The Michael E. Moritz College of Law is the professional graduate

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

of the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

land-grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. Founded in 1891, the school is located in Drinko Hall on the main campus of the Ohio State University in Columbus. The school is

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

and is a charter member of the

Association of American Law Schools The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 176 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non ...

. According to the Moritz College of Law's official 2016 ABA-required disclosures, 77% of the Class of 2016 obtained full-time, long-term, bar passage-required employment nine months after graduation, excluding solo-practitioners. This ranked Moritz 24th in the United States and 1st in Ohio for job placement of recent law graduates.

History

Page Hall at Ohio State University (16992738975)

The board of trustees of the

officially sanctioned a law school in June 1885 after approving a resolution introduced by trustee Peter H. Clark, an early African-American civil rights activist. However, it was not until October 1891 that the law school was formally opened to 33 students, including 1 woman, in the basement of the second Franklin County Courthouse.

Marshall Jay Williams Marshall J. Williams (February 22, 1837 – July 7, 1902) was a Republican politician in the U.S. State of Ohio who was in the Ohio House of Representatives and was a judge on the Ohio Supreme Court 1887–1902. Marshall J. Williams was born on ...

, a Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court served as the first dean of the law school and lectured for two years before resigning in 1893. In 1896, the University elevated the law school to its present-day College of Law status. In 1903, the College of Law moved to Page Hall, its first permanent building on the main campus of the University (now home to the

John Glenn College of Public Affairs The John Glenn College of Public Affairs is a public policy and management school at Ohio State University. The Glenn College offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs in public affairs. The Glenn College provides research, training and ...

), named in honor of Henry F. Page, a prominent Ohio attorney who had left his estate to the University. Over the next four decades, the College of Law experienced rapid growth under the successive leadership of deans William F. Hunter, Joseph H. Outhwaite,

John Jay Adams John J. Adams (1860–1926) was an American lawyer and judge. He served as the 5th Dean of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law from 1909 to 1926. Early life Adams was a practitioner at the Muskingum County bar and for six years j ...

and Herschel W. Arant. Today, the College of Law continues its growth in national stature under the successive leadership of deans

Gregory H. Williams Gregory Howard Williams is a scholar, attorney, law school professor, author, and formerly the 27th President of the University of Cincinnati (2009 to 2012) and the 11th President of the City College of New York (2001–2009). Early life and educ ...

, Nancy H. Rogers, Alan C. Michaels, and Lincoln L. Davies. Drinko Hall (2006)

The modern-day building that now houses the Moritz College of Law since 1958, Drinko Hall, is named after internationally known attorney and College of Law benefactor John Deaver Drinko, former Managing Partner of

BakerHostetler BakerHostetler is an American law firm founded in 1916. One of the firm's founders, Newton D. Baker, was U.S. Secretary of War during World War I, and former Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. History , the firm was ranked the 73rd-largest law firm in ...

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. Drinko graduated from the College of Law in 1944 and received a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1991. In 2001, the College of Law received a $30 million donation from benefactor Michael E. Moritz, former partner of

. Moritz received his undergraduate degree from the

Fisher College of Business The Max M. Fisher College of Business is the business school of The Ohio State University, a public research university in Columbus, Ohio. Fisher's campus is located on the northern part of the university within a partially enclosed business ca ...

in 1941 and law degree from the College of Law in 1944, where he graduated at the top of his class. At the time, it was the largest single gift to the

(in 2011, the University received a $100 million gift from

Les Wexner Leslie Herbert Wexner (born September 8, 1937) is an American billionaire businessman, the founder and chairman emeritus of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (formerly Limited Brands). Wexner grew a business empire after starting The Limited, a clothing r ...

). The donation provided full-tuition grants with stipends to 30 law students, 4 endowed faculty chairs, 3 service awards for students, and a fund for use by the dean. The College of Law completed a supplemental campaign to raise an additional $30 million to match Moritz's gift and make further improvements.

Academic reputation

The Moritz College of Law has experienced a significant increase in its academic reputation over the past decade and is now consistently ranked among the top 30 law schools in America. Above the Law ranked the Moritz College of Law as the 26th best law school in America in 2019.

Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...

ranked the Moritz College of Law as the 18th best law school in America and the 5th best public law school in America in 2016. U.S. News & World Report ranked the Moritz College of Law full-time

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

program the 30th best law school in America in 2023 and 1st for dispute resolution in 2015. Further adding to the growing national stature of the Moritz College of Law is the scholarly writings and activities of the Moritz faculty. According to professor

Brian Leiter Brian Leiter (; born 1963) is an American philosopher and legal scholar who is Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Chicago Law School and founder and Director of Chicago's Center for Law, Philosophy & Human Values. ...

's "Scholarly Impact Score," the Moritz College of Law faculty ranks 19th amongst the top 40 law faculties in scholarly impact in 2015, as measured by the amount of law journal citations of Moritz faculty articles over the past five years. In particular, professors

Michelle Alexander Michelle Alexander (born October 7, 1967) is an American writer and civil rights activist. She is best known for her 2010 book '' The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness''. Since 2018, she has been an opinion columnist ...

, noted civil rights activist, and Ruth Colker, the Distinguished University Professor and the Heck-Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law, were amongst the most-cited critical theory law faculty between 2010 and 2014.

Journals

The Ohio State Moritz College of Law publishes five legal journals: * The ''Ohio State Law Journal'' was founded in 1935 as the "Law Journal of the Student Bar Association" and was originally a "section" of the Student Bar Association and funded by student contributions. Robert E. Leach '35, former Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, was the first editor of the Law Journal. Today, the journal is edited by students and publishes six issues each year. In April 2012, OSLJ launched ''Furthermore'', an online supplement to the print version, which in 2019 became ''Ohio State Law Journal Online''. According to

Bepress Bepress is a commercial, academic software firm owned by RELX Group. It began in 1999 as the Berkeley Electronic Press, co-founded by academics Robert Cooter and Aaron Edlin. It makes products and services to support scholarly communication, in ...

and its ExpressO Top 100 Law Review Rankings, the Ohio State Law Journal is the most popular law review accessed by authors on its online submission delivery service for legal scholars. *The ''Ohio State Technology Law Journal'' (published semiannually; interdisciplinary journal focused on the intersection of technology and the law; faculty-edited in collaboration with student editors). *The ''Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution'' (sponsored quarterly journal of the

focusing on

alternative dispute resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...

; student-edited; founded in 1985). *The ''Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law'' (published semiannually; peer-evaluated, faculty-student cooperative venture). *The ''Ohio State Business Law Journal'' (published semiannually; student run; focuses on legal issues facing entrepreneurs, small business owners, and venture capitalists).

Moot Court & Lawyering Skills Program

The Moot Court & Lawyering Skills Program includes intramural competitions and inter-scholastic teams covering various areas of the law. The Moot Court and Lawyering Skills Governing Board is responsible for organizing and administering four intramural competitions: the Herman Moot Court Competition, Colley Trial Practice Competition, the Representation in Mediation Competition, and the Lawrence Negotiations Competition. The Moot Court Board is a student-run organization that oversees and assists various Moot Court teams that compete nationally against other schools.

Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies

The

Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies The Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies (CILPS) at the Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law The Michael E. Moritz College of Law is the professional graduate law school of the Ohio State University, a public land-grant ...

carries out research dealing with critical contemporary policy issues. Three areas are of particular interest: *Law and humanities, focusing on legal history and culture. *Law, policy, and social sciences, focusing on empirical research, judicial behavior, and policy influences. *Law and the information society, focusing on privacy, security, E-government, and E-democracy.

Post-graduation employment

According to the College of Law's official 2016 ABA-required disclosures, 77% of the Class of 2016 obtained full-time, long-term, bar passage-required employment nine months after graduation, excluding solo-practitioners. Moritz College of Law ranked 24th out of 201 ABA-approved law schools in terms of the percentage of 2016 graduates with non-school-funded, full-time, long-term, bar passage required jobs nine months after graduation. The College of Law's

Law School Transparency Law School Transparency (LST) is a nonprofit consumer advocacy and education organization concerning the legal profession in the United States. LST was founded by Vanderbilt Law School graduates Kyle McEntee and Patrick Lynch. LST describes its m ...

under-employment score is 8.5%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2015 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation. 97% of the Class of 2015 was employed in some capacity while 1% were pursuing graduate degrees and 2% were unemployed nine months graduation.

