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University of Michigan Law School
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The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Founded in 1859, the school has an enrollment of about 1,200 students, most of whom are seeking Juris Doctor (J.D.) or Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees. The Law School has 81 full-time faculty members (60 tenured and tenure-track and in 21 clinical and legal practice). It is regarded as one of the most selective and prestigous law schools in the United States.
Reputation
Michigan Law is regarded as an academic powerhouse. It ranked third in the initial U.S. News & World Report law school rankings in 1987, only below Yale and Harvard, and is one of seven schools to never appear outside the magazine's top 10. In the most recent U.S. News ranking, Michigan Law is ranked ninth. As recently as 1997, the Law School was tied for the top spot in the U.S. News attorney/judge survey. Michigan Law consistently ranks first among public law schools. About only one in five applicants to Michigan Law is accepted. The most recent class had a median LSAT score of 169 (top two to three percent), and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.64.
About 98 percent of the graduating class of 2006 was employed by graduation, earning a median starting salary of $125,000. About 750 employers were present in Ann Arbor for the Law School's Early Interview Week in August 2006. Michigan Law has placed more Supreme Court law clerks than any other public law school, with over 50 to date.
History
The Law School was founded in 1859. Unlike other law schools whose programs developed slowly, Michigan quickly rose to national prominence. By 1870, Michigan was the largest law school in the country.
In 1870, Gabriel Franklin Hargo graduated from Michigan as the second African-American to graduate from law school in the United States. In 1871 Sarah Killgore, a Michigan Law graduate, became the first woman to pass the bar. [1]
Law Quad
The Law Quadrangle is designed in English Gothic style
The Cook Law Quadrangle was constructed using funds donated by William Cook (an alumnus) and comprised the four original buildings were built between 1924 and 1933 by the architectural firm York and Sawyer:
- Hutchins Hall, the main academic building, named for former Dean of the Law School and President of the University, Harry Burns Hutchins
- The Legal Research Building, likely the largest building in the world devoted exclusively to a law library
- John Cook Dormitory, providing housing for 352 students
- The Lawyer's Club, a meeting space for the residents of the Quad, highlighted by a Great Lounge, and a dining room with a high-vaulted ceiling, an oak floor, and dark oak paneling.[2] In 2007, the University of Michigan Reading Room was named 94th on a list of "American's Favorite Buildings."[3] The building is one of only three law buildings on the list.
Publications
Michigan Law School students publish six well-regarded law journals including the Michigan Law Review, the sixth oldest legal journal in the U.S. The other law journals include:
Moot court competitions
Michigan Law School students may compete in intramural and extramural moot court competitions, the oldest of which is the Henry M. Campbell Moot Court Competition. The Campbell Competition has been an annual event at the Law School for more than eighty years, and winning it is one of the highest honors a UM law student can achieve.
Student Funded Fellowships
Student Funded Fellowships (SFF) is a grant program designed to fund Michigan Law students who take low-paying summer jobs in the public interest. SFF is governed by a board of 9-12 law students and operates independently of the Law School. The Board elects its own members, including two co-chairs, a treasurer, and various committee chairs. Board members head up fundraising efforts throughout the year, ranging from Donate a Day's Pay (DADP), in which highly paid law firm clerks donate a day's salary to SFF, to a grand auction in March that invites bids on various donated items, including sports tickets, meals with faculty members, and art. In the late spring, Board members review applications for summer funding and select a limited number of highly qualified students for grants. In 2007 about twice as many students applied for grants as could be funded.
Notable alumni
- Ralph W. Aigler (LAW: J.D. 1907), Nationally known expert on property law, member of U-M faculty, 1910-1954; also inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor
- Ronald J. Allen (LAW: J.D. 1973), Northwestern University Professor of Law, named, in 2007, one of only four Americans to be designated as a Yangtze River Scholar, China's highest academic award, which was formerly only for Nobel Laureates. Allen is the first law professor to earn the award, which usually goes to scientists or economists.
- Edgardo Angara (LAW: LLM 1964), former president of the University of the Philippines and Senate President of the Philippines.
- Todd Anson (LAW: J.D. 1980), Former Managing Partner of Brobeck, Phleger, and Harrison LLP(bringing LEGO's theme park to the United States), and Co-Founder of Cisterra LLC (2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year).
- Prudence Carter Beatty, (LAW: J.D. 1968), US Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York
- Steven G. Bradbury (LAW: J.D. 1988), Acting Assistant Attorney General (Office of Legal Counsel)
- Nicole (Niki) Burnham (LAW: J.D. 1994), Author, RITA award winner
- Mike Cox (LAW: J.D. 1989), current Michigan Attorney General
- Ann Coulter (LAW: J.D. 1988), Political personality
- Clarence Darrow, (LAW: DNG) Defense lawyer in the Scopes Trial
- Harry M. Daugherty (LAW: LL.B. 1880), Republican party "boss"
- William Rufus Day (LAW: LL.B. 1870), United States Secretary of State, 1898; United States Supreme Court Associate Justice, 1903-1922
- Harry T. Edwards (LAW: J.D. 1965), Former Chief Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the District of Columbia
- Larry Elder (LAW: J.D. 1977), Radio and television talk show host
- Barry Fink (LAW: J.D.), American Century Investments a $106 billion asset management company, hired Mr. Fink as Chief Operating Officer in 2007. Mr. Fink will serve as a director of the American Century Cos. Inc. board.
