List of University of Michigan Law School alumni

The list of University of Michigan Law School alumni includes notable alumni of University of Michigan Law School.

Alphabetized list A-D

Ralph W. Aigler (J.D. 1907), expert on property; member of U-M faculty, 1910–1954; inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor Gideon Winans Allen (LAW 1864), Wisconsin State Assemblyman Ronald J. Allen (J.D. 1973), Northwestern University John Henry Wigmore Professor of Law, one of only four Americans to be designated as a Yangtze River Scholar (China's highest academic award, formerly only for Nobel laureates) in 2007; the first law professor to receive the award, which usually goes to scientists or economists Justin Amash (J.D. 2005), U.S. congressman from Michigan, 2011–2021 Edgardo Angara (LL.M. 1964), former president of the University of the Philippines; Senate president of the Philippines George Ariyoshi (J.D. 1952), third governor of Hawaii (1974–1986) Susanne Baer (LL.M. 1993), elected to the German Federal Constitutional Court in February 2011 Melody Barnes (J.D. 1989), director of the president's Domestic Policy Council Mitchell Berman, professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School Mary Frances Berry (J.D. 1970), former chairwoman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights; current professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania Lester Bird (LL.B. 1959), prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda Henry Bodenstab (LL.B. 1898), Wisconsin state senator Heidi Bond (J.D.), bestselling author of historical romance novels under the pseudonym Courtney Milan Willard Lee Boyd (LAW: LL.M. 1952; S.J.D. 1962), president emeritus of University of Iowa, and its 15th president; chairman of the Association of American Universities, 1979–1980 Steven G. Bradbury (J.D. 1988), former acting assistant attorney general (Office of Legal Counsel) Charles Henry Brown, speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives John Robert Brown (J.D. 1932), judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, one of the "Fifth Circuit Four" Vernon A. Bullard (LL.B. 1884), United States attorney for the District of Vermont William J. Bulow (LL.B. 1893), U.S. senator from and governor of South Dakota Rousseau Angelus Burch (1885), justice of the Kansas Supreme Court Nicole (Niki) Burnham (J.D. 1994), author, RITA award winner Clarence A. Buskirk, 10th Indiana attorney general (1874–1878) Michael T. Cahill (1996), dean of Brooklyn Law School Llewellyn L. Callaway (LL.B. 1891), chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court"Supreme Court Commission Is Named By The Justices", The Anaconda Standard (March 8, 1903), p. 3. David Francis Cargo (LL.B. 1957), governor of New Mexico, 1967–71; New Mexico State House of Representatives Albuquerque (1963–67) Roger Carter (LL.M., 1968), dean of University of Saskatchewan College of Law; recipient of Order of CanadaUncredited, Profile of Roger Carter ; Robertson Stromberg. Retrieved 2016-11-28. Avern Cohn (J.D. 1949), judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan William W. Cook (JD 1882), heavily published and cited author of textbooks on corporate law; donor of the quadrangle to Michigan Ann Coulter (J.D. 1988), political personality, author Mike Cox (J.D. 1989), Michigan attorney general, 2003–2010 Andrew Cray, LGBT rights activist and husband of Delaware state senator Sarah McBride George Crockett Jr. (LAW: 1934), civil rights activist; helped found the National Lawyers Guild; first African-American lawyer hired by the Department of Labor; recorder's court judge, Detroit, Michigan, 1966–74; U.S. House of Representatives (D-Mich.), 1991 Katie Cummings, Asian-American hockey player and lawyer Byron Mac Cutcheon (LL.B. 1866), American Civil War officer; Medal of Honor recipient; politician from Michigan Clarence Darrow (attended), trial lawyer; defense counsel in the Scopes Monkey Trial and Leopold and Loeb case Harry M. Daugherty (LL.B. 1880), United States attorney general, 1921–24, Republican Party boss, member of the "Ohio Gang" William R. Day (LL.B. 1870), United States secretary of state, 1898; United States Supreme Court associate justice, 1903–1922 Pat DeWine (JD 1994), associate justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, 2017– Donald McDonald Dickinson (LL.B. 1867), in 1887 appointed by Grover Cleveland as United States Postmaster General; served from January 6, 1888, until the end of Cleveland's first term in 1889 Gershwin A. Drain (J.D.), district judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Mike Duggan (J.D. 1983), incumbent and 75th mayor of Detroit, Michigan, serving since 2013, and former deputy county executive of Wayne County

E-G David M. Ebel (J.D. 1965), judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Aghogho Edevbie (J.D.), deputy Michigan secretary of state (2023–present) Harry T. Edwards (J.D. 1965), former chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Larry Elder (J.D. 1977), syndicated radio and television talk show host Rossa Fanning (LL.M 2000), attorney general of Ireland (2022–present) John Feikens (J.D.), politician and judge from Michigan; senior judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (1986–present); was nominated to the same district court by three presidents Heidi Li Feldman (J.D. 1990), law professor Jeffrey L. Fisher (J.D. 1997), Stanford Law School professor; prevailing counsel in Crawford v. Washington and Blakely v. Washington Harold Ford Jr. (J.D. 1996), former U.S. representative from Tennessee; Democratic Leadership Council chair Ralph M. Freeman (LL.B. 1926), judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan John J. Gardner (attended 1866–1867), U.S. representative from New Jersey; mayor of Atlantic City Ralph F. Gates (J.D. 1917), 37th governor of Indiana Richard Gephardt (J.D. 1965), U.S. representative from Missouri (1977–2005); House majority leader, 1989–1995; minority leader, 1995–2003 Heather K. Gerken (J.D. 1994), 17th dean of Yale Law School Charles E. Gibson Jr. (LL.B. 1952), Vermont attorney general Ernest Willard Gibson (attended 1898–99), United States senator from Vermont Arthur L. Gilliom (LL.B. 1913), 25th Indiana attorney general (1925–1929) Paul Gillmor (J.D. 1964), U.S. representative from Ohio, 5th District; president of the Ohio Senate Jay Gorney (LL.B. 1919), Tin Pan Alley songwriter who co-wrote "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?;" blacklisted during McCarthy era Ronald M. Gould (J.D. 1973), judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Jim Graham, D.C. city councilmember Chuck Greenberg (J.D. 1985), owner, CEO of the Texas Rangers Wycliffe Grousbeck (J.D. 1986), owner of the Boston Celtics

