Brooklyn Law School, which has over a hundred years of proud history as a local institution in Downtown Brooklyn, is enjoying new prestige in recent years among American law schools. To Dean Joan Gottesman Wexler, it’s long overdue.

“We think that our reputation is beginning to catch up with reality, which is that we have fabulous students and a faculty that’s as good as any in the country,” Dean Wexler said during a recent interview.

However, Brooklyn Law School (BLS) has a somewhat precarious position in the world of law schools. Its alumni have a reputation around the city of being highly capable attorneys, and many members of the Brooklyn judiciary studied there. But it’s not always the first choice for undergraduate students at the nation’s top colleges.

“Sometimes it’s difficult for us because people look at our name and think what is this, it’s a local school,” Wexler acknowledged. “We don’t have a basketball team. Schools that do well in basketball — their ranking goes up.”

Dean Wexler was of course referring to the well-known U.S. News & World Reports rankings of the best law schools in the country. BLS had risen in recent years to 58, but was most recently ranked at 61 out of the 200 law schools accredited by the American Bar Association that are listed. It’s never cracked the first-tier top 50.

One third-year student who had recently chosen to study at Tulane Law School over Brooklyn Law spoke to the Eagle about the process:

[Brooklyn Eagle]