- Jeffrey L. Fisher(LAW: J.D. 1997), Associate Professor of Law, Stanford Law School. Presented the winning oral argument in Crawford v. Washington, a key Supreme Court case establishing the right to Confrontation.
- Harold E. Ford, Jr. (LAW: J.D. 1996), U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1997-2007.
- Ralph M. Freeman (LAW: LL.B. 1926), Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, 1954-1990
- John J. Gardner (LAW: attended 1866-1867), represented New Jersey's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1885 to 1893, and was mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey.[4]
- Richard Gephardt (LAW: J.D. 1965), U.S. Representative from Missouri, 1977-2005
- Wycliffe Grousbeck (LAW: J.D. 1986), Owner of the Boston Celtics.
- James P. Hoffa (LAW: LL.B. 1966), President of International Brotherhood of Teamsters
- Amalya Lyle Kearse(LAW: J.D. 1962), Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Victor King (LAW: J.D. 1989), Contestant on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" (Won $500,000; most money won on the game show to date)
- J. Thomas McCarthy (LAW: J.D. 1963), Author of McCarthy's Treatise on Trademark and Unfair Competition
- Charles Edward Merrill (LAW: 1906-1907), Co-Founded stock brokerage firm Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) with Edmund C. Lynch. Worked at Merrill Lynch 1914-56
- Frank Murphy (LAW: LL.B. 1914), United States Attorney General, 1939, and United States Supreme Court Associate Justice, 1940-1949
- Rob Pelinka (LAW: J.D. 1996), prominent sports agent, best known for representing Kobe Bryant
- Rob Portman (LAW: J.D. 1984), Director of the Office of Management and Budget
- Branch Rickey (LAW: J.D. 1911), Major League Baseball executive and Hall of Famer; created the modern minor league system and signed Jackie Robinson to a contract, breaking the sport's 20th-century color line.
- Richard Riordan (LAW: J.D. 1956), Los Angeles Mayor, 1993-2001
- John M. Rogers (LAW: J.D. 1974), Federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
- Larry Sager, (LAW: J.D. 1999), Author of No Guns, No Knives, No Personal Checks—The Tales of a San Francisco Cab Driver winner of the 2007 Benjamin Franklin Award for the Best First Book (Fiction) from the Independent Publishers Marketing Association.
- Ken Salazar (LAW: J.D. 1981), U.S. Senator from Colorado
- Anthony Joseph Scirica (LAW: J.D. 1965), Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Cynthia Leitich Smith (LAW: J.D. 1994), Author
- George Sutherland (LAW: 1883), United States Supreme Court Justice
- Masaaki Tanaka (LAW: LLM), President and Chief Executive Officer of UnionBanCal Corporation and its principal subsidiary, Union Bank of California (NYSE:UB).
- Larry D. Thompson (LAW: J.D. 1974), Former Deputy Attorney General of the United States
- Henry Clay Thornton (LAW: AM 1868), Prominent Logansport, Indiana, attorney; Uncle and mentor of William Wheeler Thornton
- William Wheeler Thornton (LAW: LL.B. 1876), Judge, Author, Indiana Deputy Attorney General, Indiana State Supreme Ct. Librarian
- John M. Walker, Jr. (Law: J.D. 1966), Former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
- Moses Fleetwood "Fleet" Walker' (LAW: attended 1881-82), baseball player and author credited with being the first African-American to play professional baseball at the major league level.
- James J. White, (LAW: J.D. 1962), foremost expert on the Uniform Commercial Code.
- Ralph C. Wilson, Jr., (LAW: ) owner of Buffalo Bills football team.
- Roxanne Wilson, (LAW: J.D. 2003), an appellate attorney and candidate in The Apprentice 5
- Bob Woodruff (LAW: J.D. 1987), journalist and news anchor for ABC News
- Sam Zell (LSA: B.A. 1963; LAW: J.D. 1966) - Real estate developer and founder of Equity Office Properties or EOP, second in size only to the United States Government in value of property owned. Formerly Chairman of NAREIT or National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.
- Miriam Defensor Santiago (LAW: LL.M. 1975, S.J.D. 1976) - Senator of the Republic of the Philippines
References
See also
External links
Notes
- ^ University of Michigan: Diversity Research & Resources, Proposal 2 Information. Link to UM wesbite
- ^ Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action v. Granholm, No. 2:06-cv-15024 (E.D. Mi.) (Lawson); Nos. 06-2640, 06-2642 (6th Cir. 2007).
- ^ January 10, 2007 statement by Dean Evan Caminker. See statement here
