The University of Michigan Law School (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.
Widely considered to be one of the most prestigious law schools in the United States, Michigan Law has ranked among the top 14 law schools in the country every year since the U.S News Rankings were first released in 1987. In the 2023 U.S. News ranking, Michigan Law ranked 10th overall.
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 2019 graduates were employed within ten months of graduation; its bar passage rate in 2018 was 93.8%.
The school enrolls about 1020 students and employs about 81 full-time faculty members (60 tenured and tenure-track and 21 in clinical and legal practice).
History
The law school was founded in 1859. By 1870, it was the largest law school in the country.
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.
Although the law school is part of the public University of Michigan, less than 2% of the law school's expenses are covered by state funds. The remainder (97–98% of Michigan Law's budget) is supplied by private gifts, tuition, and endowments.
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. 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. In December 2018, South Hall was renamed Jeffries Hall, after a record $33 million donation from real estate developer Christopher M. Jeffries.
Campus
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 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. 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.
Admissions and 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 at some point been in the top 10 since U.S. News began publishing rankings. In the 2021 U.S. News ranking, Michigan Law is ranked 9th overall. The 2010 Super Lawyers rankings placed Michigan as second. Michigan Law is currently ranked 6th for Clinical Training and 6th for International Law. In a 2011 U.S. News "reputational ranking" of law schools by hiring partners at the nation's top law firms, the University of Michigan Law School ranked 4th. 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 during the period 2010 through 2014.
Admission to Michigan Law is highly selective. For the class entering in the fall of 2021, 819 applicants were accepted out of a total of 7,693, an acceptance rate of 10.65%. Out of those 819 accepted applicants, 313 students enrolled. The 25th and 75th LSAT percentiles for the 2021 entering class were 166 and 172, respectively, with a median of 171. The 25th and 75th undergraduate GPA percentiles were 3.61 and 3.93, respectively, with a median of 3.84.