Michlgran Universily Lawo School

LAW SCHOOL BUILDING.

LAW SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN.

BY HENRY WADE ROGERS, Dean of the Department of Law of ttheUniversity of Michigan.

ception of the period in which he served the HEthe University two largest of Michiganuniversities is inone theof country as Minister to China, and more re- United States, and this position it has at- cently while he was acting as a member of tained within a comparatively few years. In the Fishery Commission intrusted with the June, 1887, it celebrated its semi-centennial ; delicate duty of attempting an adjustment of and the University Calendar this year issued the difficulties existing between the United shows a Faculty roll of one hundred and States and Great Britain. He has the satis- eight professors, instructors, and qssistants, faction of knowing that during his admin- as well as the names of eighteen hundred istration the University of Michigan has and eighty-two students. Harvard Univer- grown from an institution with eleven hun- sity, founded in 1636, and the oldest institu- dred and ten students and a Faculty roll of tion of learning in the country, celebrating thirty-six, to its present proportions. its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary The founders of the State of Michigan in November, i886, leads it in numbers and their descendants have kept in sacred by only seventeen students. In 1871 the remembrance that memorable article in the Hon. James 13. Angell, LL.D., became Ordinance of 1787, which proclaims that, President of the University of Michigan, "religion, morality, and knowledge being and from that time to the present has con- necessary to good government and the hap- tinued to act in that capacity, with the ex- piness of mankind, schools and the means 26

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 189 1889 I90 The Green Bag. of education shall forever be encouraged;" shaped the educational policy of the State of thirty years and the authorities of the University have Michigan, in that they consented in their inscribed those words in glowing letters on ago to establish a School of Law it is matter for their University Hall. This was fitting, for State University. Not that consent the sentiment is the corner-stone on which astonishment that the State should of physicians the whole University has been reared. It to tax itself for the education in tax- was founded by the State and is maintained and lawyers. If the State is justified people for public education, if it can by the State, but its students come from ing the teach the scholar to read the every quarter of the globe. During the tax them to analyze the present year its students are drawn from languages of other peoples, to the story of thirty-five of the thirty-eight States and structure of the flowers, to read rocks, no one from five of the Territories, as well as from the earth as written upon the the physi- England, Germany, Russia, Japan, Turkey, should, question its right to teach lawyer to ad- Italy, Hungary, New Zealand, Porto Rico, cian to heal the sick, and the of his Nova Scotia, Hawaiian Islands, Manitoba, vise the citizen for the protection The Province of Quebec, Province of Ontario, rights to life, liberty, and property. and Mexico. State is a means to an end. It is charged and The University of Michigan is composed with the protection of the public health, its citizens of a College of' Liberal Arts, termed the it exists to protect the rights of of justice, Department of Literature, Science, and the and to secure the administration pos- Arts ; a School of Law; two Schools of But the administration of justice is only Medicine,-the Department of Medicine and sible when'there exists a body of men trained made com- Surgery or "regular" school, and the Ho- in a knowledge of the laws, and mceopathic Medical College ; a School of petent to administer them as judges on the Pharmacy; and a College of Dental Surgery. bench, and as lawyers at the bar to ad- The Department of Literature, Science, and vise the court and counsel the oppressed. the Arts was first established, but its devel- If the State can teach anything more than opment was slow. Even in i85o the Board the elementary branches at public expense, of Visitors in an official report declared that it certainly should be able to teach a knowl- there were only fifty students at that time in edge of the law. But the wisdom of the actual attendance in that Department. In people of Michigan in establishing a law 185o the Department of Medicine and Sur- school is seen when we reflect that they dis- gery was established, and in 1859 the De- carded the old notion that the place to learn partment of Law. The opening of these law is in a lawyer's office, rather than in a Departments, although so late in accomplish- University. A law school was established ment, was in accordance with the original because it was thought that there the law plan drafted by the first Superintendent of could best be learned. Public Instruction in Michigan. It is a sig- Profess'r Bryce, in his " American Com- nificant fact, which has been commented on monwealth," comments on "the extraordinary more than once, that the establishment of excellence of many of the law schools" of the Schools of Law and of Medicine con- the United States, and adds: " I do not know tributed much to a rapid increase in the if there is anything in which America has number of students in the Department of advanced more beyond the mother country Literature, Science, and the Arts. than in the provision she makes for legal If we keep in mind the ideas which have education." The compliment is not unde- prevailed until recently in reference to legal served; for every one knows, who knows education, we shall be impressed by the wise anything about the history of legal educa- almost foresight and liberal views of the men who tion, that England has been behind

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 190 1889 Hicgaul Universily Law SC/ool. '9' every civilized country of the world in awak- was represented there. The fact is, and has ening to a realization of the fact of the ne- been for centuries, that in most of the coun- cessity and advantages of schools of law. tries of Europe men enter the profession of Even Japan has a law school in which a the law through the Universities. But as thousand students are to-day engaged in recently as 1850, when Professor Amos came studying the English system of jurispru- to the chair of English Law in the famous old dence. Upon the continent of Europe the University of Cambridge, the class of Eng- law school has always been deemed indis- lish Law in that institution could be counted pensable. Bologna, now the most ancient on the fingers of one hand. It consisted of

THOMAS M. COOLEY.

University in existence, was originally purely one A.M., one A.B., and two undergraduates. a law university, and law so predominated Of course the Inns of Court constituted a there that students of arts and of medicine species of law school, and date back to an were admitted only by enrolment in the law early period in English history, - that of Lin- university, and on swearing obedience to its coln's Inn to the time of Edward II., and officers. Padua was likewise originally a that of Gray's Inn to the time of Edward 111. law university, as were all the other Italian They were moreover well attended, as we Universities with the possible exception of learn from Chancellor Fortescue. But they Salerno and perhaps Perugia. In France, were a poor apology for the modern law Orleans, Bourges, and Poitiers are said to school as we know it in the United States have been tdistinctively law universities; or as it is known in Germany. In the Inns while Paris was distinctively a philosophi- of Court young men "dined " themselves cal and theological university, although law into the profession. Within the last ten

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 191 1889 192 The Green Bag.