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

was the main employment destination for 2015 Moritz College of Law graduates, with 77% of employed 2015 graduates working in the state.

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at the College of Law for the 2014–2015 academic year is estimated at $49,496 for Ohio residents and $64,448 for non-residents. Moritz College of Law's in-state tuition and fees on average increased by 5.73% annually over the past five years while its non-resident tuition and fees on average increased by 3.55% over the past five years. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $185,780. The average indebtedness of the 87% of 2013 College of Law graduates who took out loans was $97,624.

Scholarships

Moritz Scholars

The Moritz Merit Scholarship Fund was established in 2001 by Michael E. Moritz '61. The Scholarship is designed to attract and train a select group of students with outstanding academic and personal histories in a variety of areas including academia, business, law, government, and public interest. In recent years, the Moritz family has criticized Ohio State for using the scholarship fund to pay for fundraising.

Barton Scholars

The Robert K. Barton Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 1968 by golf legend and Ohio State University alumnus

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

. The Scholarship was established in memory of his good friend and Moritz College of Law alumnus Robert K. Barton '62, one of central Ohio's top amateur golfers and law partner of former Ohio Governor and fellow Moritz alumnus John W. Bricker. Barton, his wife Linda, and another couple were killed when their private plane crashed en route to watch Nicklaus play in the 1966 Masters Tournament.

Notable faculty

The Moritz College of Law has 80 faculty members. Notable current and former faculty members include: *

, human rights advocate and author of '' The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness'' * Christopher M. Fairman, former C. William O'Neill Professor in Law and Judicial Administration * Edward Foley, theorist of the

blue shift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase in fr ...

and former Ohio Solicitor General *

E. Gordon Gee Elwood Gordon Gee (born February 2, 1944), known as E. Gordon Gee, is an American academic. As of 2020, he was serving his second term as Chancellor (education), President of West Virginia University; his first term was from 1981 to 1985. Gee has ...

, President Emeritus * Joan Krauskopf, Professor Emeritus of Law of the Moritz College of Law * Alan C. Michaels, Dean and Edwin M. Cooperman Chair in Law *

Mary Ellen O'Connell Mary Ellen O'Connell is the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame Law School and a research professor of international dispute resolution at Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace in Studies. Since j ...

, former William B. Saxbe Designated Professor of Law in the Moritz College of Law * John Quigley, President's Club Professor Emeritus of Law * Nancy H. Rogers, Dean, Emeritus Michael E. Moritz Chair in Alternative Dispute Resolution and Ohio Attorney General * Peter M. Shane, Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law * Philip C. Sorensen, Professor Emeritus of Law and 27th Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska * Peter Swire, former C. William O'Neil Professor in Law and Judicial Administration

Notable alumni

George Voinovich, official photo portrait, 2006

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law has approximately 10,000 alumni across the United States. Selected notable alumni include: * John W. Bricker (1920), 54th Governor of Ohio and United States Senator from Ohio; proposed

Bricker Amendment The Bricker Amendment is the collective name of a number of slightly different proposed amendments to the United States Constitution considered by the United States Senate in the 1950s. None of these amendments ever passed Congress. Each of them ...

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

* John W. Creighton Jr. (1957), President and CEO of the Weyerhaeuser Company * Ann Donnelly (1984), United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York *

Bruce Downey Bruce Downey is the former chairman and CEO of Barr Pharmaceuticals (bought by Teva Pharmaceuticals) and in 2009 became a partner at New Spring Capital, a venture capital firm. Career Downey began his career in the Honors Program of the U.S. ...

(1973), Chairman and CEO of Barr Pharmaceuticals * Robert Duncan (1952), first African-American United States District Judge for Ohio and Ohio Supreme Court Justice *

William Miller Drennen William Miller Drennen ( in Jenkins, Kentucky – ) was a Judge of the United States Tax Court who served from 1958 to 1992. Drennen earned a bachelor's degree in 1936 and a law degree in 1938 from Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. D ...

(1938), Chief Judge of the United States Tax Court *

Israel Moore Foster Israel Moore Foster (January 12, 1873 – June 10, 1950) was a Republican Representative in the United States Congress from the state of Ohio, serving three terms from 1919 to 1925. Biography Born in Athens, Ohio, Foster attended the publi ...