H-K

Franklin D. Hale (LL.B. 1877), Vermont auditor of accounts, and longtime U.S. consul in several locations Seneca Haselton (LL.B. 1875), mayor of Burlington, Vermont, U.S. minister to Venezuela, associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court Kirby Hendee (LL.B. 1953), Wisconsin state senator J. Lister Hill (attended), former U.S. senator from Alabama James P. Hoffa (LL.B. 1966), president, International Brotherhood of Teamsters James W. Houck (J.D. 1985), Judge Advocate General of the United States Navy Harland Bradley Howe (LL.B. 1894), United States District Court for the District of Vermont Wilbur E. Hurlbut (LL.B. 1893), Wisconsin state assemblyman Bela S. Huntington (attended 1882–83), member of the Oregon House of Representatives Sada Jacobson (J.D. 2011), Olympic fencing silver and bronze medalist Valerie Jarrett (J.D. 1981), senior advisor to President Obama Christopher M. Jeffries (J.D. 1974), real estate developer and namesake of Jeffries Hall Robert M. Johnson (J.D. 1971), former publisher of Newsday Matthew M. Joyce, United States federal judge Amalya Lyle Kearse (J.D. 1962), judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Paul S. Kemp (J.D. 2000), fantasy author, known for Forgotten Realms novels; defender of shared world fiction; his novel Deceived (2011) was on the New York Times best-seller list Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy (J.D. 1947), senior judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Raymond Kethledge (J.D. 1993), judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit John Knauf (1892), justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court

L-Q

Cary D. Landis (LL.B., 1899), 25th Florida attorney general (1931–1938) Eric Lefkofsky (J.D. 1993), serial entrepreneur; co-founder of and angel investor in Groupon; president of private equity and consulting firm Blue Media, LLC; named to Forbes 2011 list of billionaires Jeffrey Lehman (J.D. 1981), 11th president of Cornell University Brian Leiter (J.D. 1987), professor, University of Chicago U. S. Lesh (LL.B., 1891), 24th Indiana attorney general (1921–1925) Jason Levien (J.D. 1997), co-owner of the Major League Soccer club D.C. United and Welsh club Swansea City A.F.C. Tom Lewand (J.D. 1996), president of the Detroit Lions E.W. Marland (LL.B., 1893), oilman; U.S. congressman; Oklahoma governorScales, James R. and Danny Goble (1982). "E.W. Marland: The New Deal's Pale Imitation." Oklahoma Politics: A History. University of Oklahoma. J. Thomas McCarthy (J.D. 1963), author of McCarthy's Treatise on Trademark and Unfair Competition Francis McNulty Jr. (LL.B. 1888), Republican member of the Iowa House of Representatives, 1896–1898 Charles Edward Merrill (1906–1907), co-founded stock brokerage firm Merrill Lynch with Edmund C. Lynch; worked at Merrill Lynch, 1914–56 Charles W. Miller (1884), 18th Indiana attorney general (1903–1907) Robert E. Minahan (LL.B. 1894), mayor of Green Bay, Wisconsin Jeffrey P. Minear (J.D. 1982), counselor to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. Mayo Moran (LL.M. 1992), professor of Law, provost and vice-chancellor of Trinity College, Toronto Frank Murphy (LL.B. 1914), United States attorney general, 1939; United States Supreme Court associate justice, 1940–1949 Gordon Myse (LL.B. 1960), judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals Harry Nelson, author Helen W. Nies (L.L.B. 1948), chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 1990–1994 Ronald L. Olson (J.D. 1967), attorney and name partner in the Los Angeles office of the law firm of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP Kevyn Orr (J.D. 1983), partner with Jones Day LLP and emergency financial manager of the city of Detroit, Michigan, 2013–2014 Rob Pelinka (J.D. 1996), general manager of Los Angeles Lakers; former sports agent, known for representing Kobe Bryant Frank Plumley (attended 1867–68), United States congressman from Vermont Mark F. Pomerantz (J.D. 1975), New York attorney Lloyd Welch Pogue (J.D.), pioneering aviation attorney; chairman of the now-defunct Civil Aeronautics Board John Porter (J.D. 1961), United States representative from Illinois, 1980–2001 Rob Portman (J.D. 1984), director of the Office of Management and Budget; United States senator from Ohio

R-Z

Luis María Ramírez Boettner (J.D. 1944), minister of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay, 1993–1996 Clark T Randt Jr. (J.D. 1975), United States ambassador to China (2001–2009) Nicholas Ranjan (J.D. 2003), district judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Branch Rickey (LL.B. 1911), Major League Baseball executive and Hall of Famer; created the modern minor league system and signed Jackie Robinson to a contract, breaking the sport's 20th-century color line Richard Riordan (J.D. 1956), mayor of Los Angeles, 1993–2001 John M. Rogers (J.D. 1974), judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Marvin B. Rosenberry (J.D. 1893), chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Donald Stuart Russell, U.S. senator from South Carolina, 1965–1966; 107th governor of South Carolina, 1963–1965 Ken Salazar (J.D. 1981), former U.S. senator from Colorado; former United States secretary of the interior