Walker. Judge years there has been a marked change of V. Campbell, and Charles I. other gentle- sentiment in England in the matter of legal Cooley lived at Ann Arbor ; the Ar- education, and law has now gained a proper men resided in Detroit, coming to Ann lectures. recognition in the English Universities. bor from time to time to deliver their If the United States are distinguished The Faculty organized on Monday, Oct. 3, dean, and from England in the excellence of their 1859, by electing Judge Campbell -for had not at that time law schools, it is nevertheless true that Mr. Cooley he bench of the Supreme the American law school is comparatively been advanced to the Faculty. On the a late development. 'The American lawyer, Court -Secretary of the Campbell de- trained under the English system of juris- afternoon of that day Judge in the Presby- prudence and familiar with the English ideas livered the opening address and the as to legal education, for a long time thought terian Church, before the law'class taking for his theme " The that law could best be learned in a law office. public generally, time the Law The result was that medical and divinity Study of the Law." At that own, and the schools both won their place before law School had no building of its schools were able to gain recognition. The regular lectures of the school were delivered of what is now medical profession were the first to establish in a room on the lower floor Hall. professional schools in the United States, a known as the north wing of University the law students as a body school of medicine having been opened in The first lecture to on Tues- Philadelphia in 1765, five others being estab- was delivered by Professor Walker was "The lished before i8oo. While the first divinity day, October 4, and his subject from the Law school was not opened until 1804, by 1812 Advantages to be expected Conducting it." the leading denominations had established School, and the Mode of next, day by a their distinctive theological seminaries. Al- This was followed on the the "Law of Personal though a law school was founded at Litch- lecture from him on under field, Conn., in 1784, it existed as the solitary Property;" and the work was fairly first lecture was institution of its kind in the United States way. Professor Cooley's 6, the subject being until 1817, when the Harvard Law School delivered on October was established. And in 1859, when the " The Origin of Title to Real Estate in Campbell's on Law Department of the University of Michi- America ;" and Professor gan was opened, there were few law schools October IO, " The History of the Com- in the United States, although to-day there mon Law as connected with the Equitable first moot-court case are fifty such schools, located in different Jurisdiction." The Cooley parts of the country. Under all the circum- was heard on October 13, Professor stances, therefore, the people of Michigan, in sitting as judge. be- establishing thirty years ago a Law School From the time the work of the school given to as a State institution, are entitled to com- gan (in 1859) to i886, instruction was of the mendation. As a matter of fact, however, both classes in common, the Calendar course of in- the Michigan Law School has not been a University stating that "the terms has been carefully burden to the tax-payers of the State. It struction for the two students to has not only paid its own way, but has actu- arranged with a view to enable stage of their studies, ally made money for the State. And in this enter profitably at any lec- respect, at least, it has a record which no de- and it is not important which course of this, at the time partment connected with the University can tures is first taken." And approach. it was adopted, was the course usually pur- The Faculty of the Law School, as origi- sued in the law schools of the United States. i886 the Faculty favored the adoption nally constituted, and as it remained for many But in system of instruction; and as years, consisted of Thomas M. Cooley, James of a graded

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 192 1889 Michigan Universily Law Sc/ool '93 their recommendation to that effect was ap- land, and generally in the United States. ,proved by the Board of Regents, the change Some of the law schools in this country have was made. President Angell, in his Report to declined to adopt it as a method of instruc- the Board made in October, 1886, thus refers tion, preferring to make use of text-books for to the matter: - that purpose; and notably in one school both these modes have been practically rejected "The demands upon the students in the Law in favor of learning the law through a study Department have been made, during the past year, of leading cases. more exacting and rigorous than ever before, and Blackstone and Kent the Faculty have decided to introduce the most taught the law by lectures, and so did Story important change which has been made in the and Greenleaf. For many years the exclu- method of the school since its establishment. They sive method of instruction pursued in the have graded the course, and instruction will in the Michigan Law School was by means of lec- main be given separately to the two classes. The tures, the students being required to take training will, we believe, be more thorough and full notes of what was said, with citations of systematic and effective than it has ever before cases. On each day at the close of the lec- been." ture, or before it commenced, the class was " quizzed" by the professor as to the contents And in his Report for the year following, of the lecture previously delivered by him. he again recurs to the subject as follows :- The method of instruction by lectures is still In the Law Department the experiment of pursued, but no longer to the exclusion of the grading the course has been successful in a gratify- other modes of instruction. The professor ing degree. Both teachers and students heartily quizzes on his preceding lecture for half approve of it. More thorough, systematic, and an hour, and then lectures for an hour and a efficient work is secured by it. The instruction is quarter. When both classes listened to the to be enriched during the coming year by brief same lecture, it was not thought practicable, courses of lectures on various subjects by distin- in the time that could be devoted to the pur- guished specialists. We may well believe, there- pose, to quiz any but members of the senior fore, that the reputation of the Law School, which class, and the junior class were silent specta- had so prosperous a life from its foundation, will tors of what was going on about them. They be deservedly enhanced during the coming year." listened to the lectures, but were asked no As reference is made in the above excerpts questions until their senior year, when they to the greater thoroughness and efficiency of were examined on the lectures of both years. the work of the school, the writer ventures The best results could not be attained in this again to quote from the President's last Re- way, and those who could attend but one port, made to the Board in October, 1888, year, and as members of the junior class, did when he said : - not reap the benefit they might have obtained had a different course been practicable. But "The work of the Law Department has been since the separation of the classes and the carried on in a very satisfactory manner. . . The adoption of the graded system, both classes standard of work required of the students has been materially raised during the last two or three years, are quizzed impartially, and the junior year is thereby and the examinations for graduation are more made much more important than stringent than they ever were before." it was before the change was effected. But while the lecture system continues to There are three systems of instruction in find the most favor, the fact is conceded that law, each of which has its merits and its de- on some subjects text-book instruction may merits. The mode of teaching law by lec- be employed with advantage. Blackstone's tures is the mode which has been pursued in Commentaries, which are simply Blackstone's the German universities, as well as in Eng- printed lectures, are put into the hands of

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 193 1889 194 The Green Bag. the junior class, and they are required to of such a system. Years ago Mr. Justice master thoroughly certain prescribed por- Bailey of the King's Bench deprecated even tions. The introduction of this text-book the use of text-books of any kind for a student work was made about 1879. Within the of law, and declared that he would have him attend to last few years the amount of that work has " read the cases for himself, and has been materially increased, and extended to the application of them in practice." It too the senior class. In addition to Blackstone's always seemed to the writer that life was Commentaries, the juniors are required to short and the time that a student could spend law school was altogether too limited make a thorough study of Anson on Con- in a tracts, and Stephen on to permit one's acquir- Pleading. Members ingaknowledge of law of the senior class from simply through a study while the Code States are of cases, and that a system might required to attend re- such citations in Bliss on be advantageously students Code Pleading. One used with objection to an exten- whose intellectual sive use of text-books powers had been thor- in law schools has oughly developed and grip was been due to the fact whose mental that the most of our strong, it was quite un- text-books on law have suited to the average been written for the student. While the use of practitioners, system has not been and have been unsuit- adopted in its entirety able for the use of stu- in the Michigan Law dents commencing the School, a study of the study of law, who wish leading cases has not to become familiar been neglected, but with principles, and has been insisted on not to be burdened to such an extent as with details. More- in the judgment of the over, it must be con- CAMPBELL. Faculty was deemed ceded that spoken advisable. words are more im- The purpose of the pressive than words that are read. So that, school is to give instruction that shall fit while the Faculty have recognized the fact students for practice in any part of the that certain advantages may be derived from country; and the course of lectures now de- a judicious use of text-books, it has not been livered is as follows: - thought best in the Michigan Law School to adopt that method of instruction to the To THE JUNIOR CLASS. exclusion of the lecture system. The en- The Law of the Domestic Relations. Professor deavor has been to make a wise use of both ROGERS. methods. Torts. Professor ROGERS. The idea that law should be learned Pleading and Practice. Professor GRIFFIN. Property and Title thereto, by Gift, through a study of leading cases is not a Personal new one, although the Harvard School has Sale, Mortgage, and Assignment. Professor been the first to make any extensive use GRIFFIN.

