University of Minnesota Law School


The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor, a Master of Laws, a Master of Science in Patent Law, and a Doctor of Juridical Science. The J.D. program offers a number of concentration opportunities, as well as dual and joint degree options with other graduate and professional schools of the university.
Founded in 1888, the University of Minnesota Law School is consistently ranked among the best law schools in America, and was ranked 20th by the 2020 U.S. News & World Report "Best Law Schools" rankings. The law school ranks 17th, tied with Cornell Law School, in graduates securing the most coveted United States Supreme Court clerkships in recent years.
The law school has 604 J.D. students and maintains a 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio. Admission to the law school is highly selective. Half of the Class of 2019 had a GPA above 3.76 and/or an LSAT score above 164. The five-year average bar exam passage rate was 96.91%, one of the highest in the country.
The school's graduates work in all 50 states and 70 countries around the world. The Class of 2015 alone is practicing in 33 states and Washington, D.C. The school's alumni include a former U.S. vice president, the CEO of Marriott International, Minnesota Supreme Court justices, representatives at the U.S. Congress, and leaders of major nonprofit organizations.

Cost of attendance & employment

Tuition for the 2019–2020 academic year are $43,704 for residents and $52,560 for non-residents. Over 95% of the students receive financial aid, including scholarships, to help fund their legal education. Law School scholarships are awarded at the time of admission and range from $5,000 to full tuition. The median starting salary for the 2015 graduates entering the private sector was over $115,000, with 93% of the Class of 2015 known to be employed as of March 2016. The most popular destinations for the 2015 graduates were California, Minnesota, New York, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin.

U.S. Supreme Court clerkships

The law school ranks 17th, tied with Cornell Law School, in graduates securing the most coveted U.S. Supreme Court clerkships in recent years. The list of most recent Supreme Court clerks includes Kyle D. Hawkins, who clerked for Justice Samuel Alito in the 2013 Term, and Amy L. Bergquist, who clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the 2010 Term.

Experiential learning

There are 24 nationally recognized legal education clinics, offering "student attorneys" the opportunity to handle real legal cases under the supervision of teaching attorneys, with over 50 percent of law students participating in at least one clinic program, which is twice the national average. In 2015, the law school's faculty and students, working in the Center for New Americans, took a case all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court and won a landmark decision that changed the law in the area of immigration.
Over 95 percent of second-year J.D. students participate in either a moot court or legal journal, such as the Minnesota Law Review. According to the prestigious law journal rankings recently released by Washington and Lee University School of Law, the Minnesota Law Review, currently celebrating its 100th volume, ranks 9th among all law reviews. Two journals were ranked at the very top in their subject areas: Law and Inequality for family law and the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology for energy law. Law and Inequality has been the highest-ranked family law journal for four straight years. It also ranked 3rd in minority, race and ethnic issues, 7th in gender, women, and sexuality, and 20th in public policy, politics, and the law.
MJLST has been the highest-ranked energy law journal for eight consecutive years. MJLST was also ranked 3rd in health law, 4th in environmental, natural resources, and land use, 8th in science, technology, and computing, and 10th in intellectual property.
The Minnesota Journal of International Law ranked 16th among all international law journals, moving up from 23rd in 2014. The ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law is now ranked 4th for employment law. The law school's faculty-edited journal, Constitutional Commentary, was ranked 2nd in legal history and 9th in constitutional law.
The school's students have won the prestigious Burton Award for Legal Achievement nine times, making the law school one of only seven schools to have received these distinguished writing awards eight or more times.

Current prominent faculty

The University of Minnesota Law School includes some of the most accomplished and influential scholars in the world. The school was ranked 15th among U.S. law schools, tied with the University of Michigan Law School, for the number of times its tenured faculty's published scholarship was cited in legal journals during the period 2010 through 2014.

History

The school was originally housed in Pattee Hall, named after the school's first dean, William S. Pattee, who served from 1888 to 1911. Pattee's personal books become the law library's first collection. In 1928 the school moved to Fraser Hall, named after Prof. Everett Fraser who served as dean from 1920 to 1948. In 1978 the school moved to its present building, originally named the Law Center. In 1999–2001, the law school initiated and completed an expansion of its facilities on the west bank of the university campus. This larger building was renamed Walter F. Mondale Hall in honor of one of its most distinguished alumni, former vice president Walter Mondale.
Along with Harvard Law School, the University of Minnesota Law School founded the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction in 1982. CALI has grown to include the membership of nearly every law school in the US and the organization still has offices at the University of Minnesota Law School.
The law school's 11th dean is Professor Garry W. Jenkins, formerly associate dean for academic affairs at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and chief operating officer and general counsel of the Goldman Sachs Foundation.

