Michigan State University College of Law

Michigan State University College of Law
Parent school	Michigan State University
Established	1891
School type	Independent, non-profit corporation
Parent endowment	US $1.449 billion[1]
Dean	Joan W. Howarth
Location	East Lansing, Michigan, United States
Enrollment
Faculty
Website	MSU Law

The Michigan State University College of Law is a private law school located in East Lansing, Michigan which is affiliated with Michigan State University. 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.

History and background

The Law College Building.

The college opened in 1891 with 69 students and was incorporated in 1893. It is the oldest continuously operating independent law school in the United States.

The college's first home was in the Detroit College of Medicine building from 1892 to 1913. From 1913 to 1924 it was housed in the YMCA building. In 1935 the college broke ground for a new building at 130 E. Elizabeth Street.

Among the first class of 69 students to graduate were a future circuit judge and an ambassador. A woman in the first class and an African American in the second were precursors of the Law College’s commitment to excellent educational opportunity for all sectors of the population.

The college became affiliated with Michigan State University in 1995 to take advantage of enhanced facilities and association with a Big Ten institution. It relocated to East Lansing in 1997, when the original building was demolished to make way for Comerica Park. The association between the two schools has led to a comprehensive interdisciplinary legal education program at the law college. Today, the college remains one of only two independent law schools to be affiliated with a research university.

In April 2004, the school changed its name to the MSU College of Law, becoming more closely aligned academically with MSU. Although it operates as a constituent college of the university, the college of law remains financially independent and receives no state or university funding.^[2]

Joan Howarth began her deanship at Michigan State University College of Law on July 1, 2008. Howarth is the 11th dean and first female dean in MSU Law’s 117-year history. Howarth had been a professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, since 2001.^[3]

The college is nationally ranked within the Best Law Schools in U.S. News and World Report, currently sitting at the 95th spot. ^[4]. The Michigan State Law Review is ranked 54 out of 312 by Washington & Lee University School of Law, which is the main leading source for law journal rankings.^{[5] [6]}

Academic journals and publications

Law journals at the law school include: Michigan State Law Review^[7] (the flagship journal), Michigan State Journal of International Law,^[8] Journal of Medicine and Law,^[9] Journal of Business & Securities Law,^[10] and Journal of Animal Law.^[11] All of these journals are nationally ranked.^[12] Additionally, the school also publishes Amicus, the law college's tri-annual magazine.^[13]

Clubs and school organizations

• ABA - Law Student Division Representative
• Alternative Dispute Resolution Society
• American Constitution Society
• Asian Pacific American Law Student Association
• Black Law Students Association
• Books to Prisoners
• Business Law Society
• Canadian Student Legal Association
• Chinese Legal Society
• Christian Legal Society
• Conservative Law Society
• Defense of the Wrongfully Convicted
• Delta Theta Phi
• Environmental Law Society
• Family Law Society
• Federalist Society
• Hispanic Law Society
• Intellectual Property Law Society
• International Law Society
• J. Reuben Clark Law Society
• Jewish Legal Society
• Labor and Employment Law Association
• Law and Economics Society
• Medical-Legal Society
• Moot Court & Trial Advocacy Board
• MSU Law Ice Hockey Club
• Muslim Law Students Association
• Native American Law Students Association (NALSA)
• O.W.L.S. (Older and/or Wiser Law Students)
• Phi Alpha Delta
• Public Interest Law Society
• Res Ipsa (Student Newspaper)
• Spartan Law Students Society
• Sports and Entertainment Law Society
• St. Thomas More Society
• Student Animal Legal Defense Fund
• Student Bar Association
• Tax and Estate Planning Society
• Tau Epsilon Rho Law Society
• Trial Advocacy Society
• Triangle Bar
• Wolverine Student Bar Association/Black Law Student Association
• Women's Law

Notable alumni

• Dennis Archer '70 ^[14]
• Mike Bishop '93
• Ivan Boesky '65
• Ella Bully-Cummings '98
• Judge Alton T. Davis '74 – Judge on Michigan Court of Appeals^[15]
• Barb Dempsey '78
• Chief Judge George C. Edwards, Jr. '44 ^[16]
• Geoffrey Fieger '79 – former Michigan gubernatorial candidate.
• Judge Bernard A. Friedman '68 ^[17]
• Clifton E. Haley '61 ^[18]
• Kwame Kilpatrick '00
• Mark Meadows '75 – Current State Representative and former East Lansing mayor ^[19][20]
• Judge Dennis F. Murphy '80 ^[21]
• Lowell W. Perry '60
• David Safavian '93
• Brian Sims '04 – President of Equality Pennsylvania, Chairman of the Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia (GALLOP), won 2010's Top 40 LGBT Attorneys Under 40 in the U.S.^[22]
• Richard Fred Suhrheinrich '63

References

1. ^ As of June 30, 2010."U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2010 Endowment Market Value and Percentage Change in Endowment Market Value from FY 2009 to FY 2010" (PDF). 2010 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments. National Association of College and University Business Officers. http://www.nacubo.org/Documents/research/2010NCSE_Public_Tables_Endowment_Market_Values_Final.pdf. Retrieved February 17, 2010. 
2. ^ "MSU law school name change reflects integration and collaboration". MSU. 2004. http://news.msu.edu/story/491/. Retrieved 2010-02-20. 
3. ^ "Joan W. Howarth". MSU College of Law. 2007. http://www.law.msu.edu/faculty_staff/profile.php?prof=602. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
4. ^ http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings/page+4
5. ^ http://lawlib.wlu.edu/lj/index.aspx?mainid=187
6. ^ http://www.law.msu.edu/news/2011/releases/LawReview-Ranking.html
7. ^ Michigan State Law Review
8. ^ Journal of International Law
9. ^ Journal of Medicine and Law
10. ^ Journal of Business & Securities Law
11. ^ "MSU Law: Student Organizations". MSU College of Law. 2008. http://www.law.msu.edu/students/student_orgs.php. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
12. ^ "Law Journals: Submissions and Ranking". Washington and Lee University School of Law. 2010. http://lawlib.wlu.edu/LJ/index.aspx. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
13. ^ "MSU Law: Amicus". 2009. http://www.law.msu.edu/amicus/. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
14. ^ "Dennis W. Archer, Chairman Emeritus". Dickinson Wright PLLC. 2009. http://www.dickinson-wright.com/AttorneyProfile,ArcherDW.html. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
15. ^ "Fourth District Judges". Michigan Court of Appeals. 2009-12-03. http://coa.courts.mi.gov/court/judges/district/d4judges.htm#ATD. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
16. ^ "George C. Edwards Jr. Papers". Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University. 2010. http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/node/1295. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
17. ^ "Judges of the United States Courts: Friedman, Bernard A.". Federal Judicial Center. http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=800. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
18. ^ "Clifton E. Haley". MSU College of Law. 2007. http://www.law.msu.edu/faculty_staff/profile.php?prof=77. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
19. ^ "Mark S. Meadows". Willingham & Coté, PC. 2008. http://www.willinghamcote.com/bios/meadows.html. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
20. ^ "Biography: State Representative Mark Meadows". Michigan House Democrats. 2010. http://069.housedems.com/biography/. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
21. ^ "Biographical Information: Hon. Dennis F. Murphy, Trial Judge". 46th Circuit Trial Court. http://www.circuit46.org/c46/c46_bio_info.html#murphy. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
22. ^ http://www.lgbtbar.org/Under40.html

External links

• Michigan State University College of Law official site