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.

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
 * 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 Canada
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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), American 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, the 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 governor
 * 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
 * Miriam Defensor Santiago (LL.M. 1975, S.J.D. 1976), member of the Senate of the Philippines; Judge of the International Criminal Court
 * Joseph Francis Sartori 1881, founder and president, Security First-National Bank, co-founder, president, Los Angeles Country Club
 * Anthony Joseph Scirica (J.D. 1965), chief judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
 * Robert E. Scott (S.J.D. 1973), bankruptcy scholar and professor at Columbia Law School
 * Carol Sanger (J.D. 1976), reproductive rights expert, professor at Columbia Law School
 * Theary Seng, Cambodian-American human-rights activist and lawyer
 * Ma. Lourdes Aranal Sereno (LL.M. 1993), Filipino jurist, lawyer and law professor; former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
 * Myra C. Selby (J.D. 1977), first woman and first African American Justice on the Indiana Supreme Court
 * Cynthia Leitich Smith (J.D. 1994), author
 * Rick Snyder (J.D. 1982), former CEO of Gateway; former Governor of Michigan
 * George Alexander Spater (J.D. 1933), chairman of American Airlines, 1968–1973
 * Oliver Lyman Spaulding (LL.B., 1896), U.S. Army brigadier general
 * Robert Stafford, US congressman and senator; 71st Governor of Vermont
 * Bert Sugar (J.D. 1961), author of more than 80 books; editor and publisher of The Ring, a magazine devoted to boxing (his daughter Jennifer attended Michigan as an undergrad)
 * George Sutherland (attended 1891), United States Supreme Court Justice
 * Kent D. Syverud (J.D. 1981), dean of the Washington University School of Law
 * Masaaki Tanaka (LL.M), president and chief executive officer of UnionBanCal Corporation and its principal subsidiary, Union Bank of California
 * Daniel Tarullo (J.D. 1977), member of Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve Board since January 28, 2009
 * Hobart Taylor Jr., executive vice chairman of the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunities, Special Counsel to President Lyndon Johnson, director of the Export–Import Bank of the United States; first African American editor of the Michigan Law Review
 * Arn Tellem (J.D.), sports agent; former columnist for The New York Times
 * Larry Dean Thompson (J.D.), lawyer; deputy Attorney General of the United States under United States President George W. Bush until August 2003
 * William Wheeler Thornton (LL.B. 1876), judge; author; Indiana Deputy Attorney General; Indiana State Supreme Ct. Librarian
 * Norman O. Tietjens (J.D. 1930), judge of the United States Tax Court
 * John D. Voelker (JD 1928), justice of the Michigan Supreme Court; author of Anatomy of a Murder
 * John M. Walker Jr. (J.D. 1966), former Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
 * Moses Fleetwood Walker (attended 1881–1882), baseball player and author; first African-American to play major league professional baseball
 * Johnnie Mac Walters, former Commissioner of Internal Revenue
 * Albert D. Walton (LL.B. 1907), former US Attorney for the district of Wyoming
 * James Franklin Ware, Wisconsin State Assemblyman and Senator
 * Charles W. Waterman (LL.B. 1889), U.S. Senator from Colorado
 * Walter W. Wensinger (LL.B. 1917), highly decorated lieutenant general in the Marine Corps during World War II
 * Sarah Killgore Wertman (LL.B. 1871), née Sarah Killgore, the first woman to be admitted to the bar of any US state
 * David Westin (J.D. 1977), president of ABC News
 * Mary Collins Whiting (1835–1912), lawyer, business woman, teacher
 * James J. White (J.D. 1962), Robert A. Sullivan Professor of Law at Michigan Law; expert on the Uniform Commercial Code
 * G. Mennen Williams (J.D. 1936), 41st Governor of Michigan and the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under President John F. Kennedy
 * Ralph Wilson, owner, Buffalo Bills
 * Bob Woodruff (J.D. 1987), journalist; ABC News anchor
 * Frank Wu, dean of University of California, Hastings College of the Law
 * John C.H. Wu (J.D. 1928), principal author of the constitution of the Republic of China
 * Sam Zell (LSA B.A. 1963; J.D. 1966), land developer; founder of EQ Office; former National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts chairman; current chairman and majority owner of the Tribune Company