The ''Michigan Law Review'' is an American

law review A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also pro ...

and the flagship law journal of the University of Michigan Law School.

History

The ''Michigan Law Review'' was established in 1902, after Gustavus Ohlinger, a student in the

Law Department Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

(now the Law School) of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, approached the dean with a proposal for a law journal. The ''Michigan Law Review'' was originally intended as a forum in which the faculty of the Law Department could publish its legal scholarship. The faculty resolution creating the ''Michigan Law Review'' required every faculty member to submit two articles per year to the new journal. From its inception until 1940, the ''Michigan Law Reviews student members worked under the direction of faculty members who served as

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

. The first of these was Floyd Mechem, the last Paul Kauper. In 1940, the first student editor-in-chief was selected. During the years that followed, student editors were given increasing responsibility and autonomy; today, the ''Michigan Law Review'' is run with no faculty supervision. The current editor-in-chief is Dashaya Foreman. Day-to-day production operations are overseen by the current managing editor, Nia Vogel, and executive production editor, Michaela Olson. Seven of each volume's eight issues ordinarily are composed of two major parts: "Articles" by legal scholars and practitioners and "Notes" written by the student editors. One issue in each volume is devoted to book reviews. Occasionally special issues are devoted to symposia or colloquia.

Rankings

In 2016, PrawfsBlawg ranked the ''Michigan Law Review'' as the sixth best law journal by weighing its Google Scholar Metrics law journal ranking, US News Peer Reputation Ranking, US News Overall Ranking, and the W&L Combined Ranking. Based on data from 2009 through 2016, Washington and Lee University School of Law ranked the ''Michigan Law Review'' as the seventh best law journal. According to Google Scholar Metrics, the ''Michigan Law Review'' was the seventh best law journal in 2015 and the sixth best law journal in 2014. According to Washington and Lee University School of Law's Law Library, the ''Michigan Law Review'' is the seventh most cited law journal in academic works, being cited in journals 3888 times between 2009 and 2016, and the sixth most cited law journal by courts, being cited in 128 cases between 2009 and 2016. As of 2012, the ''Michigan Law Review'' has published 4 of the 100 most cited law journal articles of all time—the fifth highest of any law journal. Of the 95 articles that constitute the 5 most cited law journal articles from each year between 1991 and 2009, 9 of them were published by the ''Michigan Law Review''—the 5th most of any law journal.

Significant articles

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notable alumni

Steven G. Bradbury Steven Gill Bradbury (born September 12, 1958) is an American attorney and government official who served as the General Counsel of the United States Department of Transportation. He previously served as Acting Assistant Attorney General (AAG) f ...

, former head of the

Office of Legal Counsel The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is an office in the United States Department of Justice that assists the Attorney General's position as legal adviser to the President and all executive branch agencies. It drafts legal opinions of the Attorney ...

* David W. Belin, assistant counsel to the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States Pr ...

* Francis X. Beytagh, former dean, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law *

Charles Blakey Blackmar Charles Blakey "Charlie" Blackmar (April 22, 1922 – January 20, 2007) was a judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri from 1982 to 1992, and chief justice of the court from 1989 to 1991. Blackmar was appointed to the court by Governor Kit Bond. ...

, former Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri *

Michael T. Cahill Michael T. Cahill is a law professor, and the Dean and President of Brooklyn Law School. He is also the former co-Dean of Rutgers Law School. Biography Raised in Pompton Plains, New Jersey, Cahill graduated from Pequannock Township High School ...

, Dean of

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty. Brookly ...

* Ann Coulter, conservative commentator, author, and syndicated columnist *

George E. Cryer George Edward Cryer (May 13, 1875 – May 24, 1961) was an American lawyer and politician. A Republican, Cryer served as the 32nd Mayor of Los Angeles from 1921 to 1929, a period of rapid growth in the city's population. During his administr ...

, former mayor of

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David M. Ebel David Milton Ebel (born June 3, 1940) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Education and Legal Training Born in Wichita, Kansas, Ebel received a Bachelor of Arts degree from North ...

, judge,

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Dist ...

