# University of Minnesota Law School *Law school of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis; the law school of several holders of Minnesota's principal legal offices.* The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the [[University of Minnesota]], the state's public university, in [[Minneapolis]].[^1][^2] The school's own history page dates its founding to 1888.[^3] It grants four law degrees: the Juris Doctor (J.D.), the Master of Laws (LL.M.), the Master of Science in Patent Law (M.S.P.L.) and the Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.). J.D. students may add concentrations or combine the degree with programs in the university's other graduate and professional schools.[^2] The school's documented output includes holders of Minnesota's chief legal offices. Wikipedia's article on the school states that its graduates held the office of [[Attorney General of Minnesota]] without interruption from 1929 until 2007.[^2] The project's validated claim:link rows, citing the school's history page, list it as the law school of Attorneys General Mondale, Mattson, Head, Spannaus, Humphrey III, Hatch and Ellison.[^3] Three of the last four holders of the [[Hennepin County Attorney]]'s office are its graduates: Tom Johnson (1970), Michael Freeman (1974) and Mary Moriarty (1989). The fourth, Amy Klobuchar, took her law degree at the University of Chicago.[^4][^5][^6][^7] On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] issued release No. 26-21, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^8] The release title uses the United States' own term for the State's apparatus: "Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime".[^8] The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages finds that no other U.S. state has been so described; that is the project's catalogue finding. The record assembled here does not establish whether the school figures in that action. ## Who William S. Pattee was the school's first dean, from 1888 to 1911. Everett Fraser held the deanship from 1920 to 1948.[^2] The twelfth and current dean is William McGeveran. He has taught at the school for more than 18 years and was its interim dean in the 2023–24 academic year.[^2] Three recent former deans went on to lead colleges: - Tom Sullivan, the eighth dean, as president of the University of Vermont (2012–19); - David Wippman, the tenth dean, at Hamilton College (2016–2024); - Garry Jenkins, the eleventh dean, at Bates College from 2023.[^2] Faculty documented in the record include Richard W. Painter, whose 2017 curriculum vitae the school hosts, and Beverly Balos, who has a faculty profile on the school's site.[^9][^10] Robert A. Stein, a 1961 graduate and professor, received a Global Engagement Award, which the school announced on June 6, 2016.[^11] Walter Mondale, a 1956 graduate, later became [[Vice President of the United States]] and U.S. Ambassador to Japan. The school renamed its building for him, and students call the school's mascot the "Fighting Mondales."[^12][^2] Among graduates who clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court, Kyle D. Hawkins (2009) clerked for Justice [[Samuel Alito]] in the 2013 Term. Amy L. Bergquist (2007) clerked for Justice [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]] in the 2010 Term.[^2] The school's own publications present its graduates' public careers: - an interview with Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman ('74), dated January 31, 2020;[^13] - a notice dated November 29, 2017, mourning former Attorney General Warren Spannaus ('63);[^14] - a June 17, 2025 tribute to Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman ('95);[^15] - a law-magazine feature, *Supremely Situated*, on four alumni then serving on the state's highest court.[^16] Set beside those pages, the office-holding record in this article is what the institution's self-account celebrates, stated as dates and counts. ## What In 1982 the school and Harvard Law School jointly created the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI). Nearly every U.S. law school now belongs to CALI, and the center keeps offices at the school.[^2] The school runs 24 clinics in which student attorneys work on actual cases under supervising attorneys. Wikipedia reports that more than half of students enroll in at least one clinic, which it puts at twice the national average.[^2] The school's clinical-programs listing includes a Domestic Abuse Prosecution Clinic.[^17] In 2015, faculty and students of the school's Center for New Americans carried an immigration case to the U.S. Supreme Court and won.[^2] More than 95 percent of second-year J.D. students take part in moot court or a legal journal.[^2] The school's journals include the *Minnesota Law Review*, which Washington and Lee University School of Law's rankings placed 9th among all law reviews.[^18][^2] *Law and Inequality* ranked first among family-law journals in those rankings, as did the *Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology* for energy law.