Law Library

The Law Library, with over 1 million volumes, is the 7th largest of its kind in the United States. It is open to law students 24 hours a day throughout the year. Of particular note is the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center, which houses one of the top three collections of rare legal texts in the nation. For its millionth volume, the law school acquired the papers of Clarence Darrow.

Study abroad programs

The law school offers a number of study abroad opportunities and, in 2006 opened a summer study program for J.D. students in Beijing. The program was originally conducted with the China University of Political Science and Law, and after two years it was changed to Renmin University in Beijing.
The school also features semester exchange programs with ESADE Faculty of Law in Barcelona, Spain; University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden; Université Jean Moulin in Lyon, France, Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany; University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland, Tilburg University Faculty of Law in Tilburg, Netherlands, Bocconi University in Milan, Italy; and Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany. In Fall 2006, the law school announced a new exchange partnership with the Universidad de Montevideo in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Student life

Musical

An annual highlight for the law school is when the student body puts on its own full-length musical: written, performed, directed and produced by the all-student Theatre of the Relatively Talentless. Begun in 2002, the event draws over a thousand audience members each year and features cameos by distinguished alumni and other distinguished members of the Minnesota legal community. For the 2006 show, "West Bank Story", tickets sold out within three days. Previous shows include: "The Wizard of Fritz" ; "Law Wars" ; "Walter Wonka and the Lawyer Factory" ; "West Bank Story" ; "Frankenlaw" ; "Robin Hood, Esq." ; "It's a Wonderful Law School" ; "A Midsemester Night's Dream" ; "Harry Torter and the Magical Law School" ; "Alawddin: The Tale of 1001 All-Nighters" ; "Back to the Future Interest" ; "Clue: A Murder Mystery in Mondale" ; "Froze-In" ; "Minnesota Jones and the Law School of Doom" ; "The T.O.R.T. Producers" ; and "Top Gunner". T.O.R.T. performed "Tale as Old as Time" March 29 and 30, 2019, at the Pantages Theater in downtown Minneapolis. Participants are known as the TORTfeasors.

Hockey

The Fighting Mondales hit the ice during the season in intramural play, club play and rivalry games. In the fall, the Fighting Mondales participate in the University of Minnesota's intramural season, often playing their games at Mariucci Arena on the U of M campus. In the spring, the Fighting Mondales square off against the hockey teams of the three other law schools in the Twin Cities in an annual competition for the coveted Golden Gavel.

