Michigan State University College of Law explained

Michigan State University College of Law
Parent:Michigan State University
Type:Public law school
Parent Endowment:US $4.4 billion (2021)[1]
Dean:Michael Sant’Ambrogio (acting)
City:East Lansing
State:Michigan
Country:United States
Students:784[2]
Faculty:51 full time, 73 part time
Ranking:108th (tie) (2024)[3]
Bar Pass Rate:77.46% (2022 first-time takers)[4]

The Michigan State University College of Law (Michigan State Law or MSU Law) is the law school of Michigan State University, a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan. Established in 1891 as the Detroit College of Law, it was the first law school in the Detroit, Michigan area and the second in the state of Michigan. In October 2018, the college began a process to fully integrate into Michigan State University, changing from a private to a public law school. The integration with Michigan State University was finalized on August 17, 2020.

The college is nationally ranked #108 by U.S. News & World Report out of 196 ABA approved schools.[5] [3] By counting flagship journals not separately ranked by Washington & Lee School of Law (W&L Law) in its Law Journal Rankings, Michigan State Law Review was the 63rd highest-ranked flagship print journal in 2022 with a score of 14.55 out of 100 and, per W&L Law, the 99th overall law journal.[6]

For the class entering in 2023, the school had a 39.37% acceptance rate, 35.37% of those accepted enrolled, and entering students had a median LSAT score of 159 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.55.

For the 2022 graduating class, 72.25% of graduates obtained full-time, long-term bar-passage-required employment (i.e., employment as attorneys), and 11.45% were not employed part- or full-time in any capacity, within 10 months after graduation.[7]

Notable alumni include current Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer, current Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Elizabeth T. Clement, former Michigan Supreme Court Justice and mayor of Detroit Dennis Archer, former Michigan Supreme Court Justice and United States federal judge George Clifton Edwards Jr., former Michigan gubernatorial candidate Geoffrey Fieger, former Michigan Senate majority leader and former U.S. Representative Mike Bishop, and former mayor of East Lansing Mark Meadows.

History

Detroit College of Law

Detroit College of Law opened in 1891 with 69 students and was incorporated in 1893.[8] [9] Among the first class of students to graduate were a future circuit judge and an ambassador.[10] It was the oldest continuously operating independent law school in the United States until it was assimilated by MSU in 1995.[11] [12] [13] The college was affiliated with the Detroit Young Men's Christian Association.[14]

In 1937, the school broke ground and relocated to a new building at 130 East Elizabeth Street in Detroit, where it stayed until 1997. The Building was designed by architect George DeWitt Mason.[15] It had been located at the former Detroit College of Medicine building on St. Antoine Street from 1892 to 1913; and the Detroit "YMCA" building from 1913 to 1924; the ground on which the building stood was under a 99-year lease from the YMCA.[13] [16] The last location of the Detroit College of Law in Downtown Detroit is commemorated by a plaque at Comerica Park, the home stadium of the Detroit Tigers baseball team, which now occupies the site.[17] [18]

Affiliation with Michigan State University

The college became affiliated with Michigan State University in 1995 to enhance the college's curriculum and reputation.[19] It relocated to East Lansing in 1997, when its 99-year lease with the Detroit YMCA expired, and the original building was demolished to make way for Comerica Park. The newly located college was called "Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University". The affiliation was celebrated at a function where former President and Michigan native Gerald Ford joined more than 2,500 guests at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts Great Hall. Ford characterized the affiliation between Michigan State University and the Detroit College of Law "a bold new venture" that presents "a singular opportunity to help shape the changing face of American legal education well into the next century." In April 2004, the school changed its name to the MSU College of Law, becoming more closely aligned academically with MSU. MSU Law is currently fully integrated as a constituent college of the university: academically, financially, and structurally.

