Law School

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Law School History

University of Michigan Law School was established in 1859 and is a public institution. The 2860-acre campus is in a suburban area 45 miles west of Detroit. The primary mission of the law school is to bring human insight to the study of law and its institutions, drawing on the resources of the university and faculty. It seeks to share with its students a knowledge of past and present forms and functions of law, and an engaged understanding of the law’s evolution and future development. Students have access to federal, state, county, city, and local agencies, courts, correctional facilities, law firms, and legal aid organizations in the Ann Arbor area. Other resources come from the school’s integration in an international university. Facilities of special interest to law students include the law libraries, containing study space for each student and extensive mainframe and computer facilities and access to other top departments and schools at the University of Michigan. Housing for students is available at the Lawyers Club; in university family housing; graduate dormitories; and other dormitories as resident advisers. Off-campus housing is also available. All law school facilities are accessible to the physically disabled.

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Law School Academics

In addition to the J.D., the law school offers the LL.M., M.C.L., and S.J.D. Students may take relevant courses in other programs and apply credit toward the J.D.; a maximum of 12 credits may be applied. The following joint degrees may be earned: J.D./M.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Arts in Japanese studies, world politics, Chinese Studies, Modern Middle Eastern and North African Studies, and Russian and East European Studies), J.D./M.B.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration), J.D./M.H.S.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Health Services Administration), J.D./M.P.H. (Juris Doctor/Master of Public Health), J.D./M.P.P. (Juris Doctor/Master of Public Policy Studies), J.D./M.S. (Juris Doctor/Master of Science in natural resources), J.D./M.S.I. (Juris Doctor/Master of Science in Information), J.D./M.S.W. (Juris Doctor/Master of Social Work), J.D./M.U.P (Juris Doctor/Master of Urban Planning), and J.D./Ph.D. (Juris Doctor/Doctor of Philosophy in economics).

The Law School offers concentrations in corporate law, criminal law, entertainment law, environmental law, family law, intellectual property law, international law, juvenile law, labor law, litigation, securities law, sports law, tax law, torts and insurance, civil rights, feminist legal theory, law and literature, psychology, sociology, economic commercial law, Japanese Law, asylum and refugee law, and Chinese law. In addition, upper-class students may take clinical and externship courses for up to 12 hours of credit. Students may elect a civil or criminal concentration. These clinics include Child Advocacy Law Clinic, Criminal Appellate Clinic, Environmental Law Clinic, Mediation, and Pediatric Advocacy. Students must take at least 1 seminar in their second or third year; most recently, 63 seminars were offered. Externships may be arranged for up to 12 hours of credit. Students produce a significant research paper under the supervision of a Michigan Law faculty member, on a subject related to the substantive field of the externship. Under the supervision of a school faculty member, students may pursue up to a total of 6 hours of independent research. The same variety that exists for the law school summer internships exist for pro bono legal work. Students do direct advocacy with a legal aid program, public defender, or a program focusing on one area, such as child advocacy. They also work on public policy issues, such as working with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on its Voting Rights Project, the Sierra Club, or the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights. Special lecture series include the William W. Cook Lecture Series, Thomas M. Cooley Lectureship, Helen L. DeRoy Fellowship, Sunderland Faculty Fellowship, Bishop Lectures, and Dean’s Special Lecture. Study abroad is available at Amsterdam Law School in the Netherlands; Graduate Institute of International Studies (HEI), Geneva; Waseda University Law School, Tokyo; University College in London; Bucerius Law School, Hamburg; Katholiecke University in Leuven, Belgium; the University of Paris II in France; European University Institute in Florence; and the University of Tel Aviv Law School, Israel; special fellowships support student-initiated study for third-year students and recent graduates. Individual tutors are available to any students who request them. The most widely taken electives are Enterprise Organizations, Evidence, and Taxation of Individual Income.

To earn the J.D., candidates must complete 82 total credits, of which 32 are for required courses. They must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0 in the required courses. The following first-year courses are required of all students: an elective, Civil Procedure, Contracts, Criminal Law, Introduction to Constitutional Law, Legal Practice I and II, Legal Practice Skills, Property, and Torts. Required upper-level courses consist of 1 seminar, a course meeting the professional responsibility requirement, and Transnational Law. The required orientation program for first-year students consists of 2 days of presentations by deans, faculty, and upper-class students; tours; information about the school and Ann Arbor; and an introduction to the study of law. On the second day of orientation, new students, along with participating orientation leaders, administrators, and faculty, are brought to various sites in the Ann Arbor and Detroit area to engage in a community service project.