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 194 1889 Michigan University Law School '95

Contracts. Professor WELLS. man or Italian universities, but the American Agency. Professor WELLS. law school adopts the Italian idea that at- Private Corporations. Professor WELLS. tendance on the lectures should be compul- Partnership. Professor WELLS. sory. In the Michigan Law School a student History of Real Property Law. Professor THoMP- who neglected attendance upon the lectures SON. would not even be admitted to examination. Fixtures. Professor THOMPSON. He would find himself either summarily Easements. Professor THOMPSON. " dropped" or required to take the work Landlord and Tenant. Professor THOMPSON. over again the next year. Bailnents. Assistant Professor KNOWLTON. The fact is recognized that it is desirable the regu- To THE SENIOR CLASS. to combine theory and practice in lar work of the school, and such a course is Criminal Law, and Medical Questions bearing on pursued in so far as it has appeared practi- it. Professor ROGERS. cable. With this end in view, moot courts Wills : their Execution, Revocation, and Construc- are held, in which students not only discuss tion. Professor ROGERS. cases previously assigned them for that pur- The Administration and Distribution of Estates pose by the Faculty, but are required to of )eceased Persons. Professor ROGERS. draft appropriate pleadings and prepare a Jurisprudence of the United States. Professor brief in which the rules of law applicable GRIFFIN. Evidence. Professor GRIFFIN. to the given case are stated under ap- Constitutional Law. Professor WELLS. propriate divisions and sustained by the au- Bills and Notes, and Commercial Law Generally, thorities. These courts are presided over Professor WELLS. by the professor lecturing for the day, who The Law of Municipal Corporations. Professor at the conclusion of the argument reviews WELLS. the case and gives his decision upon the The Law of Real Property. Professor THOMPSON. points involved. The effort to make not Equity Jurisprudence, and Equity Pleading and merely theoretical but practical lawyers may Procedure. Professor THOMPSON. be illustrated by a reference to the course Mining Law. Professor THOMPSON. pursued in the teaching of equity pleading Law of Carriers. Assistant Professor KNOWLTON. and procedure. Dr. BIGELOW. Insurance Law. The class is divided into sections of four Admiralty Law. Judge BROWN. each ; and each section is required to conduct History of the Common Law. Dr. HAMMOND. two cases in equity through all their stages, Special Heads of Medical Jurisprudence. from the filing of the original bills to the

Toxicology in its Legal Relations. Dr. VAUGHAN. enrolment of the final decrees, two of the Legal Microscopy. Dr. STOWELL. section acting as solicitors for the complai- nant in one case, and as solicitors for the In the great schools of law in Germany defendant in the other. For these suits attendance on lectures is not generally com- statements of fact are prepared which, in pulsory, and although the course is most com- the aggregate, involve questions in every prehensive, familiarity with a few selected branch of equity jurisdiction, and necessitate subjects appears to be all that is necessary the use of every form of equity pleading. for graduation ; while in Italy, as we are These statements of fact involve not only informed, the law students reach graduation questions of pleading and procedure but also only "after due attendance with dizgvnsva at questions of law, so that the glamour of a lectures on a great variety of subjects." The legal doubt is thrown over each case, and curriculum of an American law school is success is made to depend upon skill in not as comprehensive as in either the Ger- pleading combined with knowledge of equity

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 195 1889 196 The .Grcen Bag. law. The moot court is presided over by pursued in the law schools of the Roman Professor Thompson, to whom the subject Empire covered a period of five years. In of equity belongs. In causes where students the University of Italy the law curriculum from the State of Michigan appear as solici- covers a period of four years, about a thou- tors the proceedings are governed by the sand students being made Doctors of Law rules in chancery of the circuit courts of each year. But in this country, at the time the that State; in those cases where the solici- Michigan Law School opened its doors, it was tors are students from other States, the pro- the prevalent opinion that two terms of six ceedings are governed by the rules in months each was all the time needed for chancery of the United States Circuit the preparation which a law school should Courts. There is a Register in Chancery, undertake to impart. Experience demon- and the records of the court are carefully strated that this period was too short for and systematically kept, and all the proceed- the work to be accomplished, and the time ings made to conform strictly to like pro- was accordingly extended. Some of the ceedings and causes in a United States law schools of the country have already circuit court, or a circuit court in Michigan decided that this time is also too short for sitting in Chancery. the proper performance of their work, and This plan involves the hearing of from have accordingly lengthened their course to seventy-five to one hundred distinct causes three years. Such a change is now under in Chancery; and it is believed, since each consideration in connection with the Michi- student is personally interested in at least gan Law School. If it is decided to make two of the cases, and necessarily hears argu- the change, and to give the degree of Bache- ments upon a great variety of motions and lor of Laws (LL.B.) only after a period of other interlocutory proceedings, as well as three years of study, it is not unlikely that arguments upon demurrers, pleas, and bills the degree of Bachelor of Law (B.L.) will and answers, that he acquires a more com- be conferred at the end of two years of prehensive, critical, and practical knowledge study. It is not known that such a degree of equity pleading, procedure, and jurisdic- has ever been conferred by an American tion than he could obtain during the same Law School, but it is conferred in the Uni- time in any law office. versity of Edinburgh on those who pursue Provision is also made in the Law School a course of law study for two years, and no for instruction in elocution and oratory, under reason is perceived why a plan that has the direction of Thomas C. Trueblood, A.M. worked admirably there should not be It is thought to be a mistake to suppose adopted here. The LL.B. degree is there that excellency in speaking is simply a gift conferred after three years of study of law, of nature, and not the result of patient and a degree in arts having been previously ob- persistent labor and study. tained. But in the United States a degree From the time the Law School was estab- in arts or science is nowhere a condition lished until 1884, the period of instruction precedent to the taking of a degree in law. included two terms of six months each, com- As many students are unable to remain mencing in October and ending in March. more than two years in a law school, and It was determined in 1883 to extend the much valuable knowledge is acquired in period to two terms of nine months each, that time, justice seems to require that the change going into effect, as we have where a course is lengthened to three said, in the following year. There has been years, some degree inferior to the LL.B. more or less difference of opinion as to the degree should be given at the end of the time which should be spent in a law school second year of study to those who choose to in the study of law. The mode of teaching take it.

