Michigan State University College of Law | |
Parent school | Michigan State University |
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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.
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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]
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]
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