ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA 58202
COLLECTION: UA #108
DATES: 1921-1977
SIZE: 4.25 linear feet
ACQUISITION: The Law School Records were deposited into University Archives. The acquisition records are unavailable.
ACCESS: Available for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.
The School of Law at the University of North Dakota was established in 1899, the first professional school to begin operation within the university. Guy H. Corliss, a Grand Forks lawyer and the first chief justice of the North Dakota state supreme court, was selected as the first dean. The only full-time instructor during the early years of the program, John E. Blair, a recent Harvard Law graduate, served as the secretary of the law school and directed the curriculum and operations. In 1904, when Andrew Bruce accepted the deanship, admission standards were lowered to require only two years of high school; nearly all students passed their courses and enrollment grew relatively strong. Early graduates were admitted to practice law without an equivalent of today's Bar, which was instituted in 1905 on Bruce's recommendation.
When Frank McVey became President of UND in 1909, incoming law students were required to possess a high school certificate and the program was lengthened to three years. Soon after, the program was accredited by the American Association of Law Schools. By McVey's retirement in 1917, incoming students were required to have completed two years of collegiate study and new program and degree options were instituted, most of which could not be implemented until students returned from World War I.
Due to a national movement at the recommendation of the American Bar Association, the UND School of Law changed its degree distinction from a Bachelor of Law (LL.B.) to a Juris Doctor (J.D.) with the graduating class of 1968. Previously the J.D. was awarded only to those law students who had earned an undergraduate degree in addition to their law degree; those that enrolled directly to the School of Law without a Bachelor degree had earned a LL.B. The elimination of the LL.B. was influenced by national trends, but also by increased standards in the UND School of Law: all incoming students were now required to hold an undergraduate degree and a new curriculum was established that required every student to enroll in legal writing and research seminars. In a special commencement ceremony on October 11, 1969 at the Gamble Hall auditorium, 94 alumni-who previously held a LL.B. from the UND School of Law-were retroactively awarded a J.D.; an additional 245 alumni received the retroactive J.D., but were unable to attend the ceremony. Alumni who had previously graduated with the J.D. were retroactively awarded a J.D. "with distinction."
The School of Law building houses the Thormodsgard Law Library, named for Olaf H. Thormodsgard, Dean of the Law School from 1931 to 1962. More than 312,000 volumes are housed in the Law Library. The School of Law's first publication, the Law Bulletin, was introduced in 1914. Today it publishes the North Dakota Law Review, which is the journal of the State Bar Association of North Dakota. Some of the professional development activities in which students participate include Moot Court Board, Student Bar Association, Law Women's Caucus, and the Student Trial Association. Special Programs offered by the School of Law today include the Joint Degree program (M.P.A./J.D.), the Native American Law Project, the Tribal Environmental Law Project, the Tribal Justice Institute, and an exchange program to Norway.
The School of Law at UND is the only law school in the state.
The Law School Records are broken up into seven series as follows:
Series I: Administrative
The first series contains correspondence, financial documents, policies,
reports and other administrative material. The correspondence mainly consists
of letters between the Dean of the Law School and other university officials,
while the financial records include budgetary, scholarship, and financial aid
documents. Also included are files on the construction of a new law building,
annual and biennial reports, and policy statements.
Series II: Degrees
This series contains various documents regarding the Law School's change from
the Bachelor of Law (LL.B.) degree to the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree. Also
included is material regarding the Honorary Degree bestowed upon United States
District Court Judge Edward Devitt.
Series III: Programs
The third series contains documents regarding the Rural Apprenticeship Program,
in which ten to fifteen students would spend a summer interning at a rural law
firm.
Series IV: Seminars and Speakers
The fourth series pertains to seminars and speakers sponsored by the Law
School. The largest portion of the series deals with Continuing Legal
Education, a program for already practicing attorneys. The remaining folders
deal with other seminars, as well as general correspondence with speakers, and
the Law Forum on Leading Legal Issues.
Series V: University of North Dakota
The prominent topic in this series is the Jackson Committee, which consisted of
seven faculty members and seven students whose responsibility was to study the
conduct of the Dean of Men, Ronald Jackson, and to the study the dispute on who
should control various aspects of the dormitories. The documents contain
correspondence between committee members and witnesses, the reports distributed
by the committee and a resolution signed by many students. The Jackson
Committee was chaired by Law School Dean Jerrold Walden. Other topics in the
series include correspondence between the School of Science, Literature, and
the Arts, the University College, and Veteran's Housing and Administration.
Series VI: Organizations
Materials in the sixth series mainly regard the State Bar Association of North
Dakota, the American Bar Association, the Association of American Law Schools,
and the Order of the Coif. Documents in this series include correspondence,
budgetary information, historical and administrative documents, and
questionnaires.
Series VII: Faculty Files
The final series are the Faculty Files, which are arranged in alphabetical
order by last name. The documents included in the folders are correspondence,
course documents, bar briefs, scholarly publications, and any other documents
pertaining to the faculty member.
Box 1
Folder
Series I: Administrative
Series II: Degrees
Series III: Programs
Series IV: Seminars and Speakers
Box 2
Folder
Series V: University of North Dakota
Series VI: Organizations
Box 3
Folder
Series VII: Faculty Files
Return to: University Archives Collections
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