University of Michigan Law School

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The University of Michigan Law School (branded as Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MCL), Juris Doctor (JD), and Doctor of the Science of Law (SJD) degree programs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The law school is primarily supported through student tuition, private gifts, and endowment payouts, with less than 2% of its expenses covered by state appropriations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

As of 2024, the law school enrolls 990 students and employs 119 full-time faculty members and 89 part–time faculty members.<ref name="2023 ABA Report">Template:Cite web</ref> Notable alumni include U.S. Supreme Court Justices Frank Murphy, William Rufus Day, and George Sutherland, as well as a number of heads of state and corporate executives. Approximately 98% of Class of 2022 graduates were employed within ten months of graduation; its first time bar passage rate in 2023 was 95.45% and the passage rate for all graduates within two years was 99.20%.<ref name="2023 ABA Bar Passage Report">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

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The law school was founded in 1859. In 1870, Gabriel Franklin Hargo graduated from Michigan Law 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 both graduate from law school and be admitted to the bar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Henry Moore Bates, former dean of the University of Michigan Law School from 1910 to 1939

In 2009, Michigan Law began a $102 million enterprise to construct a new law building that would remain loyal to the English Gothic style. The enterprise was fully funded by endowments and private gifts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2009 also marked the school's sesquicentennial celebration. As a part of the festivities, Chief Justice John Roberts visited the school and participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new building. The building was dedicated in 2012 and called South Hall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In December 2018, South Hall was renamed Jeffries Hall, after a record $33 million donation from real estate developer Christopher M. Jeffries.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Campus

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Law Quadrangle, Template:Circa
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Aerial view of the University of Michigan Law Quadrangle, 1930-1940 ca.

Built between 1924 and 1933 by the architectural firm York and Sawyer with funds donated by attorney and alumnus William W. Cook, the Cook Law Quadrangle comprises four buildings:

  • 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
  • John P. Cook Dormitory
  • The Lawyer's Club, providing additional dormitory rooms and a meeting space for the residents of the Quad, is highlighted by a Great Lounge, and a dining room with a high-vaulted ceiling, an oak floor, and dark oak paneling.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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John P. Cook Dormitory
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William W. Cook Legal Research Library

In 2012, extensive renovations of the Lawyers Club were undertaken thanks in part to a $20 million gift from Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman Charles T. Munger, and was re-opened on August 19, 2013 for the 2013 school year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Academics

Admissions and costs

Admission to Michigan Law is highly selective. For the class entering in the fall of 2024, 802 applicants were accepted out of a total of 6,766, an acceptance rate of 11.85%. Out of those 802 accepted applicants, 307 students enrolled, a 38.28% enrollment rate. The 25th and 75th LSAT percentile scores for the entering class were 166 and 172, with a median of 171. The 25th and 75th undergraduate GPA percentile scores were 3.70 and 3.95, with a median of 3.86.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Tuition at the University of Michigan Law School for the 2020–2021 academic year is $63,680 for residents of the state of Michigan and $66,680 for non-residents. The estimated cost of living for a Michigan student is $21,900. Assuming no tuition increases, a typical three-year course of study at Michigan therefore costs $256,740 (or $85,580 per year) for residents and $265,740 (or $88,580 per year) for non-residents.<ref>"Law School Tuition Rates 2020–2021" Template:Webarchive Accessed December 6, 2020.</ref>

Publications

Michigan Law School students publish several law journals<ref name="Journals and Student Organizations">Template:Cite web</ref> in addition to the Michigan Law Review, the sixth oldest legal journal in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> These include:

Journal membership is obtained through participation in writing competitions.<ref name="Journals and Student Organizations" />

