Marquette University Law School

Marquette University Law School
Established	1892
School type	Private Catholic, Jesuit
Dean	Joseph D. Kearney
Location	Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Enrollment	743
Faculty	94
Website	law.marquette.edu
ABA profile	Marquette Law School Profile

Marquette University Law School (Marquette Law or MULS) is the law school of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is one of two law schools in Wisconsin and the only private law school in the state.

Marquette Law traces the school's history to 1892. Since 1924 its home has been Sensenbrenner Hall, but in 2010, the Law School opened its new, $85 million Eckstein Hall building in downtown Milwaukee.

Overview

Marquette University Law School, MU Interchange

Marquette is a Catholic institution operated by the Jesuits. Its law school's mission includes a commitment to the Jesuit idea of cura personalis ("care of the entire person"), a duty to promote diversity, and a goal of encouraging its "students to become agents for positive change in society."

As of 2011, the school has 743 students and 94 faculty members and administrators, including 35 full-time, six "other full-time," 11 deans, librarians, and others who teach, and 42 part-time. For the fall 2011 entering J.D. class, there were 213 enrolled students (188 full-time and 25 part-time).

Wisconsin, unique among American states, allows graduates of accredited law schools within the state to be admitted to the Wisconsin state bar without taking the state's bar examination if they complete certain requirements in their law school courses and achieve a certain level of performance in those courses, a practice known as the "diploma privilege."

Facilities

In September 2010, the Law School opened its $85 million Eckstein Hall building in downtown Milwaukee. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia made remarks at a September 8, 2010 dedication ceremony. The new building was largely funded by a $51 million donation from Ray and Kay Eckstein, a $5 million donation by Joseph Zilber, and $1 million gift by the Bradley Foundation. Joseph Zilber and Sheldon Lubar contributed $30 million and $2 million, respectively, to fund scholarships, research and Law School programs.

Eckstein Hall is located on the eastern end of the Marquette campus, two blocks from the Milwaukee County Courthouse and a mile from the Federal Courthouse. The building is 200,000 square feet and is four stories tall. The hall includes a four-story "library without borders," two mock courtrooms, a four-story atrium (the Zilber Forum), a cafeteria, a workout facility, a conference center, classrooms and faculty offices. The classrooms were all designed as "smart classrooms" with projectors, cameras, audio recording, and individual microphones built into classroom seating.

Degrees and curriculum

Fourth Floor of Eckstein Hall

Marquette University Law School offers two degrees, the Juris Doctor (J.D.), the largest program, and the LL.M in Sports Law program, for foreign attorneys only. The school's National Sports Law Institute, established in 1989, is affiliated with the LL.M. program and also conducts other activities.

The school has five clinical programs as of spring 2012: Mediation Clinic, Unemployment Compensation Advocacy Clinic, Restorative Justice Clinic (part of the Marquette University Law School Restorative Justice Initiative), Prosecutor Clinic (placement at the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office), and Public Defender Clinic (placement in the Trial Division of the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office in Milwaukee). Marquette ranked #6 in alternative dispute resolution programs according to the 2011 U.S. News and World Report rankings.

Marquette offers seven joint degree programs: J.D./M.B.A. and J.D./M.B.A. in Sports Business (with the College of Business Administration); J.D./M.A. in Political Science and J.D./M.A. in International Affairs (with the Department of Political Science); J.D./M.A. in Bioethics from the Medical College of Wisconsin; J.D./M.A. Social and Applied Philosophy and J.D./M.A. History of Philosophy (with the Department of Philosophy).

History

Aitken Reading Room

Marquette University Law School was born out of Marquette University's 1908 acquisition of the Milwaukee Law Class and the Milwaukee University Law School. First known as the Marquette University College of Law, the school added a day division to the two predecessors' evening programs. The first dean was James Graham Jenkins, a retired judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. In 1916, the first edition of the Marquette Law Review was published, and in 1923, the college's name was changed to Marquette University Law School. A year later, the school moved into Sensenbrenner Hall. A law review article at the time described the building's interior: "four large lecture rooms and a large Moot Court room" and a "third floor [to] be occupied entirely by the library capable of holding 50,000 volumes." The law school became a member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1912 and received American Bar Association approval in 1925. The evening program was suspended in 1924 as part of the accreditation process, and was not restored for decades.

It was under Dean Robert Boden that the modern law school emerged. He took over as acting dean in June 1965, and served as dean until his death in 1984. During those nearly 20 years, the size of the full-time faculty tripled, the student body nearly doubled, and the law library doubled the size of its collection. Boden also oversaw a significant increase in the physical plant of the law school, making two major additions to Sensenbrenner Hall. Moreover, in January 1968, the law library moved into the newly constructed Legal Research Center, appended to the west side of Sensenbrenner Hall. The move was managed by Professor Mary Alice Hohmann, the first woman to teach a law course at MULS.

In fall 2010, the school moved into the new Eckstein Hall. The school also recently received the two largest gifts in its history: $51 million from alumni Ray and Kay Eckstein for Eckstein Hall, and $30 million from real estate developer Joseph Zilber, the bulk of which will endow scholarships. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia spoke at the September 8, 2010 dedication ceremony.

Statistics

Eckstein Hall with the Milwaukee County Courthouse in the background.

For the fall 2011 entering J.D. class, there were 213 enrolled students (188 full-time and 25 part-time). The age range was 19-53, with the average age being 25. The median undergraduate GPA of incoming students was 3.35 (with the 25th percentile being 3.03 and the 75th percentile at 3.55) and the median LSAT score was 157 (with the 25th percentile being 154 and the 75th percentile at 159). Some 56 percent of students were Wisconsin residents. In total, 35 states were represented, plus Canada. There were 95 undergraduate institutions and 51 undergraduate majors represented. Five percent of the class has an advanced degree. The Law School's websites lists some 40 student organizations.