[^19][^2] The Law Library holds more than one million volumes and is reported as the seventh-largest U.S. law library. Its Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center keeps one of the country's three leading rare legal collections. The school marked its millionth volume by acquiring the papers of Clarence Darrow.[^2] ## When - 1888: founding year given on the school's history page; William S. Pattee's deanship begins. Pattee's own books became the first holdings of the law library.[^3][^2] - 1928: the school relocates from Pattee Hall to Fraser Hall.[^2] - 1929–2007: span during which, per Wikipedia, the school's graduates continuously held the office of Attorney General of Minnesota.[^2] - 1978: move to the present building, first called the Law Center.[^2] - 1982: CALI founded with Harvard Law School.[^2] - 1999–2001: west-bank expansion of the building, which was renamed Walter F. Mondale Hall. Wikipedia's alumni section dates the renaming to 2002.[^2] - 2006: a summer J.D. program opens in Beijing, first with the China University of Political Science and Law and, two years later, with Renmin University. In fall 2006 the school announced an exchange with the Universidad de Montevideo.[^2] ## Where The school occupies Walter F. Mondale Hall on the west bank of the university's Minneapolis campus.[^2] Its semester exchanges abroad include partners in Barcelona, Uppsala, Lyon, Berlin, Dublin, Tilburg, Milan and Hamburg.[^2] ## How much For 2020–2021, tuition was $43,704 for Minnesota residents and $52,560 for non-residents.[^2] More than 95 percent of students receive financial aid. Scholarships are awarded at admission and range from $5,000 to full tuition.[^2] The 2015 graduates who entered the private sector had a median starting salary above $115,000, and 93 percent of that class were known to be employed by March 2016.[^2] ## How many - 704 professional students, most of them in the J.D. program, with a student-to-faculty ratio of 8:1.[^2] - Half of the entering Class of 2028 had a GPA above 3.88, an LSAT score above 171, or both. The five-year average bar passage rate was 96.91 percent.[^2] - About 13,000 living alumni in 50 states and 70 countries, 275 of them serving as federal or state judges.[^2] - 3 of the last 4 Hennepin County Attorneys are graduates of the school.[^4][^5][^6][^7] ## In the at-issue record - **[[At issue 015 - Three of the last four Hennepin County Attorneys]]** states that three of the last four Hennepin County Attorneys are graduates of the school: Johnson (1970), Freeman (1974) and Moriarty (1989). It adds that the office deciding what is prosecuted in the state's largest county has drawn three of its last four holders from one school. The pair is anchored to the White House presidential action of January 2025 on ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity.[^20][^4][^5][^6] - **[[At issue 016 - The one exception to the University of Minnesota]]** states that the exception among the four is Amy Klobuchar, a University of Chicago law graduate. It also states that she alone of the four left the office for higher federal office rather than being succeeded within the county. The pair carries the same anchor.[^20][^7] The record shows the law schools and terms of the last four county attorneys. It does not establish why the office was filled as it was. ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - **[[Tom Johnson]]** graduated from the school in 1970 and was Hennepin County Attorney from 1979 to 1991. The school reported his death in June 2020.[^4] - **[[Michael Freeman]]** graduated from Rutgers (B.A., 1970) and earned his J.D. at the school in 1974.[^5][^21][^13] - He represented District 40 in the [[Minnesota Senate]] from 1982 to 1991 and was Majority Whip in his second term.[^5][^21] - He was Hennepin County Attorney from January 7, 1991 to January 5, 1999, and again from January 3, 2007 to January 2, 2023.[^5][^21] - He lost the 1994 DFL endorsement to [[John Marty]]. In 1998 he won the DFL endorsement but lost the primary to [[Skip Humphrey]].[^21][^22] - As county attorney he declined to bring charges in the [[Jamar Clark]] (2016) and Thurman Blevins (2018) cases. He charged [[Mohamed Noor]] (2018), and [[Derek Chauvin]] and three other officers (2020).[^21] - **[[Amy Klobuchar]]** holds a Yale B.A. (1982) and a [[University of Chicago Law School]] J.D. (1985). She was Hennepin County Attorney from January 5, 1999 to January 3, 2007, the one holder among the last four who is not a graduate of the school.[^7] - **[[Mary Moriarty]]** graduated from the school in 1989 and was Hennepin County Chief Public Defender from 2014 to 2021.[^6] - She has been County Attorney since January 2, 2023, in a term ending January 4, 2027.[^6] - On [[August 7, 2025]], she announced she would not seek a second term.[^6] - In the [[August 11, 2026 nonpartisan primary]], [[Cedrick Frazier]] and Anders Folk advanced to the general election on [[November 3, 2026]].