University of Detroit Mercy School of Law

Introduction

Founded in 1912, the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (UDM Law) is a private law school in downtown Detroit sponsored by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Located opposite the General Motors headquarters in the Renaissance Center, the School is within walking distance of federal and state courts, downtown law firms, and Detroit's municipal center. Windsor, Ontario, Canada, is a five-minute drive by tunnel or bridge across the Detroit River. Metropolitan Detroit not only offers renowned cultural institutions like the Detroit Institute of Art and the Detroit Opera House, but provides a distinctive setting for the study of contemporary legal issues such as energy and the environment, immigration, global transactions, and complex corporate transactions.

UDM Law offers a comprehensive legal education through day and evening programs that incorporate a broad array of required and elective courses to prepare practice-ready graduates. The School is approved by the ABA and is a member of the AALS.

Law School Campus

UDM Law's historic campus features completely renovated classrooms and common areas with wireless access, administrative and student service offices, a bookstore, a cafeteria, and student organization offices, all located within the law school complex. The School's Kresge Law Library contains comfortable individual and group study, reading, and computer areas. The library houses more than 340,000 volumes and serves as a federal depository.

Curriculum

UDM Law offers a three-year, full-time program and day and evening part-time programs leading to the JD degree. Required courses include Applied Legal Theory and Analysis, Basic Federal Tax, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Evidence, Professional Responsibility, Property, Torts, Law Firm Program courses, an international or comparative law course, a clinic, and a seminar.

Applied Legal Theory and Analysis immerses first-year students in the fundamental lawyering skills of communication, research, legal analysis and reasoning, and problem-solving. In its Law Firm Program courses, third-year students receive work assignments, feedback, and professional skills development as if they were first-year lawyers in law firms, government agencies, and other legal settings. Law Firm Program courses focus on a substantive area of the law or a type of practice. The School's Law Firm Program includes more than 20 courses in areas such as Bankruptcy, Environmental Law, Floor Financing, Health Law, Immigration Law, International Arbitration, Software Licensing, and Toxic Torts.

UDM Law's legal education program offers several clinical opportunities: Appellate Advocacy Clinic through the State Appellate Defender Office, Consumer Defense Clinic, Criminal Trial Clinic, Immigration Law Clinic, Juvenile Law Appellate Clinic, Mediation Training and Mediation Clinic, Mortgage Foreclosure Defense Clinic, Urban Law Clinic, US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims Practice and Procedure Clinic, Veterans Clinic, Youth Justice Clinic, and a wide array of externships. UDM's Mobile Law Offices have taken the clinic's immigration, veterans, and other services beyond the campus and into the community.

Special Programs

• Dual Canadian and American JD—The School of Law and the University of Windsor Faculty of Law offer a unique Dual JD program designed to educate students to understand the legal doctrines and cultures of the United States and Canada. Students complete 60 credits at UDM and 44 credits at Windsor. Most required courses taken at both law schools cover US and Canadian law relevant to the subject areas. The program enables the successful student to obtain an American Bar Association-approved Juris Doctor (JD) from UDM Law and the Canadian JD from Windsor.
• JD/LED—The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (UDM) and the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Mexico's leading private law school, have partnered to offer the Degree of the Americas program, a multiple-degree program that allows students bilingual in Spanish and English to earn law degrees in three countries: the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Students enrolled in this program can earn two (JD/LED) or three (Dual Canadian and American JD/LED) degrees in less time than would be required for each degree pursued independently.
• Joint JD/MBA—The School of Law and the College of Business Administration collaborate to offer an integrated degree program leading to the JD and MBA degrees. Students enrolled in the joint-degree program can earn both degrees in significantly less time than would be required for degrees pursued independently. Students are first admitted to and attend law school. At the end of the first year of law school, students apply to the joint-degree program.
• Intellectual Property Law Institute—Through a consortium with other law schools, UDM Law offers a wide variety of courses in intellectual property such as Copyright Law, Patent Law, Computer Law, Entertainment Law, and others.
• French Scholar Program—The School of Law participates in a professional exchange program with the Universite d'Auvergne Clermont-Ferrand. French scholars visiting the law school each spring teach a comparative law course in English while UDM Law alumni teach at Clermont-Ferrand.
• Special Summer Program (SSP)—UDM Law offers this conditional admission program for applicants who do not meet the minimum standards for admission, but who show potential for the study of law. This seven-week program, beginning in late May, requires students to demonstrate ability in the study of substantive law, legal writing, and research in order to be eligible for admission as a regular student in the fall semester.