Harry T. Edwards Harry Thomas Edwards (born November 3, 1940) is an American jurist and legal scholar. He is currently a Senior United States Circuit Judge and chief judge emeritus of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Was ...

, former Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit * Heidi Li Feldman, law professor *

Jeffrey L. Fisher Jeffrey L. Fisher (born 1970) is an American law professor and U.S. Supreme Court litigator who has argued forty-three cases and worked on dozens of others before the Supreme Court. He is co-director of the Stanford Law School Supreme Court Litig ...

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

litigator *

Heather K. Gerken Heather Kristin Gerken (born ) is an American legal scholar who serves as the Dean of Yale Law School, Dean and Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law at Yale Law School, where she teaches election law and runs the San Francisco Affirmative Litiga ...

, dean,

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

* Ronald Gould, judge,

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Robert Jerry Robert "Bob" H. Jerry, II (born 1953) is the former dean of the University of Florida's Levin College of Law, serving from 2003 to 2014. He succeeded Jon Mills, who stepped down and returned to the University of Florida's law faculty. Jerry became ...

, dean of the

University of Florida Levin College of Law The University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida, and second oldest overall ...

Alex Joel Alexander W. Joel is the first Civil Liberties Protection Officer for the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. He was appointed to the position by Director John Negroponte on December 7, 2005. Biography Alex Joel entered publ ...

, first Civil Liberties Protection Officer for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence *

Sally Katzen Sally Katzen (born November 22, 1942) is an American lawyer, legal scholar, and government official. Katzen was a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project's Agency Review Working Group responsible for the Executive Office of the President and ...

, former administrator of OIRA * W. Wallace Kent, former judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit * Bob Kimball, former president and CEO of

RealNetworks RealNetworks, Inc. is a provider of artificial intelligence and computer vision based products. RealNetworks was a pioneer in Internet streaming software and services. They are based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The company also p ...

Dave Kopel David B. Kopel (born January 7, 1960) is an American author, attorney, gun rights advocate, and contributing editor to several publications. As of August 2021, he is research director of the Independence Institute, associate policy analyst at t ...

, conservative pundit and blogger * Jeffrey P. Minear, counselor to

Chief Justice John Roberts. * Ronald L. Olson, "name partner" in the Los Angeles office of the law firm of

Munger, Tolles & Olson Munger, Tolles, & Olson LLP (MTO) is a Californian law firm with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Charles Munger founded the firm in 1962 along with six other attorneys. Legal practice Munger, Tolles & Olson is know ...

LLP *

Doug Pappas Doug Pappas (1961–2004) was a baseball writer and researcher who was considered a foremost expert on the business of baseball. Pappas was a graduate of the University of Chicago (1982) and the University of Michigan Law School (1985), where he ha ...

, baseball writer and researcher who was considered the foremost expert on the business of baseball * John Porter, former

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Daniel Tarullo Daniel K. Tarullo (born November 1952) is an American law professor who served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 2009 to 2017. Tarullo concurrently served as the chairman of the Federal Financial Institutions Examinatio ...

, member of the Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

David Westin David Lawrence Westin is anchor of ''Bloomberg: Balance of Power'' and ''Bloomberg Big Decisions'' on Bloomberg Television. Previously, he was an anchor on ''Bloomberg Daybreak Americas'' and ''Bloomberg GO'' which ''Daybreak'' replaced. He has a ...

, President of

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

* James D. Zirin, lawyer, writer and cable TV talk show host

Parody

The ''Michigan Raw Review'', a parody of the ''Michigan Law Review'', was published annually by the Barristers Society, a self-styled honorary at the University of Michigan Law School. The ''Raw Review'' used the same cover, layout, and typeface, but contained content totally dissimilar, leaning to the "insulting and semi-pornographic".Swift, Theodore W., "There's a unicorn in the garden", ''Law Quadrangle Notes'' (Fall, 1981)
Reprinted in Frazier, Richard, ''Let the Record Show'', Michigan State University Press, (1997), p. 284.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.michiganlawreview.org/ American law journals General law journals Publications established in 1902 University of Michigan Monthly journals English-language journals 1902 establishments in Michigan Law journals edited by students University of Michigan Law School