# Mitchell Hamline School of Law *Private law school in Saint Paul, Minnesota, formed by the 2015 merger of Hamline University School of Law and William Mitchell College of Law* Mitchell Hamline School of Law came into existence on December 9, 2015. On that date, an American Bar Association–approved merger combined Hamline University School of Law with William Mitchell College of Law.[^1][^2] Located in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]], the school is private and ABA-accredited. Its Juris Doctor program can be taken full time or part time.[^3] According to the Wikipedia article on the school, U.S. News & World Report placed it in the 147th–193rd band nationally in 2023. In 2021, 120 of its 180 graduates sitting the Minnesota bar exam for the first time passed, or 66.67%. The rate for all ABA-approved law school graduates taking that exam was 79.48%.[^3] In the project's records, the school appears through its own web pages and through the officials and judges connected to it. These include faculty biography pages, alumni notices, and a news obituary.[^4][^7][^10] Project claim:link rows cite the school under six legal theories as a "credentialing institution." The pages those rows cite establish only the school's existence and its 2015 formation, not the theories' characterizations, and this article does not adopt them.[^4][^1] ## History The ABA's approval of the William Mitchell–Hamline combination was announced in a school news item dated December 10, 2015, the day after the merger took effect.[^1] The school's own history page covers the 2015 merger.[^2] Wikipedia reports that William Mitchell had earlier been assembled from several law schools in the Twin Cities. It also reports that Mark C. Gordon led the combined school as its first dean until leaving that post in 2019.[^3] ## Profile, rankings, and employment Wikipedia gives the school's Fall 2022 admissions figures. About two in three applicants (65%) were offered admission, and 341 of those admitted (55%) matriculated. The entering class had a median LSAT score of 152 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.33, and 69% enrolled in the part-time track. Total enrollment is given as 1,211 students.[^3] The same article reports the 2023 U.S. News placement of 147th–193rd, in the bottom quarter nationally, alongside a ninth-place national ranking in dispute resolution.[^3] The school graduated 331 students in 2021. Within nine months, 41.7% of them held full-time, long-term positions requiring a JD.[^3] Wikipedia also compares the school's 2021 first-time Minnesota bar results with those of other schools: - **Mitchell Hamline:** 66.67%. - **All ABA-approved graduates:** 79.48%. - **University of St. Thomas School of Law:** 80.1%. - **[[University of Minnesota Law School]]:** 95.7%. Across all jurisdictions, 309 Mitchell Hamline graduates took a bar exam in 2021, and 59.55% passed.[^3] Wikipedia is the only source in the record for these figures. The record carries no ABA disclosure or bar-examiner report against which to check them.[^3] ## Academics Wikipedia lists a Health Law Institute and an Indian Law Program among the school's academic units.[^3] The school's hybrid, or blended-learning, program dates from its William Mitchell period. It followed an early-2000s recommendation by an ABA task force that law schools be allowed to experiment.[^3] The first hybrid cohort had 85 students, aged 22 to 67, from 30 states and two countries. Fourteen of them held M.B.A.s, five held M.D.s and three held PhDs.[^3] Student journals include the *Mitchell Hamline Law Review*, the intellectual-property review *Cybaris*, and the *Mitchell Hamline Journal of Public Policy and Practice*.[^3] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - The school maintains biography pages for: - [[Hubert H. Humphrey III]], listed among its faculty biographies.[^5] - Anne K. McKeig, listed among its adjunct faculty and biographies.[^6] - Mark Metz: - The school's biography for Mark Metz states that "He is a graduate of William Mitchell." It also states that he clerked for Judge James A. Morrow of the Anoka County District Court, that he is an Adjunct/Affiliated Professor in the Advocacy program, and that he "has argued before the [[Minnesota Supreme Court]]."[^7] - A project dossier identifies the contact number on that biography as a [[Carver County Attorney's Office]] line.[^7] - The dossier cites a 2014 Sun Patriot question-and-answer piece with the Carver County Attorney for a tenure described as eight years at that date.[^8] - A school news item dated May 19, 2022 reports that Justice Tomljanovich '55 was honored at a Women in Law celebration.[^9] - Patch's [[Stillwater]] edition reported Pete Orput's death on April 5, 2022 under the headline *A 'Champion' For Justice: Washington Co. Mourns Pete Orput's Death*. It described "Mitchell Hamline School of Law, which Orput graduated from in 1988."[^10] The school did not exist under that name until 2015.[^1] ### What - The school operates the Rosalie Wahl Legal Practice Center.[^11] ### When - December 9, 2015: the school was formed by merger.[^1][^2] - December 10, 2015: the school published its news item on the ABA approval.[^1] - 2019: the founding dean stepped down, according to Wikipedia.[^3] ### Where - Saint Paul, Minnesota.[^3] ### How - The school was formed by an ABA-approved merger of the two predecessor law schools.[^1][^2] ## Notes [^1]: Mitchell Hamline School of Law, news release on ABA approval of the William Mitchell–Hamline combination (Dec. 10, 2015) — school formed December 9, 2015 by ABA-approved merger of William Mitchell and Hamline law schools. https://mitchellhamline.edu/news/2015/12/10/aba-approves-combination-of-william-mitchell-hamline-law/ [^2]: Mitchell Hamline School of Law, *Merger History (2015)* — the school's account of the 2015 merger. https://mitchellhamline.edu/about/history/ [^3]: Wikipedia, *Mitchell Hamline School of Law* (rev. 1369954485, retrieved 2026-10-26) — location, accreditation, earlier mergers, founding dean, Fall 2022 admissions, 2023 U.S. News ranking, 2021 employment and bar-passage figures, academic programs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Hamline_School_of_Law [^4]: Mitchell Hamline School of Law, *home page* — the school's site, the URL cited in the project's claim:link rows. https://mitchellhamline.edu/ [^5]: Mitchell Hamline School of Law, *Hubert H. Humphrey III — Faculty Biographies* — biography page. https://mitchellhamline.edu/biographies/person/hubert-h-humphrey-iii/ [^6]: Mitchell Hamline School of Law, *Adjunct Faculty and Biographies: Anne K. McKeig* — biography page. https://mitchellhamline.edu/biographies/person/anne-k-mckeig/ [^7]: Mitchell Hamline School of Law, *Faculty biography: Mark Metz* — William Mitchell graduate; law clerk to Judge James A. Morrow, Anoka County District Court; Adjunct/Affiliated Professor, Advocacy program; has argued before the Minnesota Supreme Court; contact line identified in project dossier as Carver County Attorney's Office. https://mitchellhamline.edu/biographies/?person=mark-metz [^8]: Sun Patriot (Hometown Source), *Q&A — Carver County Attorney* (2014) — cited in project dossier for tenure described as eight years as of 2014. https://www.hometownsource.com/sun_patriot/news/local/q-a---carver-county-attorney/article_e118028a-0fdf-5cad-be0a-17bfffb06e64.html [^9]: Mitchell Hamline School of Law, *Justice Tomljanovich '55 honored at Women in Law celebration* (May 19, 2022) — school news item. https://mitchellhamline.edu/news/2022/05/19/justice-tomljanovich-55-honored-at-women-in-law-celebration/ [^10]: Patch (Stillwater), *A 'Champion' For Justice: Washington Co. Mourns Pete Orput's Death* (Apr. 5, 2022) — reports Orput graduated in 1988. https://patch.com/minnesota/stillwater/champion-justice-washington-co-mourns-pete-orput-s-death [^11]: Mitchell Hamline School of Law, *Rosalie Wahl Legal Practice Center* — the school's practice-center page. https://mitchellhamline.edu/legal-practice-center/