Success isn’t limited to top schools.
Attending law school is a necessary step for practicing attorneys, and it’s also a common step in the academic and career journey for politicians and executives. Numerous former United States presidents, senators and other leaders attended top-ranked law schools, including the Ivy League institutions. But admission to these programs is highly competitive, with acceptance rates at the top 14 ranging between 6% and 17%. A successful career can also be launched from mid-tier law programs — those ranked between 60 and 135 out of 196 in the U.S. News 2023-2024 Best Law Schools rankings — where acceptance rates are higher. The median acceptance rate among this group of schools was 43.5%, according to U.S. News data. From a U.S. president to Supreme Court justices and high-profile attorneys, here are 12 notable alumni from mid-tier law schools.
Joe Biden
Alma Mater: Syracuse University College of Law (NY)
U.S. News rank: 122 (tie)
The 46th and current president of the United States, Joe Biden graduated from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. At 29 years old, he became one of the youngest people ever to be elected to the U.S. Senate. He eventually spent 36 years as a senator before becoming the 47th U.S. vice president, serving alongside President Barack Obama. He became the first Syracuse University alumnus to become president, and in 2005, he was awarded the George Arents Pioneer Medal, the university’s highest alumni award.
Johnnie Cochran
Alma Mater: Loyola Marymount University School of Law (CA)
U.S. News rank: 60 (tie)
Johnnie Cochran rose to fame during the mid-1990s after serving on the defense team for football star O.J. Simpson, who was accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. After the police chase and subsequent arrest of Simpson played out on live television, the trial became a media spectacle. Cochran delivered the now-famous line, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit,” while holding up a bloody glove found at the crime scene. Simpson was eventually acquitted of all charges. Cochran, who graduated from Loyola Marymount’s School of Law in 1962, represented other high-profile celebrities in his career, including musician Michael Jackson and actor Reginald Denny.
Eliza “Lyda” Burton Conley
Alma Mater: University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law
U.S. News rank: 135 (tie)
One of the pioneers for women in the legal profession, Eliza Burton Conley was the nation’s first Native American female lawyer. Known as “Lyda,” she was a member of the Wyandotte tribe and became the first Native American to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court when she argued in 1910 to protect the Huron Indian Cemetery in Kansas City, her ancestral burial grounds, from government takeover and future development. She ultimately lost her case in court, but in 1913, Kansas State Senator Charles Curtis passed a law that protected the cemetery from any future government development, according to the National Women’s History Museum. She was murdered in 1946 during a robbery and is buried at the cemetery she defended.
Theo Epstein
Alma Mater: University of San Diego School of Law
U.S. News rank: 78 (tie)
Theo Epstein, a longtime Major League Baseball executive, was the architect of the 2016 World Series-winning Chicago Cubs, for which he served as president of baseball operations. The championship broke a 108-year drought for the Cubs, which was the longest in the sport at the time. Prior to his stint with the Cubs, Epstein served as general manager for the Boston Red Sox, building rosters that won World Series championships in 2004 and 2007. The 2004 championship ended an 86-year World Series drought for the Red Sox. Epstein, who graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2000, now serves as an MLB consultant for on-field matters.
Lindsey Graham
Alma Mater: University of South Carolina School of Law
U.S. News rank: 60 (tie)
Lindsey Graham was elected to the United States Senate in 2002 and has won re-election three times since to remain in office. Prior to his run in the Senate, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives and as a U.S. Air Force lawyer, a position he held for nearly seven years. He later joined the Air Force Reserves before his retirement in 2015 after serving 33 years. Graham, who graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1981, ran for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination but eventually bowed out of the race.
Thurgood Marshall
Alma Mater: Howard University School of Law (DC)
U.S. News rank: 125 (tie)
After being barred from applying to law school at the University of Maryland due to his race, Thurgood Marshall attended Howard University and graduated first in his class. While there, he met Charles Hamilton Houston, who was the vice dean of the law school at the time. Together they operated the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and argued several cases fighting for civil rights in higher education. Marshall took over as head of the Fund in 1938, and in 1954 he successfully fought for desegregation in public schools in the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. He served as a Supreme Court justice from 1967 to 1991. In February 2023, the University of Maryland named its School of Public Policy building in his honor.
William McAnulty, Jr.
