Thomas M. Cooley Law School
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Thomas M. Cooley Law School, located in Lansing, Michigan, is the largest law school in the United States measured on the basis of both full- and part-time enrollment. Cooley recently completed construction and renovation of its practical and classroom facilities. As a private law school, Cooley is the only law school in Michigan which is not affiliated with a university. The academic credentials of Cooley's faculty are published on the law school's website.
Named to honor the contribution and memory of Thomas M. Cooley, a nineteenth-century jurist and Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court who was prominent both within and outside of Michigan, the law school was established in 1972 by former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas E. Brennan. The law school became fully accredited in 1978 by the American Bar Association. Today, Cooley has satellite campuses in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Rochester, Michigan.
Most students study toward earning the degree of Juris Doctor (J.D.), but Cooley also confers a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) in Tax or in Intellectual Property, and cooperates in offering a joint-degree J.D./Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) program. Cooley operates programs allowing ABA-approved foreign study credit in Toronto, Canada and Australia and New Zealand.
The law school offers clinical programs such as the Cooley Innocence Project, one of several Innocence Projects that are nationally recognized in the U.S. for the help such programs provide to innocent, incarcerated persons in obtaining DNA evidence and legal advocacy to overturn wrongful convictions. Cooley also offers an Elder law clinic, Sixty Plus, Inc., which provides free legal services to area senior citizens.
Cooley is currently the only accredited law school in the U.S. that does not require applicants to hold a bachelor's degree as a prerequisite to admission. The law school has developed a formula and methodology for those wanting to apply without a bachelor’s degree . The law school was the first ABA-accredited law school in the nation to have an officially-recognized weekend program allowing students to earn a law degree by attending class on Saturdays and Sundays only.
Notable current and former faculty
- Spencer Abraham, former U.S. Senator and Secretary of Energy
- Hon. John W. Fitzgerald [link] former chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court
- Richard Henke, American Law Institute Member
- Joe Kimble, Research and Writing scholar and author of Lifting the Fog of Legalese: Essays on Plain Language
- Philip J. Prygoski, Constitutional Law expert and author, American Law Institute Member
- John P. Rooney, Property Law expert
Notable alumni
- Kelly Askin - J. Skelly Wright Fellow - Yale Law School
- Chris Chocola - U.S. Congressman
- John Engler - Former Governor of Michigan
- Bart Stupak - U.S. Congressman
- Steve Stobbs - Associate judge Third Judicial Circuit (Madison County, IL)
Statistics
- President: Don LeDuc
- Accreditations: American Bar Association, Higher Learning Commission, Michigan Department of Education, Michigan Board of Law Examiners
- Motto: In corde hominem est anima legis ("The spirit of the law is in the human heart.")
- Alumni: over 11,000
- Acceptance rate: 41.1%
- LSAT scores (25th-75th percentile): 146-152 [link]
- Average undergraduate GPA: 3.01
- Student to faculty ratio: 23.6 to 1
- Attrition Rate: 1st Year - 23.1%; 2nd Year - 11.4% [link]
- Employment placement rate: 82%, 2005 graduates
- Number of states employed: 33
- Michigan bar exam passage rate: 63%
- Average starting salary: $49,000
- Tuition: $25,950, full time; $15,570, part time
- Percentage of Students Receiving Grants: 55.8%
- 2004-2005 Enrollment: 475, full time; 2,393, part time
- Enrollment by gender: Men: 59%, full time, 50%, part time; Women: 41%, full time, 50% part time
- 64% of the law school's student body are from outside Michigan
- The average indebtedness of graduates who incurred law school debt is estimated at $75,700
Rankings and prestige
- U.S. News & World Report lists Thomas M. Cooley Law School within its lowest (fourth) tier. [link] The top two tiers comprise, in US News' estimation, the top 100 law schools in the nation.
- Thomas M. Cooley Law School publishes its own ranking system via its website in which it ranks itself the 18th best law school in the nation--ranking the law school superior to Stanford Law School and the University of Chicago Law School, among others. [link]
- Thomas M. Cooley Law School was recently selected the 2006 winner of the E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award as selected by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Professionalism, for Cooley's program "Creating a Culture of Professionalism in Law School: The Thomas M. Cooley Law School Experience." [link]
- Thomas M. Cooley Law School has consistently been credited with the status of "the ultimate TTT" on internet message boards such as xoxohth.com, which claim to be the "most prestigious" college admissions discussion board. [link]
The law school's motto
The law school's Latin motto was written during the 1970s by former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas E. Brennan with the help of his pastor at the time. Judge Brennan originally described the meaning as "The spirit of the law is in the hearts of men". Women in a newly-formed female organization called the Cooley Action Team (CAT) brought to his attention that the motto should also refer to "the hearts of women". Justice Brennan responded that based on his Latin experience from high school, the Latin word for men and humankind were identical. [link] Judge Brennan's formulation of the motto remains in place today.
External links
- [Thomas M. Cooley Law School]
- [Thomas M. Cooley Student Portal]
- [Thomas M. Cooley Innocence Project]
- [Common Questions About Cooley Law School]
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