Thomas M. Cooley Law School: Learn About the Faculty, Programs, and More

Summary

Thomas M. Cooley Law School is one of the most respected law schools in the United States. Located in Lansing, Michigan, Thomas M. Cooley Law School provides students with a comprehensive legal education, preparing them for successful careers in law. Established in 1972, the school is accredited by the American Bar Association and offers a variety of degrees, including a Juris Doctor (JD) degree, a Master of Laws (LLM) degree, and a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) degree.


Thomas M. Cooley Law School's curriculum covers a wide range of legal topics, including civil litigation, constitutional law, criminal law, legal writing, and tax law. The school also offers courses in various areas of specialized law, such as family law, intellectual property law, international and comparative law, and more. Thomas M. Cooley Law School also offers an in-depth internship program, providing students with the opportunity to gain real-world legal experience while they complete their degree.

The faculty at Thomas M. Cooley Law School are highly regarded and are committed to providing students with an excellent legal education. The faculty consists of both full-time and part-time professors, and each professor brings a unique perspective to the classroom. The school also offers a variety of clinical programs, allowing students to gain hands-on experience in a real-world legal setting.

Thomas M. Cooley Law School also provides students with a variety of resources to help them succeed in their legal studies. The school provides students with access to a library, professional career services, and a variety of student organizations. The school also provides students with the opportunity to participate in moot court competitions, international exchange programs, and academic conferences.

Thomas M. Cooley Law School is committed to preparing students for successful and rewarding careers in law. The school provides a comprehensive legal education that prepares students to practice law in the U.S. and internationally. The school also offers a variety of resources and programs to help students succeed, and its faculty are dedicated to providing a high-quality legal education. Thomas M. Cooley Law School is committed to preparing its students for meaningful, successful careers in law.
 

Thomas M. Cooley Law School: A Brief History

Thomas M. Cooley Law School was founded in 1972. It was established to meet the needs of the growing legal profession, which was experiencing a shortage of qualified legal professionals. The law school was established as a non-profit institution and is accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA). It is located in Lansing, Michigan, and is one of the largest law schools in the United States. The school offers a variety of educational and experiential opportunities to its students, including traditional classroom instruction and hands-on legal experience.
 

Thomas M. Cooley Law School's Educational Excellence

Thomas M. Cooley Law School has been recognized for its academic excellence by several organizations and publications. It has been ranked highly by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top law schools in the country. The school offers an array of specialty law programs, including environmental law, intellectual property, trial practice, health law, and international law. The school also offers an extensive range of clinical programs, which teach students how to handle real-life legal matters.
 

Thomas M. Cooley Law School's Professional Network

Thomas M. Cooley Law School is connected to a vast professional network of alumni and faculty. The school's alumni are well-connected in both the private and public sectors. This makes it easy for graduates to pursue employment opportunities and career advancement in their chosen fields of law. The faculty at the school works closely with students and helps guide them as they pursue their legal ambitions.
 

Thomas M. Cooley Law School's Commitment to Diversity

A hallmark of Thomas M. Cooley Law School is its commitment to diversity. The school is dedicated to fostering an environment of inclusion and acceptance, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender. It actively works to recruit and retain a diverse student body and faculty. This commitment to diversity is reflected in the make-up of the school's student body, which is composed of individuals from all backgrounds and walks of life.

Cooley was founded in 1972 by a group of lawyers led by then Michigan Chief Justice Thomas E. Brennan. The school was named after Thomas M. Cooley, another former Chief Justice and leading constitutional commentator with an unrivalled record of distinction in Michigan jurisprudence history. Cooley Law School has been fully accredited by the American Bar Association since 1978 and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools since 2001.

With an entering class of more than 700 first-year students in 2003, size is certainly the most striking characteristic of Cooley's student body. The diversity among the 2,019 students at Cooley is quickly apparent, with 38% belonging to racial minority groups. In fact, according to the school, Cooley ranks as either first or second in total minority enrollment among the nation's law schools, in addition to likely holding the number-one spot for total enrollment of African-American law students. Cooley's diverseness not only ensures a comfortable environment for individuals of all backgrounds, but it also provides students with a wide cross-section of cultural and societal perspectives on legal issues throughout their education.