In its 2011 report to the ABA, Marquette stated that nine months after graduation, 88.0 percent of students were employed, 2.9 were pursuing graduate degrees, and 7.7 percent were unemployed. Of those employed, 76.6 percent were employed in Wisconsin, and the remainder were employed in 16 other states. One graduate (0.5 percent) was employed outside the United States. Of those employed, 62.5 percent worked in law firms, 13.6 percent in business and industry, 7.6 in government, 6.0 percent in public interest, 6.0 percent as judicial clerks, and 4.3 percent in academic.

In 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranked the law school 95th in the nation.

Tuition for the law school is $37,570 for full-time J.D. students and $21,750 for part-time J.D. students; in a typical year some one-third of students receive merit-based scholarships.

Media

Marquette University Law School publishes four law journals: the flagship Marquette Law Review, the Marquette Sports Law Review (sports law), the Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review (intellectual property law) and the Marquette Elder's Advisor (elder law). The Marquette Sports Law Review was the first biannual scholarly journal devoted entirely to issues in sports law. The Marquette Elder's Advisor, established in 1999, is one of only two student-edited elder law reviews in the nation.

The Marquette Law Review was established in 1916 and is published quarterly. As of 2011, it ranked 99th among student-edited general law journals in a combined score based on citation impact-factor and currency-factor. Among specialized student-edited law journals, the the Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review ranks 133rd, the Marquette Sports Law Review ranks 231st, and the Marquette Elder's Advisor ranks 310rd under the same citation-impact methodology. Among student-edited intellectual property law journals, the Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review ranks 27th of 49 in a combined impact-factor and currency-factor score. Among arts, entertainment, and sports law journals, the Marquette Sports Law Review ranks 10th of 25 in a combined impact-factor and currency-factor score.

By arrangement with the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, MULS faculty and students edit the FDCC Quarterly, a practitioners' journal for attorneys who defend clients in cases involving torts, products liability, environmental law, and other civil claims.

Mike Gousha, Distinguished Fellow in Law and Public Policy, hosts On the Issues with Mike Gousha, an interview program that presents national and local public figures before an audience of faculty and students.

Deans

• Joseph D. Kearney, 2003–present
• Howard B. Eisenberg, 1995–2002
• Frank DeGuire, 1984–1994
• Robert F. Boden, 1965–1984
• Reynolds C. Seitz
• Francis X. Swietlik
• Clifton Williams
• Max Schoetz, 1916–1927
• James Graham Jenkins, 1908–1915

Notable faculty

Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, Jurisprudence Professor

• Daniel D. Blinka, evidence and criminal law scholar, voted "Best Law Professor" in Wisconsin in 2009 and 2010 Blinka and fellow professor Hammer co-author a digest of the decisions from the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Wisconsin Court of Appeals for Wisconsin Lawyer, the magazine of the state bar association.
• John A. Decker, former Chief Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
• Russ Feingold, former U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, appointed Visiting Professor of Law in 2011
• Janine P. Geske, former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice and practitioner and scholar of restorative justice
• Joan F. Kessler, Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
• Charles B. Schudson, former Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
• Bud Selig, current Commissioner of Major League Baseball, appointed adjunct professor in sports law and policy.

Notable alumni

See also: List of Marquette University alumni‎

Marquette Law's alumnus (1935) U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy

Government and Politics

• John B. Bennett, Member of Congress (MI)
• Gerald J. Boileau, Member of Congress (WI)
• Raymond Cannon, Member of Congress (WI)
• James P. Daley, Brigadier General, National Guard
• Laverne Dilweg, Member of Congress (WI)
• Gerald T. Flynn, Member of Congress (WI)
• John Gower, Wisconsin State Assembly
• Stewart G. Honeck, Attorney General of Wisconsin
• Charles Kersten, Member of Congress (WI)
• Donald A. Manzullo, Member of Congress (IL)
• Joseph McCarthy, United States Senator (WI)
• Martin J. Schreiber, Governor of Wisconsin
• Lawrence H. Smith, Member of Congress (WI)
• Thaddeus Wasielewski, Member of Congress (WI)

Judiciary

• James Waldo Ackerman, judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
• Thomas Cane, judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
• Robert C. Cannon, judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
• Thomas Curran, judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
• Louis J. Ceci, justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
• John L. Coffey, judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Patricia S. Curley, judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
• William H. Dieterich, justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
• James E. Duffy, Jr., justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court
• James Randall Durfee, judge of the U.S. Court of Claims
• Terence T. Evans, judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• John P. Foley, judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
• Noel Peter Fox, judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
• Janine Geske, justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
• William C. Griesbach, judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
• Leo B. Hanley, justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
• Robert W. Hansen, justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
• Daniel L. LaRocque, judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
• Neal Nettesheim, judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
• John C. Shabaz, judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
• Harry G. Snyder, judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
• J.P. Stadtmueller, judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
• Roland J. Steinle, justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
• Patrick Thomas Stone, judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
• Diane S. Sykes, judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Robert Tehan, judge of the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
• Clair H. Voss, judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
• Ted E. Wedemeyer, Jr., judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
• James A. Wynn, Jr., judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Annette Ziegler, justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court

Academia

• Aaron Twerski, rabbi and former dean of the Hofstra University School of Law

External links

• Official website