Makau W. Mutua feels the heat.

The Kenya-born lawyer, known internationally for his work on human rights issues, is proud

of the moves he has made at the University at Buffalo&#8217s Law School &#8212 including the

hiring of seven new faculty members &#8212 since becoming the dean in 2008.

But he is also painfully aware that the school has lost some of its national stature &#8212

at least in the eyes of those who follow the well-known ratings system for American law

schools.

For many years, U.S. News & World Report considered UB one of its First Tier law schools.

Then, in recent years, UB slipped to the Second Tier. Now, UB ranks outside the Top 100, in

the third of four tiers.

Mutua and officials at other law schools have complained about the methodology used to

compile the ratings &#8212 and, in fact, the magazine&#8217s data research director told The

Buffalo News that he has concerns that some law schools have learned to manipulate the

rankings.

But Mutua said he also recognizes how important the rankings are to college students trying

to decide which law schools to attend and to employers looking to hire young new lawyers.

&#8220It boggles your mind, why we would slip in those rankings. ... Are we a worse law

school this year than we were last year?&#8221 Mutua said during an interview in his office at

the university&#8217s Amherst campus. &#8220I think we&#8217re better.&#8221

&#8220Whether we love or hate the rankings, it&#8217s a part of our existence. Applicants

and their parents give them great weight. ... And when I took this job, I committed myself to

making UB one of the 50 top-ranked law schools in the country.&#8221

UB Law School has a long, proud tradition dating back to its creation in 1887. Many of the

region&#8217s leading judges, law partners, prosecutors and defense attorneys are graduates of

UB Law.

Senior U.S. District Judge John T. Curtin; Eugene F. Pigott Jr., associate judge of the

State Court of Appeals; Senior Associate Judge Samuel L. Green of the State Supreme Court

Appellate Division; Erie County Surrogate Judge Barbara Howe; former State Attorney General

Dennis C. Vacco, U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. and star defense lawyers Joel L. Daniels

and Terrence M. Connors are just a few of the hundreds of the UB Law grads practicing in

Western New York.

Alumni and current students are concerned about UB Law&#8217s drop in the rankings. Many

told The News they strongly support Mutua, but a few wonder if his leadership is part of the

problem.

&#8220The rankings are subjective,&#8221 said Terrance P. Flynn, another former U.S.

attorney who is now in private practice in Buffalo. Flynn is also a former president of the UB

Law School Alumni Association. &#8220I think we all agree that students look at them when they

are deciding what law schools to apply for.&#8221

Diane R. Tiveron, an Amherst attorney and UB law graduate, agrees. She was part of a group

of concerned alumni who met with Mutua when the rankings came out earlier this year.

&#8220I was very impressed with him and his approach,&#8221 Tiveron said. &#8220He

wasn&#8217t making apologies or excuses. His approach was, &#8216I&#8217m the dean, I take

responsibility, now let&#8217s roll up our sleeves and do what we need to do.&#8217&#8221

Robert A. Doren, a Buffalo lawyer who graduated from UB Law in the 1970s, is appalled. He

said he has serious concerns about where the law school is heading.

&#8220When I graduated, I believe we were ranked No. 17 in the country,&#8221 Doren

said. &#8220Now, we&#8217re ranked in the Third Tier, and that hurts UB grads when they go out

and look for jobs.&#8221

In Doren&#8217s view, UB Law has had a &#8220liberal bent&#8221 for years, and now places

too much emphasis on politics and human rights, rather than concentrating on the teaching of

technical skills that lawyers need.

&#8220Human rights, while extremely important, should not be the goal of a law

school,&#8221 Doren said. &#8220The goal should be teaching the technical aspects of

researching, arguing and presenting a case.&#8221

Among human rights advocates, the 52-year-old Mutua is known worldwide for his work to

improve human rights in Africa. He has written a book on the issue and has compiled reports on

human rights for the United Nations. He serves as chairman of the Kenya Human Rights

Commission.

In recognition of his human rights work, he was invited to the White House by President

Obama last November, and in February, he traveled back to his homeland to lecture on

homophobia and gay rights in Kenya.