(1898), United States Congressman from Ohio; proposed

Child Labor Amendment The Child Labor Amendment is a proposed and still-pending amendment to the United States Constitution that would specifically authorize Congress to regulate "labor of persons under eighteen years of age". The amendment was proposed on June 2, 1 ...

William Isaac William M. "Bill" Isaac (born 1943 in Bryan, Ohio) was the Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from August 3, 1981 through October 21, 1985. He was appointed to the FDIC Board of Directors by President Jimmy Carter in 19 ...

(1969), Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation * Robert E. Leach (1935), Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court * Yvette McGee Brown (1985), first African-American female justice of the Ohio Supreme Court *

Howard Metzenbaum Howard Morton Metzenbaum (June 4, 1917March 12, 2008) was an American politician and businessman who served for almost 20 years as a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate from Ohio (1974, 1976–1995). He also served in the Ohio House ...

(1941), United States Senator from Ohio; introduced

WARN Act The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (the "WARN Act") is a U.S. labor law that protects employees, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60 calendar-day advance ...

Nick Mileti Nick James Mileti (born April 22, 1931) is an American author, retired lawyer, former businessman, sports entrepreneur and former sports franchise owner who was, during the 1970s, the owner of the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Cavaliers, Clevelan ...

(1956), founder and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and owner of the Cleveland Indians * Erin Moriarty (1977), Emmy Award-winning journalist for CBS News and 48 Hours * Thomas J. Moyer (1964), Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court * William Moore McCulloch (1925), United States Congressman from Ohio; key supporter of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

* Willian Natcher (1933), longest-serving United States Congressman from Kentucky;

Presidential Citizens Medal The Presidential Citizens Medal is an award bestowed by the President of the United States. It is the second-highest civilian award in the United States and is second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Established by executive order on Nov ...

recipient *

C. William O'Neill C. William O'Neill The Supr ...

(1942), 59th Governor of Ohio and Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court *

Michael Oxley Michael Garver Oxley (February 11, 1944 – January 1, 2016) was an American Republican politician and attorney who served as a U.S. Representative from the 4th congressional district of Ohio. Early life and career Oxley was born in Findl ...

(1969), United States Congressman from Ohio; introduced

Sarbanes–Oxley Act The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 is a United States federal law that mandates certain practices in financial record keeping and reporting for corporations. The act, (), also known as the "Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protecti ...

* Donald Clinton Power (1926), Chairman and CEO of GTE Corporation *

Brian Sandoval Brian Edward Sandoval (; born August 5, 1963) is an American politician, academic administrator, and former federal judge who served as the 29th Governor of Nevada from 2011 to 2019. A graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, Sandoval began ...

(1989), 29th Governor of Nevada and United States District Judge for the District of Nevada *

William Saxbe William Bart Saxbe ( ; June 24, 1916 – August 24, 2010) was an American diplomat and politician affiliated with the Republican Party, who served as a U.S. Senator for Ohio, and was the Attorney General for Presidents Richard M. Nixon and ...

(1948), 70th United States Attorney General and United States Senator from Ohio *

Don W. Sears Don W. Sears (1921-2007) was the eighth Dean and Professor Emeritus of Law at the University of Colorado Law School. Sears was also a two-time recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his military service during World War II. Military s ...

(1948), Dean and Professor Emeritus of Law at the

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Zack Space Zachary T. Space (born January 27, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician and the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2007 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. After serving in Congress, Space became a lobbyist and ...

(1986), United States Congressman from Ohio *

Jeffrey Sutton Jeffrey Stuart Sutton (born October 31, 1960) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Early life and career Sutton received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history fr ...

(1990), United States Court of Appeals Judge for the Sixth Circuit * Gregory J. Vincent (1987), President of Hobart and William Smith Colleges *

George Voinovich George Victor Voinovich (July 15, 1936June 12, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 1999 to 2011, the 65th governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998 and the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989, th ...

(1961), 65th Governor of Ohio and United States Senator from Ohio

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moritz College Of Law Law schools in Ohio Educational institutions established in 1891 Colleges, schools, and departments of Ohio State University 1891 establishments in Ohio