end, there is no substitute for articulating your own goals for attending an LL.M. program and examining whether a particular school helps you step toward achieving your goals.)
[5] I can attest to the fact that New York Law School’s LL.M. in Taxation program is excellent. The students are intelligent (and friendly!) and the professors bring real-world, practical experiences to the classroom. For more information about the LL.M. in Taxation program at New York Law School, click on the image below:
[Updated: 10/1/10.]