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 196 1889 Michigan Universily Law School '97

When the Law Department was estab- has passed a satisfactory examination in Arithme- lished, the announcement made as to the tic, Geography, Orthography, English Composi- requirements for admission was as follows: tion, and the outlines of the History of the United " That the candidate shall be eighteen years States and of England. The examination will be of age, and be furnished with a certificate conducted in writing, and the papers submitted by giving satisfactory evidence of good moral the applicants must evince a competent knowledge character." This statement continued in of English Grammar." the Calendar of the University until 1877, The students in the Law School are drawn when an additional statement was made de- from every part of the United States, as well claring that it was as from foreign coun- "expected that all tries, Japan alone this students will be well E year sending to it grounded in at least a twelve students. This good English educa- year's University Cal- tion, and capable of jl" endar shows the fol- making use of the lowing States repre- English language with sented in the Law De- accuracy and propri- partment : Arkansas, ety." If the reader is California, Colorado, here disposed to criti- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, cise, let him remem- Kansas, Kentucky, ber that the other law Massachusetts, Michi- schools throughout gan, Minnesota, Mis- the country were then souri, Nebraska, Ne- no more stringent in vada, New Hampshire, their requirements New York, Ohio, Ore- governing the admis- gon, Pennsylvania, sion of students than Tennessee, Vermont, the above statement Virginia, West Vir- indicates, and that ginia, and Wisconsin. the most of them are The following Terri- little better now in tories are represented: this respect than they Ida- D E ROGERS. Arizona, Dakota, were then. But the ho, Montana, Utah, Michigan Law School and Washington. In has established a very different standard in addition, Japan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, recent years, as will be seen from the fol- New Brunswick, Province of Quebec, and lowing statement taken from its annual the Province of Ontario contribute their announcement: - quota. Students come from San Francisco " Graduates of colleges, and students who have in the west and Boston in the east, from honorably completed an academical or high-school Minnesota in the north, and Arkansas in course, and who present a certificate or diploma the south. Out of the four hundred stu- from the academy or high school, will be admitted dents one hundred and two come from without preliminary examination. No student who Michigan. does not present such certificate or diploma will The following table shows the number of be admitted as a candidate for a degree, until he students in attendance since the Law School

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 197 1889 198 The Green Bag. was opened, as appears from the University crease the number of students in attendance. Calendar for the respective years. Probably no law school in the United States has a longer roll of Alumni than has this. Year. of Students 1859-6o 90 More than thirty-five hundred of its gradu- ates have gone forth to the active duties of i86o-6i 159 1861-62 129 their profession. Mr Justice Harlan, of the 1862-63 134 Supreme Court of the United States, has 1863-64 221 accepted an invitation, extended to him i864-65 26o by the law alumni and undergraduates, 1865-66 385 to address them at the Commencement in 1866-67 395 June. i867-68 387 Those familiar with the Law School have 1868-69 342 noted with pleasure the fact that an increased i869-70 308 number of college-trained men are here pur- 1870-71 307 suing their law studies. The law students 1871-72 348 were quite jubilant because at a recent " Pro- 1872-73 33' nouncing Contest" held in University Hall, 1873-74 314 at which the Law and Literary Depart- 1874-75 345 1875-76 321 ments were represented by picked men, 1876-77 309 the banner of victory floated over the Law 1877 78 384 Department. 1878-79 406 The Law Library is one of the best con- 1879-80 395 nected with the Law Schools of the United I880-8I 371 States. For a number of years it was of i88i -82 395 humble proportions, but it has within the 1882-83 333 last five years been much augmented and 1883-84 305 improved. It now contains about ten thou- 1884-85 262 sand volumes, embracing the reports of every 1885-86 286 State in the Union, as well as those of the 1886-87 338 Federal Courts, and a good collection of 1887-88 34' of England, Ireland, and Canada. The 1888-89 400 those current reports of the United States and of The decrease in 1884-85 was no doubt England are placed on the shelves as they occasioned largely by the lengthening of the are issued. The leading legal periodicals are period of study. For every subsequent year regularly taken and kept on file, including there has been a steady gain, this year the the Law Quarterly Review (London), the number going up to four hundred. While the Journal of Jurisprudence (Edinburgh), the Calendar of the University so states the fig- Juridical Review (Edinburgh), the Amer- ures, as a matter of fact the Law Announce- ican Law Register, the American Law Re- ment will show more than that number in view, the Criminal Law Magazine, the Albany attendance, and that since the Law School Law Journal, the Central Law Journal, and was opened there was never a larger body of the Federal Reporter. Students from any students in attendance on its lectures than State in the Union are thus enabled not are there this year. Neither the rapid multi- only to consult the reports of their own and plication of law schools in different parts of other States, but to keep abreast of the best the country, nor the fact that the standard re- thought of the profession in this and other quired for admission and graduation has been countries as it finds expression in the leading materially advanced, have operated to de- legal periodical literature, as well as in the

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 198 1889 Michigan Universily Law School. '99 treatises of the best law-writers. The Law in using law, but experience in learning law." School in I866 was presented by the lion. To be a successful teacher of law surely Richard Fletcher, one of the Justices of requires distinctive gifts; and a man is not the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, with qualified for such a career simply because he his valuable law library. Again, in 1885, may have been successful as an advocate or Mr. C. H. Buhl, a wealthy and public-spirited trier of causes, or may have had an extended citizen of Detroit, presented the Law School experience at the bar or on the bench. In with the " Buhl Law Library," which was the Michigan Law School the men who have valued at $15,ooo. These two gifts, with been engaged in the work of instruction have such acquisitions as been for the most part have been made by men of extended ex- the University author- perience, either on the ities, make the Law bench or at the bar ; Library an excellent and while it is true one, and it occupies a that such experience large and handsome does not of itself qual- room on the first floor ify for the teaching of of the Law Building, law, it is equally true -the room formerly that it does not nec- occupied by the Gen- essarily disqualify, and eral Library of the they have been, hardly University. But ca- without exception, pacious as is the room, men specially adapted the visitor to it on for that work. We every afternoon will understand that at find it full of young t-arvard, Columbia, men diligently at work and Cornell Law examining authorities, Schools the professors and evidently as much are, as a rule, with- in earnest as though drawn from practice, they were preparing devoting themselves for the argument of wholly to the teaching some important case of the law. In the in the courts. Joseph LEVI T. G:R1IFFIN. Michigan Law School, H. Vance, a graduate while a portion of the of the Law School of the Class of 1861, is Faculty are withdrawn from practice, the the Librarian in charge. rest continue in the active work of their As an account of the Michigan Law profession. School would be incomplete without an ac The Law Faculty originally, and for many count of the personnel of the Faculty, we years, consisted of three men, -James V. shall sketch the career of those who have Campbell, Thomas M. Cooley, and Charles been engaged in its work of instruction. I. Walker. Professor Langdell, at the Harvard celebra- James V. Campbell, of the Supreme Court tion in iS86, declared that what qualified a of Michigan, was born Feb. 25, I823, in person to teach law was " not experience in Buffalo, N. Y. Three years later his par- the work of a lawyer's office, nor experience ents removed to Michigan and settled in in dealing with men, nor experience in the Detroit, where he has since resided. He trial or argument of causes, nor experience attended school at Flushing, L. I., and

