The ''Michigan Law Review'' is an American

law review A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also provide ...

and the flagship law journal of the University of Michigan Law School.

History

The ''Michigan Law Review'' was established in 1902, after Gustavus Ohlinger, a student in the Law Department (now the Law School) of the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, approached the dean with a proposal for a law journal. The ''Michigan Law Review'' was originally intended as a forum in which the faculty of the Law Department could publish its legal scholarship. The faculty resolution creating the ''Michigan Law Review'' required every faculty member to submit two articles per year to the new journal. From its inception until 1940, the ''Michigan Law Reviews student members worked under the direction of faculty members who served as

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

. The first of these was Floyd Mechem, the last Paul Kauper. In 1940, the first student editor-in-chief was selected. During the years that followed, student editors were given increasing responsibility and autonomy; today, the ''Michigan Law Review'' is run with no faculty supervision. The current editor-in-chief is Heather Jane Foster. Day-to-day production operations are overseen by the current managing editor, Robert N. Brewer, executive production editor, Margaret R. Larin, and executive development editor, James W. Fitts III. Seven of each volume's eight issues ordinarily are composed of two major parts: "Articles" by legal scholars and practitioners and "Notes" written by the student editors. One issue in each volume is devoted to book reviews. Occasionally special issues are devoted to symposia or colloquia.

Rankings

In 2016, PrawfsBlawg ranked the ''Michigan Law Review'' as the sixth best law journal by weighing its Google Scholar Metrics law journal ranking, US News Peer Reputation Ranking, US News Overall Ranking, and the W&L Combined Ranking. Based on data from 2009 through 2016, Washington and Lee University School of Law ranked the ''Michigan Law Review'' as the seventh best law journal. According to Google Scholar Metrics, the ''Michigan Law Review'' was the seventh best law journal in 2015 and the sixth best law journal in 2014. According to Washington and Lee University School of Law's Law Library, the ''Michigan Law Review'' is the seventh most cited law journal in academic works, being cited in journals 3888 times between 2009 and 2016, and the sixth most cited law journal by courts, being cited in 128 cases between 2009 and 2016. As of 2012, the ''Michigan Law Review'' has published 4 of the 100 most cited law journal articles of all time—the fifth highest of any law journal. Of the 95 articles that constitute the 5 most cited law journal articles from each year between 1991 and 2009, 9 of them were published by the ''Michigan Law Review''—the 5th most of any law journal.

Significant articles

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notable alumni

* Steven G. Bradbury, former head of the Office of Legal Counsel * David W. Belin, assistant counsel to the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President of the United States, President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the A ...

* Francis X. Beytagh, former dean, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law * Charles Blakey Blackmar, former Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri * Michael T. Cahill, Dean of

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a Private university, private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and adjunct faculty. ...

* Ann Coulter, conservative commentator, author, and syndicated columnist * George E. Cryer, former mayor of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

* David M. Ebel, judge,

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Dist ...

* Harry T. Edwards, former Chief Judge,

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. courts of appeals, ...

* Heidi Li Feldman, law professor * Jeffrey L. Fisher,

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

litigator * Heather K. Gerken, dean,

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

* Ronald Gould, judge,

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * Distric ...

* Robert Jerry, dean of the University of Florida Levin College of Law * Alex Joel, first Civil Liberties Protection Officer for the

Office of the Director of National Intelligence The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a cabinet-level United States government intelligence and security official. The position is required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head o ...

* Sally Katzen, former administrator of OIRA * W. Wallace Kent, former judge,

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of K ...

* Bob Kimball, former president and CEO of RealNetworks * Dave Kopel, conservative pundit and blogger * Leah Litman, University of Michigan Law School law professor and co-host of the podcast ''Strict Scrutiny'' * Jeffrey P. Minear, counselor to

Chief Justice

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American jurist serving since 2005 as the 17th chief justice of the United States. He has been described as having a Moderate conservatism, moderate conservative judicial philosophy, thoug ...

. * Ronald L. Olson, "name partner" in the Los Angeles office of the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP * Doug Pappas, baseball writer and researcher who was considered the foremost expert on the business of baseball * John Porter, former

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

* Daniel Tarullo, member of the Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

* David Westin, President of

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

* James D. Zirin, lawyer, writer and cable TV talk show host

Parody

The ''Michigan Raw Review'', a parody of the ''Michigan Law Review'', was published annually by the Barristers Society, a self-styled honorary at the University of Michigan Law School. The ''Raw Review'' used the same cover, layout, and typeface, but contained content totally dissimilar, leaning to the "insulting and semi-pornographic".Swift, Theodore W., "There's a unicorn in the garden", ''Law Quadrangle Notes'' (Fall, 1981)
Reprinted in Frazier, Richard, ''Let the Record Show'', Michigan State University Press, (1997), p. 284.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.michiganlawreview.org/ American law journals General law journals Publications established in 1902 University of Michigan Monthly journals English-language journals 1902 establishments in Michigan Law journals edited by students University of Michigan Law School