In order to graduate, candidates must have a GPA of 2.0 and have completed the upper-division writing requirement.

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Law School Unique Programs

Library

The law library contains 976,379 hard-copy volumes and 1,620,630 microform volume equivalents, and subscribes to 9071 serial publications. Such on-line databases and networks as CALI, CIS Universe, DIALOG, Infotrac, Legal-Trac, LEXIS, LOIS, Mathew Bender, NEXIS, OCLC First Search, RLIN, WESTLAW, and Wilsonline Indexes are available to law students for research. Special library collections include a depository for U.S. and European Union documents, all documents from U.N. and other supra-national authorities, as well as U.S. state and federal material. There are also extensive special collections in the fields of Roman law, canon law, comparative law, indigenous nations, trials, biography, and legal bibliography. Recently, the library added a rare book room with customized reading space and a new stack area, added 4500 square feet of compact movable shelving, and is in the process of reclassifying the entire collection into the Library of Congress Classification System and revising the website. The ratio of library volumes to faculty is 11,624 to 1 and to students is 851 to 1. The ratio of seats in the library to students is 1 to 74.

Special Consideration

The law school recruits minority and disadvantaged students by reaching out to student populations that are likely to consist of minority or economically disadvantaged students in significant concentrations. Specific means of recruiting minority students include attending minority Law Days, writing to minority students who participate in the candidate referral service, and holding alumni receptions in various nationwide settings. The law school attempts to attract economically disadvantaged students by providing need-based financial aid packages, as well as some merit-based financial aid awards. Requirements are not different for out-of-state students. Transfer students must have one year of credit, have attended an ABA-approved law school, and typically must be in the top 5% to 10% of their first-year class.

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Law School Admissions

In the fall 2007 first-year class, 5675 applied, 1174 were accepted, and 355 enrolled. Seventy-six transfers enrolled. The median LSAT percentile of the most recent first-year class was 97; the median GPA was 3.64 on a scale of 4.0.

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and take the LSAT. No specific undergraduate courses are required. Candidates are not interviewed.

The application deadline for fall entry is February 15. Applicants should submit an application form, LSAT results, transcripts, a personal statement, a nonrefundable application fee of $60, and 1 (although 3 are encouraged) letter of recommendation. Transcripts and LSAT results must be sent via LSDAS. There is an optional supplemental essay. Notification of the admissions decision is on a rolling basis from November. The latest acceptable LSAT test date for fall entry is December at the latest of the calendar year prior to the year in which admission is sought. The law school uses the LSDAS.

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Law School Financial Aid

About 85% of current law students receive some form of aid. The average annual amount of aid from all sources combined, including scholarships, loans, and work contracts, is $38,787; maximum, $57,900. Awards are based on need and merit. Most aid is need-based, but a small number of merit-based grants are awarded each year. Required financial statement is the FAFSA. The aid application deadline for fall entry is rolling. First-year students are notified about their financial aid application at 3 to 5 working days from the admission date or the middle of February, whichever is later.

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Law School Students

About 44% of the student body are women; 27%, minorities; 6%, African American; 13%, Asian American; 6%, Hispanic; and 2%, Native American. The majority of students come from the Midwest (43%). The average age of entering students is 24; age range is 20 to 39.

Students edit the Michigan Law Review, Michigan Journal of International Law, University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Michigan Journal of Gender and Law, Michigan Journal of Race and Law, Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review, and the newspaper Res Gestae. Annual moot court competitions include the Henry M. Campbell Memorial, the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court, and the Client Counseling Competition. Other competitions include the Sexual Orientation Moot Court, National Sports Law Moot Court Competition, and National Environmental Moot Court. Law student organizations include the Environmental Law Society, Law School Student Senate, and Women’s Law Student Association. There are local chapters of Phi Alpha Delta, Phi Delta Phi, and the ABA-Law Student Division.

The law school operates on a traditional semester basis. Courses for full-time students are offered days only and must be completed within 5 years. There is no part-time program. New students are admitted in the fall and summer. There is an 11-week summer session. Transferable summer courses are not offered.