William Mitchell College of Law
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| William Mitchell College of Law | |
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| Motto | Practical Wisdom |
|---|---|
| Established | 1900 |
| School type | Private |
| Dean | Eric Janus |
| Location | St. Paul, Minnesota, United States |
| Enrollment | 1073[1] |
| Faculty | 258 |
| USNWR ranking | Tier 4[2] |
| Bar pass rate | 92.5%[3] |
| Annual tuition | $30,650[4] |
| Homepage | http://www.wmitchell.edu |
William Mitchell College of Law is a law school located in St. Paul, Minnesota. It offers full and part-time legal education in pursuit of the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree. It is accredited by the American Bar Association.
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[edit] History
The law school’s five predecessors (one in St. Paul, four in Minneapolis) were organized between 1900 and 1919 by attorneys who sought to open the doors of the legal profession to men and women, most of whom had to work full time to support themselves and often their families. The schools’ faculties were composed of distinguished judges and lawyers who taught from a sense of duty to the public and the profession.
Accredited by the American Bar Association in 1938, by 1940 the Minneapolis law schools had become one—the Minneapolis-Minnesota College of Law. In 1956, it united with the St. Paul College of Law. The new school was named for Justice William Mitchell of the Minnesota Supreme Court (1881–1899) whose opinions were regarded as models of brevity and sound judicial reasoning.
Despite the school’s modest beginnings, it has produced many outstanding attorneys, judges, and business and civic leaders, among them the 15th Chief Justice of the United States, Warren E. Burger ’31, and the first woman to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court, Rosalie E. Wahl ’67. In addition Harry Blackmun, another U.S. Supreme Court justice was an instructor there.
By 1980 William Mitchell offered daytime classes and the option of full-time enrollment.
In 1990 the law school dedicated the new Warren E. Burger law library, which houses the law school’s growing collection, affords rapid electronic access to thousands of additional documents, and provides quiet, comfortable study spaces for individuals and groups. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor attended the dedication along with Warren Burger.
William Mitchell celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2000.
[edit] William Mitchell Alumni Firsts
The 15th Chief Justice of the United States, Warren E. Burger graduated from William Mitchell in 1931. Chief Justice Burger was the first and only chief justice of the United States from Minnesota. Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Rosalie E. Wahl ’67, was the first woman to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court. Judge Regina M. Chu '80, was the first Asian-American female Minnesota district court judge. Judge Peter S. Popovich '47, was the first Minnesota Court of Appeals chief judge. Lena O. Smith '21, was the first female African-American lawyer in Minnesota. Lori R. Swanson '95 was the first female Minnesota attorney general. Christopher Thao '86, was the first Hmong lawyer in the United States. Hassan Ali Mohamud '02, was the first Somali law graduate in Minnesota.
[edit] Special Programs
All first year students participate in a rigorous and highly praised skills course call Writing & Representation: Advice & Persuasion (WRAP), mastering research, reasoning, and writing skills, client interviewing and counseling, contract negotiation and drafting, dispute mediation, and pretrial litigation.
In the second or third year, students take Writing & Representation: Advocacy, an introduction to researching legislative process, and administrative materials, conducting discovery, examining witnesses, introducing exhibits, making opening and closing statements, and presenting appellate arguments in writing and orally.
The clinical program is designed to offer hands-on experience in practicing law as well as convey the importance of public service. This nationally recognized program was one of the first to be established at a U.S. law school. The legal practicum program provides students the opportunity to work as a two person law firm handling a series of simulated cases, under the supervision of a faculty member and practicing lawyers and judges from the community.
[edit] Consortium for Innovative Legal Education
The college belongs to the Consortium for Innovative Legal Education (CILE) in a partnership with California Western School of Law in San Diego, New England School of Law in Boston, and South Texas College of Law in Houston. CILE is the only consortium program of its kind in the United States, offering students an opportunity to participate in programs and classes at any of the other three CILE law schools. There are summer foreign programs in Galway, Ireland; London; and the island nation of Malta, and semester abroad programs in Aarhus, Denmark and Leiden, the Netherlands.
[edit] Alumni
More than 10,000 alumni, representing all 50 states and 19 foreign countries. Alumni are partners in all of Minnesota's 75 largest law firms. More than 100 Minnesota judges have graduated from William Mitchell.
Mitchell alumnus Eric Magnuson ’76 named Minnesota Supreme Court chief justice. Eric J. Magnuson ’76 has been appointed as the new Minnesota Supreme Court chief justice by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. He will replace Chief Justice Russell Anderson who is retiring in June.
[edit] Centers and Institutes
Center for Elder Justice & Policy: The Center for Elder Justice & Policy is unique in its collaborative approach to providing advocacy groups with resources, technology, and information critical to creating efficiencies in helping seniors and their families. It serves as a conduit for moving knowledge from an academic setting into the hands of policymakers and advocates who are shaping the very nature of elder law and policy in the coming decades. With a focus on education, research, and public service, the center supports William Mitchell’s rich elder law curriculum, which is one of the most comprehensive in the nation.
Center for Negotiation & Justice: The Center is a collaboration between expert negotiation practitioners and leading scholars in conflict and dispute resolution. The Center’s mission is to explore, develop, and advance the connection between principled negotiation and social justice advocacy, combining these two critical disciplines into a focused study and practice using negotiation as a means of promoting social justice.
Intellectual Property Institute: The Intellectual Property Institute at William Mitchell College of Law is engaged in the rigorous exploration of the balance between privately owned and publicly shared innovation to help ensure the best overall outcomes for our society.
National Security Forum: The National Security Forum is a national resource at a time when national security issues are front-page news. Join the experts as they examine the balance between safety and liberty in an exciting series of events and seminars.
Rosalie Wahl Legal Practice Center: This is the center of William Mitchell's clinic, externship, and skills programs. Warm and inviting, the center is a working law office complete with a study area, computer research space, interview rooms where students can counsel clinic clients, conference rooms, and faculty offices. Here students are also introduced to advanced computerized filing, document assembly, and case management systems. We are a leader in devoting such extensive space and expert faculty to our skills and clinic curriculum.
Tobacco Law Center: The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, headquartered at William Mitchell College of Law, invited prominent national and international tobacco control experts, lawyers, and scholars who hold opposing views about the impact of expansive new smoke-free policies on autonomy, privacy, confidentiality, personal liberty, and public health to a half-day symposium on the law school’s St. Paul campus.
[edit] William Mitchell in the News
The William Mitchell Law Review is the most frequently cited legal journal in Minnesota by U.S. judges and is increasingly cited by other legal journals across the country, according to recent rankings of 1,431 U.S. journals by Washington and Lee University Law School. http://www.wmitchell.edu/news/articles/default.asp?articleId=11511
William Mitchell is one of only three law schools in the country that refuses to let military recruiters on campus in protest against The Solomon Amendment. [1]
[edit] Trivia
William Mitchell has an intermural hockey team, the mascot of which is the "Fighting Eelpout."[5] Rumor has it that then Governor Jesse Ventura, who was a guest on campus, was asked by a student what he should name the school's hockey team, and Ventura suggested the "Fighting Eelpout."
Northwestern College of Law, a predecessor to William Mitchell College of Law, was located at 12 S 6th Street in Minneapolis.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes and explanations
- ^ The William Mitchell Student - Student Profile - William Mitchell College of Law
- ^ Search - Law - Best Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report
- ^ William Mitchell’s bar pass rate second in state - Mitchell News - William Mitchell College of Law
- ^ Tuition & Financial Aid - William Mitchell College of Law
- ^ Event Details - William Mitchell College of Law
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