Joan Howarth began her deanship at Michigan State University College of Law on July 1, 2008 and was the first female dean in MSU Law's 117-year history. Beforehand, she was a professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, since 2001.[20] She retired at the end of the 2015-16 school year.[21] Lawrence Ponoroff became the Dean in the fall of 2016, and he served in that role until the end of December 2019. On October 26, 2018, MSU's board of directors voted to fully integrate the College of Law into the University, thereby completing its transition from a private, independent institution to a public law school. At the time, Dean Lawrence Ponoroff said, "Since the original affiliation in 1995, the relationship between the university and the law college has grown increasingly closer and, at each stage, resounded in benefits to both institutions." The full integration was undertaken in order to facilitate collaboration between the law school and other divisions of MSU, opening up development in core areas of curricular strength such as social justice; innovation and entrepreneurship; and business and regulatory law.

Melanie B. Jacobs, professor of law, was then appointed as the law college's interim dean, beginning in January 2020[22] and under her tenure, the integration of the College of Law into the University was completed on August 17, 2020.[23] On June 1, 2021, Linda Sheryl Greene became Dean and MSU Foundation Professor of Law, and is the Inaugural Dean of the College of Law. Dean Greene (a noted scholar in constitutional law, civil rights law and sports law) was previously the Evjue-Bascom Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[24] Dean Greene stepped down as dean in January 2024, since which Michael Sant'Ambrogio has served as interim dean.[25]

Admissions

For the class entering in 2023, MSU Law accepted 39.37% of applicants, with 35.37% of those accepted enrolling. The average enrollee had a 159 LSAT score and 3.55 undergraduate GPA.[26]

Academic programs

MSU Law also houses the Center for Law, Technology & Innovation (CLTI), formerly named the ReInvent Law Program, and LegalRnD; the Indigenous Law & Policy Center (ILPC); the Geoffrey N. Fieger Trial Practice Institute (TPI); and The Indigenous Law Program.

Academic journals and publications

Law journals at the law school are nationally ranked and include:

Additionally, the school also publishes Spartan Lawyer, the law college's bi-annual magazine.[29] Formerly, the school published the Journal of Business & Securities Law.[30]

Bar examination passage

In 2022, the overall bar examination passage rate for the law school’s first-time examination takers was 77.46%. The Ultimate Bar Pass Rate, which the ABA defines as the passage rate for graduates who sat for bar examinations within two years of graduating, was 88.26% for the class of 2020.[4]

