미국 로스쿨 교원 평가에 대한 소고

Among the numerous criteria that play a role in evaluating U.S. law schools, the competence of faculty is one of the most important elements that affects a law school’s reputation and rank. This competence is measured by various factors, such as educational background, expressed in the prestige of university where the particular faculty member has obtained the law degree, the quality and quantity of research as shown by journal articles and publications of books, and previous work experience including judicial clerkship and public service. Additionally, as it is relatively particular to the American society, the influence of diversity in terms of race and gender also cannot be undermined in this process. This paper observed statistical data and concluded that the tradition of faculty evaluation is historical and deep-rooted in U.S. law schools, and that there are certain criteria and standards that new incoming faculty members must meet in order to qualify for employment in top ranking U.S. law schools. While certain factors have changed, such as improvement in faculty diversity, most other factors have stayed intact as of today. It was observed that a law degree from a top ranking university, together with high-quality journal article publications, accompanied with unique job experience increases the chance of being employed as a regular faculty member in U.S. law schools.