In her book, "A Woman's Guide to Law School," Linda Hirshman, a professor at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., ranks UK in the top 25 percent of all law schools as the friendliest to women students and faculty.

The UK law school ranks at the top of its grouping of law schools that is based on student admissions scores. The guide went on sale Aug. 2.

Hirshman said she looked at 158 law schools in her research. She gathered data on the percentage of tenured and tenure-track women academic faculty members, percentage of women students, and success of women students in being named to law journal editorial board positions.

Although it focused on women, Hirshman said her research shows that all law students are happier at schools with a high percentage of student-faculty diversity. "I think we can conclude that diversity accompanies satisfaction," she said.

Commenting on the school's high scores in the guide, UK acting law Dean Eugene Gaetke said, "It's ironic that this ranking came during a class year in which our percentage of women students was abnormally low." The UK law school anticipates that women will constitute nearly 50 percent of this year's entering law school class, he added.

"The numbers of women students and faculty are important," Dean Gaetke continued, "but the rankings also indicate that women generally do very well in their studies here. That says a lot about the efforts of the faculty to create an environment in which all students can thrive."

UK's College of Law has 27 tenured or tenure-track faculty members. Of these, seven are women.

Hirshman, who holds a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Chicago, also co-authored the book "Hard Bargains: The Politics of Sex" (Oxford, 1998). She has also taught at law schools at Washington and Lee, the University of Iowa and directed the women's legal studies program at Chicago Kent College of Law.