Notable alumni

The law school has about 13,000 living alumni in 50 states and 70 countries, including 275 serving as federal and state court judges nationwide. Perhaps the most famous alumnus of the law school is former Vice President of the United States and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Walter Mondale. The law school's building was renamed Walter F. Mondale Hall in his honor in 2002. His legacy and continued participation in the life of the school earned him a most interesting honor from the school's student-run Law Council: the naming of the mascot of the law school as the "Fighting Mondales." The Law School held the office of Attorney General of Minnesota uninterrupted from another law school from 1929 until 2007.
Other prominent alumni of the school include:
  • Donald D. Alsop, federal judge
  • Ellen Anderson, Minnesota State Senator
  • G. Barry Anderson, Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Paul H. Anderson, Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Russell A. Anderson, former Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Wendell Anderson, former Governor of Minnesota and United States Senator
  • LaRoy Baird, North Dakota State Senator
  • Jack Baker, GLBT activist, first couple to apply for same-sex marriage license in 1970
  • Dean Barkley, former United States Senator
  • Henry N. Benson, former Minnesota Attorney General
  • James H. Binger, former chief executive officer, Honeywell, theater entrepreneur
  • James J. Blanchard, former Governor of Michigan and U.S. Ambassador to Canada
  • Kathleen A. Blatz, former Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Willard L. Boyd, former president, University of Iowa and Field Museum of Natural History
  • Leland Bush, judge of the District Court of Minnesota.
  • Guy Branum, comedian.
  • Nancy E. Brasel, federal judge
  • Myron Bright, former judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • David R. Brink, former president, American Bar Association
  • Harrison A. Bronson, former justice, North Dakota Supreme Court
  • Quentin N. Burdick, son of Usher L. Burdick and former United States Senator
  • Usher L. Burdick, former United States Representative, Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota, and father of Quentin N. Burdick
  • Edward T. Burke, former justice, North Dakota Supreme Court
  • J. A. A. Burnquist, former governor of Minnesota
  • Harlan J. Bushfield, former Governor of South Dakota and United States Senator
  • William Canby, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • Phil Carruthers, former Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives
  • Ray P. Chase, former United States Congressman
  • Satveer Chaudhary, former Minnesota State Senator
  • Theodore Christianson, former governor of Minnesota and United States Congressman
  • Theodore Christianson, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Michael Ciresi, trial lawyer
  • Frank Claybourne, president of the Minnesota State Bar Association and general counsel of the Republican Party of Minnesota
  • Alden W. Clausen, former president, World Bank
  • Laura Coates, legal analyst for CNN
  • Lawrence D. Cohen, former mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota
  • Chris Coleman, Mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota
  • Jay Conison, dean of law, Charlotte School of Law, past dean of law, Valparaiso University
  • Mary Jeanne Coyne, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Charles M. Dale, former Governor of New Hampshire
  • Norris Darrell, former president, American Law Institute
  • Michael J. Davis, federal judge
  • Scott H. DeLisi, United States Ambassador to Nepal
  • John P. Devaney, former Chief Justice of Minnesota
  • Everett Dirksen, former United States Senator
  • Joel Dobris, professor of law, University of California, Davis
  • David S. Doty, federal judge
  • David Durenberger, former United States Senator
  • Judi Dutcher, former Minnesota State Auditor
  • Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General, the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress
  • Franklin Ellsworth, former United States Representative
  • Matt Entenza, former Minnesota House Minority Leader
  • Ralph J. Erickstad, former Chief Justice, North Dakota Supreme Court
  • Joan Ericksen, judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
  • Paul Feinman, judge, New York Court of Appeals
  • Donald M. Fraser, former United States Congressman and Mayor of Minneapolis, son of University of Minnesota Dean of Law Everett Fraser.
  • Orville Freeman, former governor of Minnesota
  • Frank T. Gallagher, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Thomas F. Gallagher, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Sandra Gardebring Ogren, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Ernest Gellhorn, former dean of law, Arizona State University, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Washington
  • James H. Gilbert, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Godfrey G. Goodwin, former United States Representative
  • Thomas Eugene Grady, former justice, Washington Supreme Court
  • Henry Norman Graven, former federal judge
  • Terrance Hanold, former president of the Pillsbury Company
  • Mike Hatch, former Minnesota Attorney General
  • William Hawkland, former chancellor of Louisiana State University
  • Douglas M. Head, former Minnesota Attorney General
  • Gerald Heaney, former judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • Thomas B. Heffelfinger, notable United States Attorney
  • Samuel D. Heins, United States Ambassador to Norway
  • James L. Hetland Jr., former professor of law, University of Minnesota
  • Einar Hoidale, former United States Congressman
  • Melissa Hortman, Minnesota State Representative
  • Marshall Houts, author
  • Hubert "Skip" Humphrey, former Minnesota Attorney General and Minnesota State Senator
  • Natalie Hudson, justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • John Hutson, Dean, University of New Hampshire School of Law and former Judge Advocates General of the Navy
  • Sly James, Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri
  • Scott W. Johnson, conservative blogger
  • B. Todd Jones, Chief Disciplinary Officer, National Football League, former director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota
  • Samuel L. Kaplan, United States Ambassador to Morocco
  • Stephen F. Keating, former president, Honeywell
  • Fallon Kelly, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Roger G. Kennedy, polymath best known for being director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History and director of the National Park Service
  • Janine Kern, justice, South Dakota Supreme Court
  • Katherine Kersten, conservative columnist
  • Ron Kind, United States Congressman
  • Robert Kingsley, former dean, USC Law, and California appellate judge
  • Oscar Knutson, former Chief Justice of Minnesota
  • Richard H. Kyle, federal judge
  • Joan Ericksen Lancaster, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Earl R. Larson, former federal judge
  • Jane Larson, former professor of law, University of Wisconsin–Madison