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 199 1889 200 The Green Bag, matriculated at St. Paul's College, in the until the year 1885-1886. His resignation of his chair was matter of profound regret, same place, where he graduated in 1841. and was occasioned by the necessity of That institution was under the patronage of giving his entire attention to his judicial the Protestant Episcopal Church, and not- duties, the work of the court now having withstanding its work was well done it become very great. His subjects in the passed out of existence some years ago. law school were as follows: Criminal Law, After graduation Mr. Campbell returned to Jurisprudence of the United States, Equity Detroit, and entered on the study of law in Jurisprudence, and International Law. The the office of Douglass & Walker, being ad- lectures which he delivered were learned and mitted to practice in October, 1844, imme- lucid, and had a charm about them which diately thereafter entering into partnership attracted all. They were delivered with with his distinguished preceptors. His prac- fluency and elegance, and no one listened tice at the bar only covered a period of thir- to them without being filled with admiration teen years, when he was elected to the bench for the man. Not only was he well read of the Supreme Court of the State, where he in law, but he possessed a wide familiarity has since remained. One familiar with his with polite literature, and a knowledge of professional life says that "time would have history that was extensive and exact. It made him one of the best trial lawyers of the was evident to all who listened to him, either day. At the bar, as in every relation of life, in the lecture-room or in private conversa- he was remarkable for acuteness of intellect, tion, that he was a man learned in many mental and oratorical facility, and for that one possessed of a memory so breadth and exactness of knowledge which fields, and marvellously tenacious that it seemed never well earned him the reputation for learning even apparently insignificant de- now vindicated by years of public service." to forget tails. The University in 1866 very fittingly A§ Judge Campbell took his place on the made him a Doctor of Laws. bench in January, 1858, and by successive M. Cooley, chairman of the Inter- re-elections has been kept there by the Thomas state Commerce Commission, was born in people of the State, - his 1last re-election Attica, N. Y., Jan. 6, 1824. His family de- occurring in April, 1887, for a term of eight from Benjamin Cooley, who settled years commencing with January, i888,-if scends in Springfield, Mass., in 1640. The father of life and health permit him to serve out his M. Cooley was poor, and his family term, he will have had a most remarkable Thomas so that the boy acquired his educa- judicial career, extending over a period of al- was large, earning the necessary most forty years. It is doubtful whether any tion under difficulties, hard manual labor, extending man in the United States has been permitted money by the period of professional study. such a judicial experience in a court of last through benefits of a college train- resort, and especially in a State whose judges He never had the years of age commenced are elected by popular vote. We are in the ing, but at nineteen law at Palmyra, N. Y., in the habit of thinking that Marshall and Taney the study of afterwards a had extended careers in the Supreme Court office of Theron K. Strong, Court of that State. of the United States, where the appointments Judge of the Supreme to Michigan in 1843, taking up are made for life; but their tenure of office He removed Adrian, and finishing his did not extend over so long a period as his residence at of the law in the office of Judge Campbell will have served on the preliminary study In January, 1846, at bench of the Supreme Court of Michigan if Tiffany & Beaman. he was admitted to he serves out his term. lie served as a the age of twenty-two, He had already held the position professor in the law school for twenty-five the bar. County Clerk, and in 1850 was years, beginning in 1859 and continuing of Deputy

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 200 1889 /ichigan Universily La School. 201 elected a Circuit Court Commissioner, but place, welcomed him to the position as a being restless and dissatisfied removed to worthy successor of the lamented Manning, Ohio in 1852, taking up his residence in who had been removed from the bench by Toledo, where he formed a partnership in the death; and yet, as one of them has since real-estate business. He remained at Toledo said, they were and continued to be more until the real-estate boom, which that city and more surprised and gratified by the was enjoying at that time, collapsed, and abilities which he continued more and more then returned again to Michigan, determined to exhibit as a Judge the longer he con- to win success, if possible, in the law. He tinued on the bench. Judge Cooley retired again made his home from the Law Fac- in Adrian, and was at ulty in 1884, and from one time junior mem- the Supreme Court in ber of the firm of 1885. Since his re- Beaman, Beecher, & tirement from the Fac- Cooley. The senior ulty he has not with- member of this firm, drawn his interest in Fernando C. Beaman, the school, and has was a member of Con- from time to time de- gress from i86i to livered lectures there- 1863; and in I879 was in, notably so on appointed by the Gov- Taxation and Consti- ernor to fill the unex- Itutional Law. judge pired term of Zacha- Cooley's career as a riah Chandler in the . . University professor, Senate of the United Judge of the Supreme States, but declined Court, and writer of the appointment. Mr law treatises is a re- Cooley also became splendent one. His the senior member of works have made him the firm of Cooley & famous in Europe as Croswell, the junior well as in America, member being after- and his name has been wards twice elected a tower of strength to WILLIAM P. WELLS. Govwrnor of Michigan. the University of In 1857 Mr. Cooley Michigan, which made was appointed to compile the General Stat- him a Doctor of Laws in 1873, a similar utes of the State, and in 1858 he was made honor being conferred on him by Harvard the Official Reporter of the Supreme Court University in I886. As " the one great of Michigan. In 1859, as before indicated, law book of the last century," the Commen- he was appointed a professor in the Univer- taries of Blackstone, was the fruit of a sity Law School, when he removed his resi- professorship in law in an English Uni- dence to Ann Arbor, where he has since versity, so rmost of the classic legal litera- continued to reside. He was then thirty-five ture of this country has been the fruitage years of age, and entered on his duties with of similar professorships here. Chancellor zeal and energy. In 1864 he became a Judge Kent's Commentaries were the results of his of the Supreme Court of the State. His law professorship in Columbia College. All associates on the bench, who already knew of Story's works - some thirteen volumes something of his high qualifications for the are the fruits of his work as Dane Professor

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 201 1889 202 The Green Bag.