Student Organizations and Activities

The School of Law's students edit and publish the Law Review, a quarterly publication of scholarly articles.

A student Moot Court Board of Advocacy administers the School of Law's Keenan and Professional Responsibility competitions; participates in state, regional, and national competitions in first amendment law, ethics, and other areas; and helps to administer the G. Mennen Williams mandatory moot court competition for first-year students. In 2009, UDM Law's Moot Court team won the first national invitational moot court competition.

The Student Bar Association (SBA), affiliated with the Law Student Division of the American Bar Association, plays a significant role in student affairs. As the student government of the school, the SBA authorizes other student organizations, including the Black Law Student Association, the Environmental Law Society, Phi Alpha Delta, St. Thomas More Society, the Women's Law Caucus, the Arab and Chaldean Law Student Association, the Sports and Entertainment Law Society, and many others. Students also regularly publish a student newsletter, In Brief.

Career Services

The School's Career Services Office provides students with a wide range of opportunities through which they may explore career paths in law. The Office sponsors a Preparing to Practice series for upper-class students that introduces them to a variety of practice areas and issues. The Career Services staff provide career counseling services, including résumé and cover letter review. The Office administers the school's annual on-campus interview programs, maintains multiple job information resources, sponsors a mock interview program for first-year students, and hosts numerous networking events to acquaint students with practitioners.

Admission

UDM Law encourages applicants to submit an application for admission by April 15. The Admission Committee considers all elements of an application, including undergraduate grade-point average, Law School Admission Test scores, writing skills, leadership and maturity as evidenced by work and service experiences, graduate work, letters of recommendation, and the personal statement. The Committee reviews applications as they become complete on a continuous basis and communicates decisions as early as possible. The Scholarship Committee considers all admitted applicants for scholarship eligibility. The School awards a significant number of renewable and nonrenewable scholarships to incoming first-year students.

The University of Detroit Mercy and the School of Law adhere to nondiscrimination policies.

Applicant Profile

University of Detroit Mercy School of Law

This grid includes only applicants who earned 120–180 LSAT scores under standard administrations.

	GPA
LSAT Score	3.75+ Apps	3.75+ Adm	3.50– 3.74 Apps	3.50– 3.74 Adm	3.25– 3.49 Apps	3.25– 3.49 Adm	3.00– 3.24 Apps	3.00– 3.24 Adm	2.75– 2.99 Apps	2.75– 2.99 Adm	2.50– 2.74 Apps	2.50– 2.74 Adm	2.25– 2.49 Apps	2.25– 2.49 Adm	2.00– 2.24 Apps	2.00– 2.24 Adm	Below 2.00 Apps	Below 2.00 Adm	No GPA Apps	No GPA Adm	Total Apps	Total Adm
LSAT score 175–180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
LSAT score 170–174	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1
LSAT score 165–169	2	0	3	1	2	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	4	3	0	0	0	0	15	10	28	16
LSAT score 160–164	5	3	4	3	3	3	7	7	7	4	3	2	3	2	1	1	0	0	47	33	80	58
LSAT score 155–159	7	6	15	13	43	40	35	26	23	19	19	12	3	2	2	1	0	0	95	60	242	179
LSAT score 150–154	11	9	34	28	39	34	42	33	40	30	26	19	9	7	6	2	2	0	73	11	282	173
LSAT score 145–149	9	8	24	20	56	43	57	41	50	23	38	12	29	3	10	1	1	0	47	0	321	151
LSAT score 140–144	4	3	24	11	38	12	44	9	45	6	32	0	20	0	11	0	8	0	33	2	259	43
LSAT score 135–139	4	0	9	0	15	0	17	0	26	0	13	0	11	0	11	0	1	0	20	0	127	0
LSAT score 130–134	0	0	2	0	2	0	3	0	4	0	7	0	7	0	4	0	1	0	8	0	38	0
LSAT score 125–129	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	9	0
LSAT score 120–124	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	0
Total	42	29	115	76	198	133	207	116	198	83	140	45	88	17	48	5	13	0	341	117	1390	621

Apps = Number of Applicants
Adm = Number Admitted
Reflects 99% of the total applicant pool; highest LSAT data reported.