  • Thomas E. Latimer, former mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • George E. Leach, former mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Harold LeVander, former governor of Minnesota
  • Ernest W. Lewis, former justice, Arizona Supreme Court
  • John Lind, former governor of Minnesota
  • Henry Linde, former North Dakota Attorney General
  • Lee Loevinger, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Miles Lord, former Minnesota Attorney General and U.S. District Court Judge
  • Charles Loring, former Chief Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Ernest Lundeen, former United States Senator
  • William Paul Luther, former United States Congressman
  • Tom McDonald, former U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe
  • Clark MacGregor, former United States Representative
  • George MacKinnon, former judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • Harry H. MacLaughlin, former federal judge
  • Patrick J. McNulty, WWII fighter pilot and former United States Bankruptcy Court judge
  • James Manahan, former United States Representative
  • Carlos Mariani, Minnesota State Representative
  • Harry S. Martin, former librarian and professor of law, Harvard University
  • Edmon Marukyan, member of the National Assembly of Armenia
  • Leroy E. Matson, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Robert W. Mattson, Sr., former Minnesota Attorney General
  • Richard C. Maxwell, former dean of law, UCLA
  • J. E. Meyers, former mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Geoff Michel, Minnesota State Senator
  • Clarence B. Miller, former United States Representative
  • William D. Mitchell, former Attorney General of the United States
  • Richard Moe, former president, National Trust for Historic Preservation
  • Walter Mondale, former Vice President of the United States and United States Ambassador to Japan.
  • Ann D. Montgomery, federal judge
  • Wayne Morse, former United States Senator
  • Mee Moua, former Minnesota State Senator
  • Joe Mullery, Minnesota State Representative
  • Diana E. Murphy, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • Leonard Murray, former president, Soo Line Railroad
  • Grant S. Nelson, former professor of law, UCLA
  • Philip Neville, former federal judge
  • Constance Berry Newman, former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
  • Walter Newton, former United States Representative
  • Gunnar Nordbye, former federal judge
  • Dave Olin, former Minnesota State Representative
  • Julius J. Olson, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • James C. Otis, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Mabeth Hurd Paige, one of the first four-woman elected to Minnesota Legislature in 1923
  • Alan Page, Pro Football Hall of Famer and justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Mary Pawlenty, former First Lady of Minnesota and former judge
  • Tim Pawlenty, president, Financial Services Roundtable and former governor of Minnesota
  • Harry H. Peterson, former Minnesota attorney general and justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court
  • John S. Pillsbury, Jr., former president, Northwestern National Life Insurance Company
  • Maynard Pirsig, former dean, University of Minnesota Law School, former temporary justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, and father of Robert M. Pirsig
  • Daniel D. Polsby, dean of law, George Mason University
  • Albert F. Pratt, former Minnesota Attorney General and member of Minnesota House of Representatives
  • J. A. O. Preus, former governor of Minnesota
  • William Prosser, former dean of law, University of California, Berkeley, author of Prosser on Torts
  • Milton D. Purdy, former federal judge, served on United States Court for China
  • William John Quinn, former president, Milwaukee Road
  • Greg Raymer, 2004 World Series of Poker Champion
  • A. J. Rockne, former Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives and longest serving member
  • Walter F. Rogosheske, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • James M. Rosenbaum, federal judge
  • Edward Rustad, former Minnesota State Senator
  • Millard Ruud, former executive director, Association of American Law Schools and former associate dean of law, University of Texas-Austin
  • Allan Ryan, Director of Intellectual Property, Harvard Business School Publishing, Harvard University
  • Elmer Ryan, former United States Representative
  • Lee Seokwoo, associate professor of law, Inha University and former Research Scholar, Oxford University
  • Irving S. Shapiro, former CEO, DuPont
  • Robert Sheran, former chief justice of Minnesota
  • Harry A. Sieben, former Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives
  • Gerald Edward Sikorski, former United States Congressman
  • Steve Simon, Minnesota State Representative
  • John E. Simonett, former justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Ballard F. Smith, former president, San Diego Padres
  • George Ross Smith, former United States Representative
  • Arne Sorenson, CEO of Marriott International
  • Warren Spannaus, former Minnesota Attorney General
  • Harold Stassen, former governor of Minnesota; former president, University of Pennsylvania
  • Nancy Staudt, dean of law, Washington University in St. Louis
  • Melvin Steen, founding partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
  • Leslie Stein, judge, New York Court of Appeals
  • Robert Stein, former executive director, American Bar Association, former dean, University of Minnesota Law School
  • McCants Stewart, first African American LL.M. recipient, first African American lawyer in Oregon
  • Royal A. Stone, former justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Thomas O. Streissguth, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Edward C. Stringer, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • George F. Sullivan, former federal judge
  • Michael P. Sullivan, former president, Dairy Queen
  • Dave Thompson, Minnesota State Senator
  • Nick Thompson, MMA Fighter
  • John J. Todd, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • John R. Tunheim, federal judge
  • Azhar Usman, Standup Comic
  • Bruce Marion Van Sickle, former federal judge, member of North Dakota House of Representatives
  • Charles Joseph Vogel, former judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • William W. Ward, former member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
  • Charlie Weaver, Jr., former Minnesota state representative, governor's Chief of Staff
  • John Francis Wheaton, first African American graduate, first African American member of the Minnesota Legislature
  • Benson Whitney, former United States Ambassador to Norway
  • Samuel B. Wilson, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • Ryan Winkler, Minnesota State Representative
  • Sandra Casber Wise, former First Lady of West Virginia
  • Michael A. Wolff, former chief justice, Supreme Court of Missouri, present dean of Saint Louis University School of Law
  • Michael W. Wright, former CEO, Supervalu
  • Lawrence R. Yetka, former justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court
  • George M. Young, former United States Representative