in the Harvard Law School. It was in the from a sturdy old New England family " of performance of his duty as a law professor such timber as had furnished much of the that Simon Greenleaf prepared his work on best blood of the West, people of education, Evidence, and Parsons wrote his work on intelligence, and independence, as far back Contracts, and on Bills and Notes, as well as as their descent can be traced." He was born on Partnership and Shipping and Admiralty. in the village of Butternuts, Otsego County, And in the same way Washburn prepared his N. Y., on April 25, 1814, whither the family work on Real Property. Judge Cooley, dur- had removed from Providence, R. I., in I812. ing his connection with the Michigan Law The grandfather of Charles I. Walker was School, published his Constitutional Limita- Ephraim Walker, who married Priscilla Raw- tions in i868, his edition of Blackstone's son, a lineal descendant of Edward Rawson, Commentaries in 1872, his edition of Story's who graduated in 1653 from Harvard College, Commentaries on the Constitution in 1874, and was at one time Secretary of the Colony his work on Taxation in 1877, his treatise on of Massachusetts. Charles I. Walker was Torts in 1879, and his Manual of Constitu- one of a family of eleven children, and ob- tional Law in i88o. On the appearance of tained his education at a district school in his work on Torts the " Southern Law Re- his native village, supplementing its course view" declared that " neither England nor by one term at a private school in Utica, America, neither the present nor any other N. Y. For some years he engaged in period in the history of the common law, has mercantile business in the State of New produced an abler or more learned expounder York until 1836, when he removed to Michi- of its principles." As to the book itself, it gan, settling in Grand Rapids, where he be- declared that it was written "in a style of came a land and investment agent. This classic propriety ; concise, and yet nothing business he followed for a short period, when is wanting ; full, and yet nothing is wasted." it was abandoned by him, and he became His greatest work is his " Constitutional Lim- the editor of the Grand Rapids " Times," itations," a book of unique excellence, which the only newspaper published in those days at once gave him a national and later an in- in the town. But in 1838 journalism was in ternational reputation. As a law lecturer its turn given up, and having been elected a Judge Cooley was distinguished for the clear- Justice of the Peace, Mr. Walker entered on ness of his style and the thoroughness of his the study of the law in the office of George exposition. The thousands of law students Martin, who afterwards became Chief-Jus- who have sat under his instruction in the tice of the Supreme Court of the State. In University of Michigan hold him in the 1841 he determined to complete his legal highest esteem, and no name mentioned in studies in the East, and removed to Spring- the halls of the University to-day evokes such field, Mass., and from there to Vermont, an outburst of applause as does his. He in which latter State he was admitted to the may well be proud of the grateful apprecia- bar in September, 1842, being at that time tion in which he is held by the students in about twenty-eight years of age. He soon the University of Michigan. An almost life- succeeded in building up a large and pro- size portrait of him hangs on the walls of the fitable practice, but decided in 1851 to re- Law Lecture Room, having been generously move from Bellows Falls, Vt., to Detroit, presented to the school by Mr. Albert D. Mich., where his brother, the Hon. E. C. Elliot of the Law Class of 1887, and a gradu- Walker, was engaged in successful practice. ate of the Academic Department of Harvard He at once entered into partnership with University of the Class of 1882. him, and soon made a reputation at the Charles I. Walker, one of the most hon- bar. In I836 he was a member of the sec- ored members of the bar of Michigan, came ond convention called to consider the ques-

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 202 1889 Mic/akan University Law School. 203 tion of the admission of Michigan as a State, and Cooley, President Angell in his com- and which finally accepted the terms pro- memorative address delivered at the semi- posed by Congress. In 1840 he became a centennial of the University in 1887, spoke representative in the State Legislature, and as follows - in 1867 was appointed a circuit judge by "Perhaps never was an American law school so Governor Crapo, to succeed Judge Witherell, fortunate in its first Faculty, composed of those who had died in office. He held the place renowned teachers, Charles I. Walker, James V. but ten months, when he resigned because Campbell, and Thomas M. Cooley, -all living, of the inadequacy of the salary. Becoming thank God, to take part in this celebration, and to a professor in the Law receive the loving saluta- School in 1859, he tions of the more than continued to hold his three thousand graduates, chair for fifteen years, > x who, as learners, have when his failing health sat delighted at their feet. and the pressing de- The fame which these men and those afterwards niands of business associated with thenm compelled him to re- gave to the school was a tire from his professor- source of great strength ship. The subjects to the whole University." upon which he had lec- tured were Contracts, In March, i868, Agency, Bills and Charles A. Kent, a Notes, Corporations, prominent member of and Partnership. It the Detroit Bar, was is not passing the elected Fletcher Pro- bounds of truth and fessor of Law in place soberness to say that of Ashley Pond, who Judge Walker was a had resigned after a most able and success- few years of service. ful law lecturer and Mr. Kent was born in teacher, and it isdoubt- St. Laurens County ful whether any man in the State of New who has been con- York in 1834, and HENRY tIg. nected with the Law was graduated from Faculty of the Uni- the.University of Ver- versity of Michigan ever surpassed him in mont in I856. For a time after gradua- those respects. His lectures were always tion he taught school, being the principal of prepared with the greatest care, his method an academy at Montpelier, Vt. He studied was excellent, his style clear and elegant, and theology at the Andover Theological Semi- his citation of authorities was made with great nary from 1857 to 1859, but giving up the- good judgment. No student ever went forth ology for law, he came to Detroit in 1859, from the Michigan Law School without a and entered the law office of Walker & Rus- profound respect for him. When in the sell as a student, and was admitted to the year i886-1887 he consented to re-enter the bar in the following year. Mr. Kent has Law Faculty for the year to fill a temporary never been a candidate for public office, but vacancy which had occurred, he was cordially has devoted himself entirely to the profes- welcomed by all. sion of the law. He consented, however, in Of these three men Walker, Campbell, 1881-1882, to serve as a member of a commis-