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Cooley's size allows the school to offer the most flexible course scheduling of any law school in the nation, making it a great choice for those who must coordinate their schooling with other professional or personal obligations. Cooley offers classes year-round, and students have the option of taking morning, afternoon, evening or weekend classes. While greater than 70% of Cooley students go part-time, the school's flexible scheduling enables eager students to complete their education in as little as two years. For geographic convenience, Cooley also offers classes at Michigan partner institutions Oakland University in Rochester and Western Michigan University in Grand Rapids.

Cooley boasts a full-time faculty of 89 on its roster, in addition to at least 100 more adjunct professors who cover a wide range of elective topics. Thanks to this large team of experienced legal experts, Cooley is able to maintain reasonable class sizes and a relatively good 19:1 student/faculty ratio in spite of its size. Of course, a large school also means a large network of Cooley alumni, broadening students' potential opportunities for developing important contacts who would serve as mentors and provide general advice that may ultimately lead to employment.

Cooley recently distinguished itself as a model for promoting the integrity and reputation of the legal profession through implementation of its innovative Professionalism Plan. The ambitious plan, developed in 2002 by a joint effort of Cooley and the State Bar of Michigan, outlines 18 specific initiatives adopted to foster professionalism within the student community, focused in three key areas: teaching students to be professional and become professionals, incorporating professionalism in the law school environment, and taking successes outside the school as a model for others. The Plan's commitment to providing students with the knowledge, skills, and ethics to succeed as legal professionals plays a key role throughout Cooley's academic culture.

In addition to its academic course offerings, Cooley offers a number of outstanding clinics that prepare students for the practical application of law. The Sixty Plus, Inc., Elderlaw Clinic teaches students to advocate for people over 60 years old in a variety of hands-on civil law situations. The Estate Planning Clinic offers hands-on experience in counseling clients on wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives. The Cooley Innocence Project lets students work with criminal defense attorneys to seek the release of wrongly convicted prisoners; in fact, the project has been credited with the release of more than 100 of these prisoners, mainly with the help of DNA testing. These clinics supplement the 1,000-plus externship sites approved for students by the Cooley Curriculum Committee for gaining applied experience in the practice of law.

As part of the school's dedication to providing legal education to people from all walks of life, Cooley uses a fair and objective formula for determining eligibility for admissions. The formula multiplies a student's undergraduate GPA by 15 and adds it to the student's highest LSAT score to produce the Admissions Index. For the 2004-05 year, the minimum index for acceptance is 183 (with a minimum LSAT score of 143), though each class always includes a limited number of alternate conditional admissions spots available for special cases.

Cooley makes every effort to keep tuition as low as possible, with a 2004 tuition of $750 per credit hour. This translates to an estimated tuition for part-time students of $17,040, and for full-time students of $21,300, ranking Cooley 11th in affordability among the nation's 108 private law schools. Add the relatively low cost of living in the Lansing area, and Cooley turns out to be a great value. Plus, greater than 85% of Cooley's student body takes advantage of financial-aid opportunities in the form of loans and scholarships to offset the cost of their education.

Cooley's main Lansing campus consists of the second-largest physical plant among the nation's accredited law schools, with superior classrooms and other facilities. This includes the 440,000-volume Thomas E. Brennan Law Library, which ranks in the top third of law libraries. Cooley is centrally located in Michigan, and during their off time, students can take advantage of the many outdoor adventures the state, and its proximity to the Great Lakes, invites, including skiing, hiking, and fishing. Lansing is also a short jaunt by car from Detroit and Chicago, making for easy weekend getaways.

For prospective students searching for an affordable and flexible legal education within a large and diverse student community, Cooley Law School is an excellent choice.