But Mutua insists that his main focus is UB Law School and making it better.

Anyone who thinks UB Law is not focused on teaching technical legal skills has not visited

the school lately, Mutua said.

&#8220We&#8217ve hired seven new faculty, all with tremendous credentials, since I became

dean,&#8221 he said. &#8220We&#8217ve hired faculty who are experts on business law, taxes and

bankruptcy. Our legal skills program needed to be revamped. We are determined to produce

practice-ready lawyers who understand the craft of law, legal research and legal

writing.&#8221

At the same time, Mutua said he does not want UB Law graduates to think &#8220the law

operates in a vacuum.&#8221 He wants them to study international law, and he wants UB to be

known for producing &#8220lawyers with a social conscience.&#8221

&#8220Let&#8217s say that I represent a company that pollutes the environment. My duty is

to represent them zealously, but it is not my job to abet what they are doing,&#8221 he said.

&#8220Lawyers should be able to talk privately with their clients about social responsibility,

about what is right and what is wrong.&#8221

What do students think of UB&#8217s drop in the rankings?

&#8220Students do talk about it, and I&#8217m sure some are nervous about it,&#8221 said

Erin Cody, 30, who graduated from UB Law in May and is now studying for the state bar exam.

&#8220It is important. ... Every student wants their law school to get a better

ranking.&#8221

But Cody said the rankings are not a big concern to her.

&#8220I got a wonderful education at UB, and their career counseling office helped me to

get a job,&#8221 she said. &#8220I&#8217m from Buffalo and I plan to work at a law firm in

Buffalo. UB Law has an excellent reputation here and in New York City. If I was trying to get

a job in another city, I might be more concerned.&#8221

Mutua has some very strong support from many alumni in the region, said Robert L. Boreanaz,

outgoing president of the Alumni Law Association.

&#8220I think the general reaction to the [U.S. News] rankings is disappointment. Not

necessarily with the law school, but with the methods used in the rankings, and with the

importance that people attach to the rankings,&#8221 Boreanaz said.

So why does the law school get a low ranking?

One important criterion used in the rankings is how many recent graduates of a law school

got jobs. Boreanaz and other alumni said they have heard that some law schools are able to

report 100 percent employment for their grads by getting them jobs with not-for-profit

organizations associated with their school.

He said UB &#8212 which reported 91.2 percent employment for its 2008 graduates &#8212

doesn&#8217t do that.

UB is not the only law school to protest the rankings. One dean &#8212 Alfred Garcia of the

St. Thomas University Law School in Florida &#8212 recently became the first in the country to

boycott the rankings. He refuses to send statistical data to U.S. News & World Report.

In May, an organization called the Society of American Law Teachers urged law schools to

work with the American Bar Association to &#8220reduce the influence&#8221 of the annual U.S.

News rankings. The quest for better rankings from U.S. News exerts &#8220enormous pressure on

deans and faculties&#8221 to &#8220reshape admissions practices and divert scarce

resources,&#8221 the society organization claims.

Thomas Morse, director of data research for U.S. News, compiles the rankings. In a

telephone interview, he said the magazine is concerned that some law schools try to &#8220game

the system.&#8221 He said U.S. News is upgrading its ranking system in an effort to make it as

fair as possible.

But Morse added that pleasing law school officials is not the main goal of the rankings.

&#8220We try to give useful information to prospective law students. That&#8217s our main

goal,&#8221 Morse said.

As a publicly funded law school in a state facing drastic financial problems, it&#8217s

hard for UB to compete for top students with major law schools that are funded with endowments

of billions of dollars from alumni and other sources, Mutua said.

&#8220The reality we face is that we&#8217ve suffered very large budget cuts, and looking

at New York&#8217s financial situation, I can&#8217t predict that it&#8217s going to get

better,&#8221 Mutua said. &#8220Our law school tuition is a bargain, a steal for state

residents. So we&#8217re trying to cut costs and also drive toward excellence. It&#8217s kind

of like swimming against the current.&#8221