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 203 1889 204 The Green Bag. sion that was created to revise the tax laws Campbell, the partnership continuing until Judge of Michigan, and in that capacity rendered Campbell's accession to the bench in i858 as one very valuable service to the State. He is a of the judges of the Supreme Court of Michigan. man of the highest character, sincere and From that time to the present Mr. Wells has con- genuine at all times and under all occasions. tinued the practice of law alone in Detroit. His legal talents early won just recognition, and his He is a man of sound judgment and of con- practice has extended to all the courts of the State scientious devotion to duty, who never does and United States. He has been counsel in many anything half-way. Not only is he a well- of the most important litigations of the past twenty- read lawyer, but he has studied with care five years, notably in cases involving the constitu- questions of government, and political and tionality of the War Confiscation Acts, heard in ethical science. He came to his professor- the Supreme Court of the United States in 1869 ship in the Law School at the age of-thirty- and 1870. four and held the position for eighteen years, when he resigned and gave himself up to the "In 1874-1875, during the leave of absence of practice of his profession. The old students Judge Charles I. Walker, Kent Professor of Law in will always remember him not only for his the University of Michigan, Mr. Wells was appointed learning, but for his humor and good nature. to the vacancy. On Judge Walker's resignation in He lectured on Pleading and Practice, Evi- 1876, Mr. Wells was appointed to the professor- dence, Torts, Easements, Bailments, and the ship, - a position he held until December, 1885, Law of Personal Property. His lectures when he resigned because of the interference of were prepared with great care, and gave its duties with his legal practice. The subjects entire satisfaction. assigned to this professorship, and of which Prof. William P. Wells was born at St. Al- Mr. Wells had charge, were Corporations, Con- tracts, Commercial Law generally, Partnership, and bans, Vt., Feb. 15, 1831. Hi father is said Agency. Upon his resignation an address was to have been a lineal descendant of Thomas presented him by the students, and resolutions of Wells, an early Governor of Connecticut. commendation adopted by the Regency. We take the liberty to incorporate herein the "From Jan. i, 1887, to the close of the col- following sketch of Professor Wells's career, lege year, Mr. Wells held the position of Lecturer which has recently been made public in an- on Constitutional History and Constitutional Law other connection :- in the University of Michigan, temporarily dis- " William P. Wells took a preparatory college charging the duties of Judge Cooley, Professor of course at the Franklin County Grammar School at American History and Constitutional Law in that St. Albans, and then entered the University of Ver- institution. in June, 1887, he was again called by nlont at Burlington, and after spending four years, the Regency to the Kent Professorship in the Law graduated with the degree of A.B. in 1851. After School, and he now holds that position. The sub- graduation he commenced the study of law at St. ject of Constitutional Law was added to those of Albans. In 1852 he entered the law school of which he has charge. Harvard University, and in 1854 graduated with the degree of LL.B., receiving the highest honors " He was one of the earliest members of the of his class for a thesis on 'The Adoption of the American Bar Association, organized in 1878, Principles of Equity Jurisprudence into the Admin- which holds its annual session at Saratoga, N. Y., istration of the Common Law.' The same year he and for several years has been a member of the received the degree of M.A. from the University General Council; and in 1888 was elected chair- of Vermont, and in 1854 was admitted to the bar man of the General Council. At the meeting in of his native State at St. Albans. In January, 1886 he presented a paper on 'The Dartmouth 1856, he settled in Detroit, entering the law office College Case and Private Corporations,' which of James V. Campbell. In March following he was has been reprinted from the transactions of the admitted to the bar of Michigan, and in November Association, and widely circulated, attracting much of the same year became a partner of James V. attention.

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 204 1889 Michzgan University Law School. 205

"Among the members of the legal profession, named for Henry Philip Tappan, President Mr. Wells stands in the front rank. As an advo- of the University from 1852 to 1863. Hon. cate, a lecturer, and a gentleman of broad and Alpheus Felch was appointed to the chair liberal culture, he holds a place among the best; thus created. It has been truly said of and his legal attainments, tested by long practice him that his record is a part of the history in important cases, justified his selection as a of Michigan, and that it would be impossible member of the Law Faculty of the University to write of any branch of the powers of the however, have not fully en- "His legal studies, State and make no mention of him. He was grossed his attention, and the intervals of freedom born in Maine in i8o6, and is still living, from pressing professional duties have been de- honored and beloved voted to following ave- nues of intellectual cul- of all. In 1821 he was ture opened by a liberal a student at Phillips education. 4 2Exeter Academy, and "Naturally a clear and in 1827 graduated vigorous thinker, and from Bowdoin College, possessing the valuable where he was a fellow gift of clear and forcible student with the poet expression, he needed Longfellow, who was only the opportunities he graduated from the has enjoyed to secure same institution two eminence as an orator, years before his own the alike at the bar, in graduation was at- political arena, and in tained. He was ad- the halls of the Univer- sity. mitted to the bar of "For his duties in Maine in I83O, and connection with the Uni- three years later took versity he possesses spe- up his residence in cial fitness, and it is by Michigan. He succes- that work that he will be sively became a mem- most widely remembered. ber of the Legislature The professional suc- of the State, a Bank cesses of a lawyer, how- Commissioner, Audi- ever useful or beneficial, tor-General, a Judge of are comparatively ephe- BRADLEY 4. THOMPSON. the Supreme Court, but the teacher meral; Governor, and a Sena- who has been the means Congress. He was a member of the of giving an intellectual impetus, and who has im- tor in the same time Webster, Clay, parted the clear light of absolute knowledge to the Senate at inquiring mind, is sure of being held in grateful and Calhoun had seats in that body. At remembrance. That Mr. Wells has been greatly the close of his senatorial term, in March, successful as a professor is conceded by all who 1853, he was appointed by President Pierce have any knowledge of the University, and espe- one of the commissioners to adjust and cially by the students who have been fortunate in settle the Spanish and Mexican land claims having him as an instructor. His abilities are such in California, under the treaty of Guada- as to command acquaintanceship with many persons lupe Hidalgo. At the close of his labors distinguished in professional and political life." on the Commission in 1856, Governor Felch In 1879 the Board of Regents created a returned to his home in Ann Arbor, where fifth professorship in the Law School, known he has ever since continued to reside. In as the Tappan Professorship, which was I877 Bowdoin College conferred on him 28

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 205 1889 206 The Green Bag. the degree of LL.D., and two years later he cases than any other lawyer in the State of became, as already said, a professor in the Michigan. It is certain that his clientage Law School. His special topics were Wills has been large, and his practice extensive and the Administration of Estates, Real and lucrative. He was nominated by his Property, and Uses and Trusts. He re- party in 1887 as a candidate for Justice of signed his position in the Law School in the Supreme Court, but was defeated by Mr. March, 1883, being admonished by his ad- Justice Campbell. vancing years that it would be unwise to Bradley M. Thompson was born April I6, tax his strength by longer continuing to 1835, in Milford in the then Territory of discharge its duties. A man of pure and Michigan. He prepared for college at Wes- gentle nature, of wide experience, and full leyan College, Albion, and matriculated in of honors, his presence is a benediction to the University in 1854, graduating in the those who are so fortunate as to come within Literary Department in the Class of 1858, his influence. The writer was appointed to and in the Law Department in i86o, in the the Tappan Professorship on the acceptance first law class. He commenced the prac- of the resignation of Governor Felch, and tice of his profession at East Saginaw in entered on his duties in October, 1883. 186o. In the spring of 1862 he formed a In I886, when Mr. Kent resigned the partnership with Hon. William L. Webber, Fletcher Professorship, Levi T. Griffin, of now President of the Flint & Pere Mar- Detroit, was appointed his successor by quette Railroad, and Hon. Chauncy H. Gage, unanimous vote of the Board of Regents. Circuit Judge of the Tenth Judicial Circuit. Professor Griffin was born in the State of In the fall of 1862 Professor Thompson New York in 1837, and ten years thereafter entered the United States service as Cap- his parents removed with him to Michigan. tain in the Seventh Michigan Volunteer Cav- He became a student in the Academic De- alry. This regiment was brigaded with the partment of the University, and graduated First, Fifth, and Sixth Michigan Cavalry Re- with the Class of 1857. He was admitted giments, and was known as Custer's Brigade, to the bar in the following year, being one being under the command of that gallant of the first class to be admitted on examina- officer. Professor Thompson was mustered tion before the Supreme Court of Michigan, out of service in 1865, as Brevet Colonel, for as reorganized. After his admission he re- gallant and meritorious services. He did not mained in Detroit for some months, and then resume the practice of law until 1869. He removed to Grand Rapids, where he was held the office of City Attorney of East Sagi- engaged in practice until i86o, when he naw during the years 1873, 1874, and 1875, returned to Detroit, which is still his home. and the office of Mayor for two terms during He entered the army in 1862, and continued the years 1877 and 1878. In 1878 he was in it until mustered out of service, July I, the candidate of his party for Congress in i865, having been brevetted Major of Vol- a triangular contest in which Hon. R. G. unteers for gallant and meritorious services. Horr and Hon. H. H. Hoyt were the other He belonged to the famous Fourth Michigan candidates ; all being residents of the same Cavalry, the regiment that captured Jeffer- city and ward. Professor Thompson carried son Davis at the close of the war. When Saginaw County by a plurality of over one the war closed, Mr. Griffin again entered on thousand, but Mr. Horr was elected. In the practice of his profession, and in 1875 i88o, there being a vacancy in the office of associated himself with Hon. Don M. Dick- Circuit Judge in the Tenth Judicial Circuit, inson, Postmaster-General in the Cabinet of composed of Saginaw County, at a meeting President Cleveland. It has been said of. of the bar of that county, Professor Thomp- Mr. Griffin that he has perhaps tried more son was recommended to the Governor of the