Moot court

Students may compete in intramural moot court competitions,<ref name="Moot Courts & Competitions">Template:Cite web</ref> the oldest of which is the Henry M. Campbell Moot Court Competition, established in 1926 and first held in the 1927–1928 academic year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Other moot court competitions include the Child Welfare Law Moot Court Competition, Criminal Law Moot Court Competition, the Entertainment Media and Arts Moot Court Competition, the Environmental Law Moot Court Competition, the Intellectual Property Moot Court Competition, the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the Vis International Arbitration Moot Court, the Native American Law Students Association Competition, the Manfred Lachs Moot Court, Michigan Law Corporate Counseling Competition, and the 1L Oral Advocacy Competition.<ref name="Moot Courts & Competitions" />

Clinics

Michigan Law's clinical program allows students to provide direct representation to clients under the supervision of full-time faculty. There are 18 clinical programs, including the Child Advocacy Law Clinic, the Entrepreneurship Clinic, the Environmental Law Clinic, the Federal Appellate Litigation Clinic, the International Transactions Clinic, the Michigan Innocence Clinic, the Transactional Lab, and the Unemployment Insurance Clinic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Student groups

Michigan Law offers a wide array of student organizations centered around various interest areas, including politics, pro bono work, community service, race, gender, religion, and hobbies.<ref name="Journals and Student Organizations" /> Student organizations organize various annual events, from student pageants such as Mr. Wolverine to the Michigan Law Culture Show.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Externships and internships

Michigan's externship program is designed to provide students with real-world legal experience and advanced research opportunities beyond what is separately available in either a classroom or a clinic. Externships are available in places such as Switzerland, South Africa, and India.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Fellowships

Student Funded Fellowships (SFF) is a program designed to fund Michigan Law students who accept public interest summer job, particularly to help 1Ls finance the living costs associated with their summer jobs. SFF is governed by a board of law students and operates independently of the law school. Board members head fundraising efforts throughout the year, ranging from Donate a Day's Pay (DADP), in which highly paid law firm summer associates donate a day's salary to SFF, to a grand auction in the spring that invites bids on various donated items, including sports tickets, art, meals, and activities with faculty members. Around the time of the auction, board members review applications for summer funding and select a limited number of qualified students for grants. As of 2022, SFF awarded these select applicants $6,500. Students not otherwise selected for the grant, or students who do not plan to pursue public interest after law school but nonetheless need income for their summer positions, are entitled to a $5,000 loan for their summer expenses. This loan is facilitated by the law school. The loan is repaid on a sliding scale depending on how much money these students make during their 1L and 2L summers. As of 2022, if a student does not make more than $18,000 across their two summers, the loan is completely forgiven.Template:Citation needed

Reception

Rankings

Michigan Law was ranked third in the initial U.S. News & World Report law school rankings in 1987. Michigan Law is also one of the "T14" law schools, schools that have consistently been ranked in the top 14 since U.S. News began publishing rankings. In the 2025 U.S. News ranking, Michigan Law is ranked 8th overall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During the period 2010 through 2014, Michigan Law ranked 15th among U.S. law schools, tied with the Georgetown University Law Center, for the number of times its tenured faculty's published scholarship was highly cited in legal journals.<ref name="Brian Leiter's Law School Reports">Template:Cite web</ref>

Employment

According to the University of Michigan Law School's ABA-required employment disclosures, 98% of the graduates of the Class of 2021 were employed or seeking an advanced degree. This includes the 94.2% of the class who had obtained jobs requiring a J.D.<ref name="law.umich.edu">Template:Cite web</ref> Of the Class of 2021, 55% were employed by firms of greater than 100 attorneys<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> and 18% obtained clerkships.<ref name=":0" /> Michigan's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 5.8%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2021 who are unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In addition to Michigan, the majority of Michigan Law grads work in New York, Illinois, California, and Washington, D.C.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

People

Notable faculty

Former faculty

Notable alumni

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See also

Notes

  1. Template:Note University of Michigan: Diversity Research & Resources, Proposal 2 Information. Link to UM website
  2. Template:Note Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action v. Granholm, No. 2:06-cv-15024 (E.D. Mi.) (Lawson); Nos. 06–2640, 06–2642 (6th Cir. 2007).
  3. Template:Note January 10, 2007 statement by Dean Evan Caminker.<ref>[1] Template:Webarchive</ref>

References

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