[^23] ## Notes [^1]: University of Minnesota Law School, *University of Minnesota Law School* (official site) — the school's identity as the law school of the University of Minnesota. https://www.law.umn.edu/ [^2]: Wikipedia, *University of Minnesota Law School* (revision 1378396801, retrieved Oct. 27, 2026) — degrees, deans, buildings, CALI, clinics, journals, library, tuition, enrollment, alumni counts, the Attorney General statement (1929–2007), clerkships and exchanges. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Minnesota_Law_School [^3]: University of Minnesota Law School, *Our History* — founding year 1888; cited by the project's validated claim:link rows (nos. 51, 70) listing the school as the law school of Attorneys General Mondale, Mattson, Head, Spannaus, Humphrey III, Hatch and Ellison. https://law.umn.edu/about/our-history [^4]: University of Minnesota Law School, *Tom Johnson '70, Former Hennepin County Attorney, Dies at 75* (June 17, 2020) — Johnson's 1970 law degree and his 1979–1991 term as county attorney. https://law.umn.edu/news/2020-06-17-tom-johnson-70-former-hennepin-county-attorney-dies-75 [^5]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Legislators Past & Present: Michael Orville Freeman* — J.D. 1974; Senate District 40, 1982–1991; Majority Whip; county attorney terms. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?id=10197 [^6]: Wikipedia, *Mary Moriarty* (retrieved 2026) — 1989 law degree; chief public defender 2014–2021; term since Jan. 2, 2023, ending Jan. 4, 2027; Aug. 7, 2025 announcement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Moriarty [^7]: Wikipedia, *Amy Klobuchar* (retrieved 2026) — county attorney Jan. 5, 1999 – Jan. 3, 2007; Yale B.A. 1982; University of Chicago Law School J.D. 1985. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Klobuchar [^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — release title, and certification of the case by Attorney General Pamela Bondi as a matter of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^9]: University of Minnesota Law School, *Richard W. Painter CV* (2017) — Painter's University of Minnesota Law School faculty appointment. https://law.umn.edu/sites/law.umn.edu/files/profile/rpainter/painter-cv-2017.pdf [^10]: University of Minnesota Law School, *Beverly Balos — Faculty Profile* — Balos's faculty profile. https://law.umn.edu/profiles/beverly-balos [^11]: University of Minnesota Law School, *Prof. Robert A. Stein ('61) Receives Global Engagement Award* (June 6, 2016) — the award to Stein. https://law.umn.edu/news/2016-06-06-prof-robert-stein-61-receives-global-engagement-award [^12]: Wikipedia, *Walter Mondale* (retrieved 2026) — Mondale as a University of Minnesota Law alumnus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Mondale [^13]: University of Minnesota Law School, *Asked & Answered: Mike Freeman '74: Hennepin County Attorney* (Jan. 31, 2020) — Freeman's 1974 law degree and county-attorney service. https://law.umn.edu/news/2020-01-31-asked-answered-mike-freeman-74-hennepin-county-attorney-more-two-decades [^14]: University of Minnesota Law School, *Law School Mourns the Passing of Warren Spannaus '63* (Nov. 29, 2017) — the school's notice on Spannaus. https://law.umn.edu/news/2017-11-29-extraordinary-public-leader-and-human-being-law-school-mourns-passing-warren-spannaus-63 [^15]: University of Minnesota Law School, *Tribute: Minnesota Law Mourns Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman '95* (June 17, 2025) — the school's tribute to Hortman. https://law.umn.edu/news/2025-06-17-tribute-minnesota-law-mourns-speaker-emerita-melissa-hortman-95 [^16]: University of Minnesota Law Magazine, *Supremely Situated* — feature on four alumni on the Minnesota Supreme Court. https://minnesotalawmag.law.umn.edu/stories/meet-the-four-minnesota-law-alums-on-their-state-s-highest-court [^17]: University of Minnesota Law School, *Clinical Programs* — listing that includes the Domestic Abuse Prosecution Clinic. https://law.umn.edu/academics/clinical-programs [^18]: Minnesota Law Review, *Minnesota Law Review* (journal site) — the school's law review. https://minnesotalawreview.org/ [^19]: University of Minnesota Law School, *Law and Inequality* (journal archive) — the school's journal. https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/lawineq/ [^20]: The White House, presidential action on ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity (January 2025) — the anchor cited by at-issue pairs 015 and 016. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ [^21]: Wikipedia, *Michael O. Freeman* (retrieved 2026) — biography, endorsement contests and charging decisions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_O._Freeman [^22]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Michael O. Freeman papers* (finding aid) — Freeman's political career. https://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00531.xml [^23]: Wikipedia, *2026 Hennepin County Attorney election* (retrieved 2026) — Cedrick Frazier and Anders Folk advancing from the Aug. 11, 2026 primary to the Nov. 3, 2026 general election. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Hennepin_County_Attorney_election