The University of Michigan

by Wilfred Byron Shaw

Never has a law school started under more favorable auspices, certainly never with such a Faculty. To the learning and personal character, as well as to the ability as teachers, of these three men thousands of graduates of the School ascribe their remarkable success in later life. Judge Campbell, the first Dean, was characterized by his wide, accurate, and scholarly knowledge; while the refinement of his literary style and his stimulating personality made him one of the most delightful of lecturers. Professor Walker was the type of man who was willing to sacrifice one day a week out of a large and remunerative practice for the education of young men in his profession. His interests extended beyond his legal labors, for he was well known through his scholarly investigations in the early history of the State. His courses, which might so easily have been perfunctory, were on a par with those of his distinguished confrères, stimulating and profound and sometimes punctuated with a dry wit, well illustrated by his epigram that "some men live by their practice and some by their practices."

Thomas M. Cooley, the youngest one of this group and the only one to make his home in Ann Arbor, probably, in his later years, gave more distinction to the University than any other teacher upon its long rolls. He became known, not only nationally but internationally, for his great work on "Constitutional Limitations" which will probably always be the standard work on the American Constitution. This appeared in 1868. He was also the author of many other books, including a "History of Michigan." During his service of twenty-one years on the State Supreme Bench, the Court acquired a national reputation. At the time of his death he was a member of the first Interstate Commerce Commission. His home, which stood on the site the Union now occupies, and which for nine years was used as the Union Club House, was long a center of the intellectual and social life of Ann Arbor. One of his pupils, William R. Day, '70, now of the United States Supreme Court, says of him: "Here was a man of world-wide fame as a jurist—the author of a book which is at once the greatest authority upon the subject of constitutional limitations upon our government, and a classic in legal literature—whose recreations seemed to consist in change of occupation, and whose energies seemed never to tire."

The enrolment in the new school grew with even greater rapidity than had that of the Medical School during its first years. By 1911 the Law School, as it came to be known after 1910, had given 9,041 degrees, almost equaling the 9,225 granted up to that time by the Literary College and more than double the 4,260 degrees granted by the Medical School. The balance of attendance, however, has been with the Literary College since 1897, when the requirement in the Law School was increased to three years. It must be understood, too, that any comparison of this character between the Law and the Literary Departments can only be on a quantitative basis, for the traditional four years' work had always been demanded in the Literary College; whereas in early days, the law course consisted only of two terms of lectures of six months each, with only one requisite for admission; that the candidates should be eighteen years of age and of good moral character. Nevertheless these early students stood well in respect to ability, some "were already practising lawyers, and others were on the verge of being admitted to the bar"; men who came to take advantage of the lectures before entering definitely upon practice. Only seniors were quizzed, but they were quizzed on junior as well as senior subjects, while at the end an oral examination was given. If this ordeal was passed satisfactorily and an acceptable thesis presented, the candidate received his LL.B.

Professor Hinsdale in his "History," in speaking of these earlier years, said: "A feebler organization and a looser administration could hardly have held the School together. Indeed, if the mark of a school is to be found in organization and administration, then this was hardly a school at all; but if such mark is to be found in the ability of teachers, the value of the instruction given, and the enthusiasm of students, it was a school of high order. In a word, it was the Professors and the conditions, not organization, administration, and discipline, that made the School what it was."

Since 1877, when it was announced that students henceforth were expected to be well grounded in at least a good English education, the requirements in the Law School have been gradually raised; in fact one may almost trace the reflection of the increasing requirements in the fluctuating attendance. Following a requirement that an examination in ordinary high school branches must be passed by all students except those who had completed a high school course, the standard of admission was made in 1898 the same as for the admission to the old B.L. course in the Literary Department. In 1884 the two annual terms which had heretofore made up the course were lengthened from six to nine months; and in 1886 a graduated course of instruction was introduced, resulting in the separation of the two classes which, up to that time, had always recited together. In 1895, after due notice, a third year was added.

