Law School Transparency is an educational research and advocacy organization that provides tools about admissions and rankings for prospective law students. The organization also advocates for increased transparency around law school admissions, and acts as a watchdog around perceived predatory practices by law schools.

The organization has championed class-action lawsuits against law schools over misrepresenting graduate employment statistics. The organization is small, with annual revenues not exceeding $50,000 as of 2020, ¹ and is funded at least in part by state bar associations including the Iowa State Bar. ^{2 3}

Background

Law School Transparency was founded in 2009 by Patrick Lynch and Kyle McEntee, who were both law students at Vanderbilt University at the time. The idea for the organization came from Vanderbilt Law School releasing a detailed list of where and with whom most of its 2007 graduates were employed, which McEntee used to create a spreadsheet that matched the information to other public data. The resulting popularity of the project led McEntee and Lynch to advocate for creating a national standard to report employment statistics across all U.S. law schools. ^{4 5}

Since its founding the organization has continued to advocate for more disclosure around graduate employment statistics as well as other information around cost of attendance, tuition, and scholarships. ⁶

Research and Educational Tools

Law School Transparency operates a detailed website that allows prospective law students and pre-law advisors to create custom lists of law schools, compare types of legal careers, and view average cost of attendance at law schools. The website has also planned features to rank law schools by diversity. ⁷

Advocacy

Law School Transparency advocates for various disclosure practices at U.S. law schools and has called on the American Bar Association to strengthen reporting requirements around cost of attendance and post-graduate employment. The organization targets alleged “deceptive reporting practices” at law schools around post graduate employment reporting. The organization has also promoted various diversity, equity, and inclusion practices at law schools, publishing law review articles about gender equity at law schools and other topics. ^{8 9}

The organization’s strategic policy plan, which was funded by the Iowa Bar Association, calls for changes to the U.S. News and World Report law school rankings as well as more left-of-center access, diversity, and inclusion metrics in law school reporting. ¹⁰

People

Kyle McEntee has been the executive director of Law School Transparency since he co-founded the organization in 2009. He is listed as the only full-time staff member for the organization and is a frequent commentator on law school admissions and reporting practices in mainstream media outlets. He also works as a researcher for the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System and is a special advisor to The Pipeline to Practice Foundation, an organization that lobbies for racial diversity quotas at law schools. ¹¹

The chair of the organization’s board is Maggie White, an Iowa attorney and former president of the Iowa Bar Association, which has funded some of the organization’s research. ¹²

1. Data compiled by IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search for Law School Transparency Inc. (EIN 46-1898714). Queries conducted January 18, 2022.
2. “Law School Transparency.” CauseIQ. Accessed December 3, 2021. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/law-school-transparency,461898714/
3. “Publications.” Law School Transparency. Accessed December 3, 2021. https://www.lawschooltransparency.com/about/publications
4. “Team.” Law School Transparency. Accessed December 3, 2021. https://www.lawschooltransparency.com/about/team#staff
5. “Law School Transparency Still Fighting After a Decade (1).” Bloomberg Law. December 20, 2019. Accessed December 3, 2021.  https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/law-school-transparency-still-fighting-status-quo-after-a-decade
6. “Publications.” Law School Transparency. Accessed December 3, 2021. https://www.lawschooltransparency.com/about/publications
7. “Data.” Law School Transparency. Accessed December 3, 2021. https://data.lawschooltransparency.com/#
8. “Team.” Law School Transparency. Accessed December 3, 2021. https://www.lawschooltransparency.com/about/team#staff
9. “Publications.” Law School Transparency. Accessed December 3, 2021. https://www.lawschooltransparency.com/about/publications
10. “LST 2025 Vision.” Law School Transparency. Accessed December 3, 2021. https://www.lawschooltransparency.com/progress/LST2025Vision.pdf
11. “Team.” Law School Transparency. Accessed December 3, 2021. https://www.lawschooltransparency.com/about/team#staff
12. “Team.” Law School Transparency. Accessed December 3, 2021. https://www.lawschooltransparency.com/about/team#staff