Alma Mater: Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville
U.S. News rank: 99 (tie)
After graduating from law school in 1974, William McAnulty, Jr. began his legal career as a Jefferson County, Kentucky, Juvenile Court judge in 1975. In 2006, he was appointed to the Kentucky Supreme Court, replacing retiring Justice Martin E. Johnstone and becoming the first Black justice to serve on the state’s Supreme Court. Later that year, he was elected to retain the position on an eight-year term, but he died of cancer in August 2007. He received numerous awards during his career, including the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Brandeis School of Law, and was honored posthumously with a bust on permanent display in the Supreme Court chamber in the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort.
Mike Pence
Alma Mater: Robert H. McKinney School of Law at Indiana University–Indianapolis
U.S. News rank: 99 (tie)
Mike Pence was chosen as Donald Trump’s running mate for the 2016 U.S. presidential election and became the 48th vice president. Prior to his time in the White House, Pence served as governor of Indiana from 2013 to 2016 and as a congressman representing the 2nd and 6th Congressional districts in east-central Indiana. He graduated from law school in 1986 and launched two unsuccessful campaigns for Congress in 1988 and 1990. He practiced law and hosted a syndicated talk radio show until his successful congressional campaign in 2000. Trump and Pence lost their bid for re-election in 2020 to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Marco Rubio
Alma Mater: University of Miami School of Law (FL)
U.S. News rank: 71 (tie)
Marco Rubio has served as a U.S. senator since 2011. After earning his J.D. degree at the University of Miami in 1996, he stayed in his hometown of Miami and served as a city commissioner for West Miami before his election to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000. He became the speaker of the Florida House of Representatives in 2006 before launching his successful Senate campaign. He ran for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election, but eventually dropped out of the race.
Constance Slaughter-Harvey
Alma Mater: University of Mississippi School of Law
U.S. News rank: 111 (tie)
Constance Slaughter-Harvey was a trailblazer for Black women in the legal profession. In 1970, she became the first Black woman to receive a law degree from the University of Mississippi. In 1976, she became the first Black person to be appointed as a judge in Mississippi. She’s received more than 5,000 awards in her career, according to the University of Mississippi, including an induction to the National Bar Association’s Hall of Fame. In 1998, the University of Mississippi’s Black Law Student Association was named in her honor. In 2022, she was named University of Mississippi School of Law’s Alumna of the Year, becoming the first Black woman to receive the award.
Judith Sheindlin
Alma Mater: New York Law School
U.S. News rank: 125 (tie)
Perhaps better known as “Judge Judy,” Judith Sheindlin became a celebrity with her Emmy Award-winning television show that ran from 1996-2021. She was the only woman in her 1965 graduating class at New York Law School and entered private practice for a short time. In 1982, she was appointed judge in the Bronx family court and in 1988 became supervising judge of the Manhattan court. She gained attention for her blunt demeanor and her willingness to allow the public to access her courtroom. After being featured in the Los Angeles Times and on “60 Minutes,” she was approached by CBS executives about presiding over her own court room on a new TV show, which became “Judge Judy.”
Elizabeth Warren
Alma Mater: Rutgers University Law School (NJ)
U.S. News rank: 109 (tie)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren graduated from Rutgers University Law School in 1976, and a year later began teaching at her alma mater. She spent more than 30 years as a law professor at numerous other schools, including Harvard University Law School and the Carey School of Law at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2012, she became the first woman ever elected to the Senate from Massachusetts and has remained in office since. In 2019, Warren announced her intention to run for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential race. Though she had momentum early on in her candidacy, she dropped out of the race in March 2020. In 2010, Time magazine named Warren to its annual list of 100 most influential people.
Notable Alumni From Mid-Tier Law Schools
— Joe Biden: Syracuse University College of Law
— Johnnie Cochran: Loyola Marymount University School of Law
— Eliza “Lyda” Burton Conley: University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law
— Theo Epstein: University of San Diego School of Law
— Lindsey Graham: University of South Carolina School of Law
— Thurgood Marshall: Howard University School of Law
— William McAnulty, Jr.: Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville
— Mike Pence: Robert H. McKinney School of Law at Indiana University–Indianapolis
— Marco Rubio: University of Miami School of Law
— Constance Slaughter-Harvey: University of Mississippi School of Law
— Judith Sheindlin: New York Law School
— Elizabeth Warren: Rutgers University Law School
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12 Famous Alumni From Mid-Ranked Law Schools originally appeared on usnews.com