The last and perhaps most far-reaching steps in the history of the Law School were taken in 1912, when one year in the Literary College was required, and in 1915, when another year was added, making the law course one of five years. Other significant advances have also been made of late years; the establishment of the special degree of J.D. (Juris Doctor) for exceptional students, and particularly the addition of an optional sixth year of special studies for those who wished to carry their work further, leading to the degree of Master of Laws.

With these changes in the requirements has come also a revolution in methods of teaching and even in the fundamental policies of the School. There are three methods ordinarily applied in teaching law; the lecture, the textbook, and the study of selected cases. The early courses were almost entirely lectures, textbooks not appearing until 1879, while the study of cases, used somewhat even at the very first, has now become the principal method of establishing legal principles. The question is largely one of the aim of a school, whether to make the student familiar with the actual rules and practice in the different parts of the country so that he will be able to take up his profession, if only in a limited way, at once; or whether to emphasize fundamental principles and the evolutionary character of the law, which can best be discovered from the study of decisions and cases, in order to prepare for the far more significant and useful career open to one who has the background, as well as the ordinary rules of law, upon which to base his actions. President Hutchins, when Dean of the Law School, emphasized this when he said: "The Law School of today should teach and should encourage the study of law in its larger sense." This policy has been consistently developed by the present Dean, Henry M. Bates, '90, who not only insists on the higher mission of the Law School in this regard but also believes it "must not only train men to be effective lawyers adhering steadfastly to high ethical standards, but it must also instil into them a strong sense of responsibility to the community, and those ideals of service which are among the oldest and finest but, perhaps, sometimes forgotten traditions of the bar."

The Faculty of the Law School has always remained relatively small in proportion to the numbers of students—largely because of the methods of teaching, and the absence, inherent in the subject, of any laboratory save the practice court. A fourth professorship was created in 1866 and named after the Hon. Richard Fletcher of Boston, who had given his legal library to the University. This was occupied in 1868 by Charles A. Kent, Vermont, '52, who was Dean of the Department at the time of his resignation in 1886. The Fletcher Professorship has been held since 1897 by Judge Victor H. Lane, '74e, '78l. A Tappan Professorship was established in 1879, an honor acknowledged with great pleasure by the first President, then living in Switzerland, and was held for four years by the Hon. Alpheus Felch, Bowdoin, '27, one of the most distinguished citizens of the State, who had served as United States Senator, Governor, and Regent. The Professorship passed eventually to Henry Wade Rogers, '74, afterward Dean of the Yale Law School, and in 1903 to Henry M. Bates, '90. Mr. Walker resigned in 1876 and Judge Cooley in 1884, though the latter continued to give lectures on special subjects and remained on the Faculty as Professor of American History and Constitutional Law. Judge Campbell became the first Dean of the Department but resigned in 1871, when he was succeeded by Judge Cooley. After the latter gave up his active duties Charles A. Kent became Dean, to be followed by Henry Wade Rogers, '74, in 1885; Jerome C. Knowlton, '75, in 1890; and Harry Burns Hutchins, '71, in 1895. The present Dean, Henry M. Bates, '90, succeeded Dr. Hutchins when he was elected to the Presidency of the University in 1910.

The Law Library, which contains over 40,000 volumes, is the largest of the departmental collections. In addition to Judge Fletcher's early gift of eight hundred volumes, two other considerable gifts have added to its resources, the Buhl Collection, presented by Mr. C.H. Buhl of Detroit in 1885, with a fund of $10,000 for additions to it, and the library presented by Judge S.T. Douglas of Detroit in 1898. The Library now occupies a large room at the south end of the second floor of the present Law Building.

The first courses of the Law School were given in the old chapel in the North Wing, or Mason Hall, where the Law Library was installed with the General Library above. This proved a most unsatisfactory arrangement for the growing school and in 1863 a new Law Building was dedicated on the northwest corner of the Campus. This building in turn quickly became inadequate for the needs of the still rapidly expanding department. Some relief was given in 1872 by using the Chapel in the new University Hall, and again in 1882, when the University Library which had been housed up to this time in the Law Building was moved to its new quarters. The Law Building was remodeled and enlarged in 1893 and a second time in 1898, when it was almost completely made over into its present form.