Michigan State University College of ?Law completed full integration with Michigan State University on August 17

The Michigan State University College of Law completed its full integration into MSU on August 17.

Prior to the integration, the College of Law had retained its private, financially independent status since starting instruction on MSU’s campus in 1997, though the two institutions grew progressively close over the years. College of Law and MSU leadership committed to the integration in 2018 with the unanimous support of both schools’ governing Boards of Trustees and work began toward full financial, legal and administrative integration.

College of Law faculty and staff became MSU employees on Jan. 1, 2020, and the College of Law’s Board of Trustees was dissolved on August 17. The College of Law’s financial reserves were absorbed by the university, and moving forward, operations will be financed in a manner consistent with all other constituent colleges at Michigan State University.

Taking the final steps towards full integration benefits both the College of Law and the greater MSU community: MSU’s world-class research standing provides College of Law students and faculty with new environments in which to advance legal knowledge, and MSU enhances its research through close connections with highly respected College of Law faculty.

The College of Law plans to expand its impact by advancing its core areas of programmatic strength. Full integration will enable these efforts, encouraging close collaborations between scholars from various disciplines. These relationships can add legal depth of knowledge to the work of MSU researchers and enhance MSU College of Law faculty members’ scholarship by engaging outside areas of expertise.

With nationally recognized programs in immigration law, civil rights, environmental law, indigenous law and more, the College of Law prepares future leaders to solve problems in their communities.

The acclaimed Indigenous Law and Policy Center educates lawyers to advocate for Native people and tribes, one of only a few such programs in the United States.

From providing experiential learning to entrepreneur-lawyers in the Center for Law, Technology, and Innovation to streamlining legal practice through new technology to protecting groundbreaking intellectual property discoveries, the College of Law is looking toward the future and how it can support (and prepare) tomorrow’s innovators.

Expert faculty members guide students through ever-changing business landscapes, leading to careers in business, compliance and regulatory law. Students can further leverage MSU’s strengths by earning dual JD-MBA degrees through the College of Law’s partnership with the top-ranked Eli Broad College of Business.

The College of Law’s focus on preparing lawyers as leaders provides an example of the potential for synergies between the College of Law and Michigan State University. MSU, as the nation’s original land-grant college, places a premium on applied knowledge and its application for the benefit of the larger community, an ethos that has long been embraced at the College of Law.

Through practical leadership training, MSU College of Law students are prepared for powerful careers in government, business and the judiciary. Graduates have included a Michigan governor, state representatives, circuit court judges, Michigan Supreme Court justices, mayors and leaders in a wide range of industries.

Today, the Michigan Leadership Initiative seeks to uphold this legacy by bringing in a select cohort of MSU Law students each year to undertake three years of hands-on leadership training.