Notable faculty

Current

Former

Notable alumni

Judges

Politicians

Public figures

References

Further reading

External links

42.7257°N -84.4734°W

Notes and References

  1. As of June 30, 2021. MSU Common Investment fund (cif) Report and Comparative Endowment Performance . MSU Common Investment fund . June 30, 2020 . March 21, 2021.
  2. Web site: Michigan State University Standard 509 Information Report to ABA 08-24-2019 . abarequireddisclosures.org . American Bar Association . 24 August 2019.
  3. News: Michigan State University Law School Overview . U.S. News & World Report.
  4. Web site: Michigan State University - 2021 First Time Bar Passage . abarequireddisclosures.com . American Bar Association . 10 March 2024.
  5. Web site: Best Law Schools Ranked in 2023 . usnews.com . U.S. News & World Report LP . 7 August 2023.
  6. Web site: W&L Law Journal Rankings 2022. 16 March 2024 . managementtools4.wlu.edu . Washington and Lee University School of Law.
  7. Web site: EMPLOYMENT SUMMARY FOR 2022 GRADUATES . abarequireddisclosures.org . American Bar Association . 10 March 2024.
  8. Book: Education Work of the Young Men's Christian Association . 14 . Department of the Interior Bureau of Education Bulletin 1923 . 7 . William F. . Hirsch . Washington, D.C. . Government Printing Office .
  9. Web site: Detroit Institute of Technology, Detroit, Michigan 1891-1982 . lostcolleges.com.
  10. News: MSU Law Dedicates College of Law Plaza . . November 13, 2015 . Sheila . Pursglove.
  11. JOURNAL ARTICLE: Raising and Leveling the Bar: Standards, Access, and the YMCA Evening Law Schools, 1890-1940 . Dorothy E. . Finnegan . . 55 . 1/2 . March–June 2005 . 208–233 . Association of American Law Schools. 42893900 .
  12. Web site: History . Michigan State University College of Law . January 15, 2015.
  13. Web site: Detroit College of Law Informational Site . City of Detroit Planning and Development Department . January 15, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060926185942/http://www.detroitmi.gov/historic/districts/detroit_law.pdf . September 26, 2006 . dead .
  14. News: DETROIT COLLEGE OF LAW SUES YMCA IN TRUST DISPUTE . June 3, 1996 . Eric . Freedman . The YMCA's involvement with DCL dates back to when it operated DCL, from 1915 to 1940. YMCAs also ran 10 other law schools across the country, an outgrowth of its pioneering activities in higher education. Ties were severed in 1940 under pressure from the bar association, which was unhappy with financial interdependence between law schools and noncollege entities, which could divert law-school revenue. The bar association also conditioned DCL's accreditation on maintaining a separate operation and organization. . Crain's Detroit Business.
  15. Web site: Exterior sketch of the Y.M. C. A. College of Law. . Photograph . Written on photo front: "1931, Detroit Y.M.C.A. College of Law, Construction Started 11/6/36, George D. Mason & Co., Architects, 440." Written on photo back: "D/Architecture-Mason & Rice Colln. #1, Detroit College of Law." . Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library.
  16. Web site: Detroit College of Law moves to Elizabeth Street 1937 . January 15, 2015.
  17. Web site: Detroit College of Law Elizabeth Street Building historical picture. January 15, 2015.
  18. Web site: 1701.org . Detroit, the History and Future of the Motor City. Detroit College of Law Historical Marker, 130 Elizabeth Street on the exterior wall of Comerica Park behind right field . January 15, 2015.
  19. News: The Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University: Two Institutions One Vision . Kristan . Tetens . MSU Alumni Magazine . Fall 1998 . January 17, 2014.
  20. Web site: Joan W. Howarth. MSU College of Law . 2007. January 25, 2010.
  21. Web site: New Deans. LSJ . 2015. September 23, 2015.
  22. Web site: 2022-03-28 . The University of Louisville Names New Dean of Brandeis School of Law . 2022-10-08 . Diverse: Issues In Higher Education . en-us.
  23. Web site: History: Michigan State University College of Law . 2022-10-08 . www.law.msu.edu.
  24. Web site: New MSU College of Law Dean Linda Greene Wants Graduates to "Make a Difference" . White . Russ. June 1, 2021 . MSU Today with Russ White . 90.5 WKAR-FM . June 3, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210601155333/https://www.wkar.org/post/new-msu-college-law-dean-linda-greene-wants-graduates-make-difference#stream/0 . June 1, 2021. live.
  25. Web site: https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2023/michael-santambrogio-to-be-recommended-as-interim-dean-of-college-of-law.
  26. Web site: Michigan State University Temple - 2023 Standard 509 Information Report . abarequireddisclosures.org . American Bar Association. March 4, 2024.
  27. Michigan State International Law Review . Michigan State International Law Review . March 4, 2019.
  28. Animal and Natural Resource Law Review . Animal and Natural Resource Law Review . March 4, 2019.
  29. Web site: Spartan Lawyer . March 4, 2019.
  30. Journal of Business & Securities Law . Journal of Business & Securities Law . March 4, 2019.
  31. Web site: Professors Emeriti . Stetson University College of Law . May 31, 2019.
  32. https://cap-press.com/authors/2483/Bradford-Stone Bradford Stone.
  33. https://www.law.msu.edu/faculty_staff/daniel.barnhizer.pdf Daniel D. Barnhizer, Bradord Stone Faculty Scholar
  34. https://www.micourthistory.org/justices/alton-davis/ Alton Davis
  35. Book: The Book of Detroiters: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men of the City of Detroit. 266. Google Books. 1914 . . Chicago . 2nd . English . Marquis . Albert Nelson.
  36. News: Meet Ivan Boesky, The Infamous Wall Streeter Who Inspired Gordon Gekko . Myles . Meserve . . July 26, 2012 . September 15, 2019.

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