In-House Counsel

LSAT scores as potential drivers of performance and metrics

By Rees Morrison

If law departments disclosed the average LSAT score of their lawyers (the standardized test everyone takes who applies to a US law school), might that metric predict some key benchmarks? For example, might lawyers per billion of revenue decline as average LSAT scores rise (See my post of Aug. 28, 2008: hedge fund managers and their SAT scores.)? This idea came to me from the NY Rev. of Books, Vol. 56, April 30, 2009 at 39, which says ?rating services like Moody?s use SATs in calculating the credit standing of college bonds.? Smarter students equal a sounder college; ergo, smarter lawyers equal a better law department.

LSAT scores might be a proxy for general intelligence (See my post of Sept. 21, 2008: IQ with 16 references.) and thus the overall quality of lawyers ? or perhaps not. For example, would there be any correlation between the LSAT scores of a general counsel and the rank of his or her company in its industry? Does the IQ cream rise to the top, are standardized tests of mental agility predictors of in-house success?

Full post as published by Law Department Management on April 22, 2009 (boomark / email).