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 206 1889 Michigan Universily Law Scoo. 207

State as the choice of the bar for that office. mitted to the bar. In less than a year there- He did not, however, receive the appoint- after, he was appointed Assistant United ment, a person of a different political faith States District Attorney, and held that posi- being preferred. In 1887 the Regents of the tion until May, 1868. In July of that year he University appointed him to deliver a course was appointed, by Governor Crapo, a circuit of forty lectures on the subject of real estate. judge for the County of Wayne, and held This course was commenced in April, I888; the position until his successor was elected and at a meeting of the Board in June follow- by popular vote. He soon afterwards en- ing, he was made Jay Professor of Law. tered into partnership with John I. New- Jerome C. Knowl- bury and Ashley Pond, ton, Assistant Profes- _ two prominent lawyers sor of Law, was ap- of Detroit, and con- pointed as such in tinued with them in 1885. He was born in the practice of the pro- Michigan, Dec. 14, fession until March, i85o, and graduated 1875, when he was ap- from the University of pointed United States Michigan in 1875 with District Judge. Not the degree of A.B., long ago one of the and from the Law Detroit papers con- School in 1878 with tained an article rela- the degree of LL.B., ting to Judge Brown, and immediately en- from which the follow- tered on the practice ing is taken, as not of the law at Ann being without inter- Arbor. In i888 he est: edited an American "He is a man whose edition of Anson on face, head, figure and Contracts, which is gait denote the best of used as a text-book in mental and physical this and other law strength, and seen a schools. He has, in square away, protected the main, had charge NOWLTON. by an English cape-coat of the text-book work JEROME C. I or an ordinary American of the Department. overcoat, the stranger Henry B. Brown, LL.D., the lecturer on would call the man about thirty years old. The Admiralty, is the United States District Judge judge is in reality about fifty years old ; but a strong for the Eastern District of Michigan. He neck, head, and shoulders at work in producing a was born in Lee, Berkshire County, Mass., swinging yet rather jaunty step, which is accompa- March 2, 1836. He graduated from the nied by free and careless manipulation of a slight Academic Department of Yale College in cane, produces an appearance of athletic youthful- ness, quite in keeping with the man's health and i856, and spent the year following his strength. On the bench the judge is dignified, graduation travelling in Europe. On his almost austere; but he is right. He has remark- return to this country he commenced the able power as a judge in the readiness with which study of law. He spent one year in the he sees and passes upon a point raised by an Yale Law School, and then entered the Har- attorney practising before him. In this way he vard Law School. In December, 1859, he is an expeditious judge, saving much valuable came to Detroit, and in July, i86o, was ad- time. While he is dignified, he is patient, careful,

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 207 1889 208 The Green Bag. fair, and wise, and there is no judge on earth in The spacious building occupied by the whom the members of the Detroit and Michigan Law School was dedicated to its use in 1863, bar have greater confidence and for whom they Judge Cooley delivering the dedicatory ad- have greater respect. Our judge is, besides being dress. On the first floor are located the a fine lawyer and an able judge, an experienced offices of the professors, and the library. traveller, and fond of books about travellers; an The lecture-room, with a capacity for five ardent lover of children, a courtly host, a con- hundred students, is located on the second noisseur of bric-a-brac and curios, an expert in floor, as is also a large recitation-room, used domestic architecture, a lover of pictures, and a fbr the text-book work of the school. The good judge of them." third floor contains ample debating and so- We may add that, on the death of Mr. ciety rooms. There are two Literary Soci- the Webster Justice Stanley Matthews, the name of Judge eties connected with the school, Brown has been very favorably mentioned and the Jeffersonian. These societies hold in connection with a nomination to the place their meetings on Wednesday evening of on the bench thus made vacant, and his each week during the college year. The friends are earnestly hoping that he will be Webster Society was organized when the elevated to that high station. Law School was first established, and it In addition to the regular Faculty of the has a membership of more than sixteen school are some special lecturers of whom hundred. mention may be made. Melville M. Bigelow There are two Greek-letter secret societies of Boston, the well-known law writer, is a existing in the Law School. One of these, lecturer in this Law School on the subject of the Phi Delta Phi, was founded here in 1869 Insurance. William G. Hammond, Dean of by John M. Howard of the Class of 1871. the St. Louis Law School, lectures here on Its membership, we understand, is confined the History of the Common Law. Special to students in law schools and to active lectures have also been delivered on Medical practitioners. Since its organization in this Jurisprudence by Victor C. Vaughn, Ph.D., Law School it has been established in fifteen M.D., and by Charles H. Stowell, M.D. of the leading law schools of the country, and The Hon. Otto Kirchner, ex-Attorney-Gen- numbers among its members some of the eral of Michigan, lectured in the school for most distinguished lawyers and judges, in- a time. He is a thorough student, and one cluding the late Chief-Justice Waite and of the most prominent members of the Mr. Justice Miller of the Supreme Court of bar of Michigan. Prof. Harry B. Hutchins, the United States. A chapter of the Sigma now of the Cornell Law School, held a pro- Chi fraternity, which in other institutions fessorship here for two or three years. He exists as a literary college secret society, was a graduate of the Literary Department was established here in 1877, and is here of the Class of 187I, with the degree of composed almost exclusively of students in Ph.B., and rendered the University good the Law Department. Both of these soci- service as an efficient lecturer and thorough eties have been very careful as to their teacher of the law. membership.

HeinOnline -- 1 Green Bag 208 1889