Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

The board of trustees of the Ohio State University officially sanctioned a law school in June 1885 after approving a resolution introduced by trustee Peter H. Clark, an early African-American civil rights activist.^[4] However, it was not until October 1891 that the law school was formally opened to 33 students, including 1 woman, in the basement of the second Franklin County Courthouse.^[4] Marshall Jay Williams, a Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court served as the first dean of the law school and lectured for two years before resigning in 1893.^[4] In 1896, the University elevated the law school to its present-day College of Law status.

In 1903, the College of Law moved to Page Hall, its first permanent building on the main campus of the University (now home to the John Glenn College of Public Affairs), named in honor of Henry F. Page, a prominent Ohio attorney who had left his estate to the University.^[4] Over the next four decades, the College of Law experienced rapid growth under the successive leadership of deans William F. Hunter, Joseph H. Outhwaite, John Jay Adams and Herschel W. Arant.^[4] The College of Law continued under the successive leadership of deans Gregory H. Williams, Nancy H. Rogers, Alan C. Michaels, Lincoln L. Davies and now Kent Barnett.

The modern-day building that now houses the Moritz College of Law since 1958, Drinko Hall, is named after attorney and College of Law benefactor John Deaver Drinko, former Managing Partner of BakerHostetler in Cleveland, Ohio. Drinko graduated from the College of Law in 1944 and received a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1991. In 2001, the College of Law received a $30 million donation from benefactor Michael E. Moritz, former partner of BakerHostetler in Columbus, Ohio. Moritz received his undergraduate degree from the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business in 1954 and law degree from the College of Law in 1961, where he graduated at the top of his class. At the time, it was the largest single gift to Ohio State University. The donation provided full-tuition grants with stipends to 30 law students, 4 endowed faculty chairs, 3 service awards for students, and a fund for use by the dean.^{[dead link][5]} The College of Law completed a supplemental campaign to raise an additional $30 million to match Moritz's gift and make further improvements.

For the class entering in 2025, Moritz College of Law accepted 24.62% of applicants, with 28.01% of those accepted enrolling. The average enrollee had a 168 LSAT score and 3.91 undergraduate GPA.^[6]

In 2025, U.S. News & World Report ranked the Moritz College of Law's tied for 28th out of 197 for Best Law Schools.^[7] The College's Program on Dispute Resolution was named #1 in the nation with nine other programs in the top 50. Above the Law ranked the Moritz College of Law as the 41st best law school in America in 2024.^[8]

According to professor Brian Leiter's "Scholarly Impact Score" that is based on about 500 participants and nearly 70,000 votes on paired comparisons, the Moritz College of Law faculty ranked tied for 34th in scholarly impact in 2024.^[9]

The Ohio State Moritz College of Law publishes five legal journals:^[10]

• The Ohio State Law Journal was founded in 1935 as the "Law Journal of the Student Bar Association" and was originally a "section" of the Student Bar Association and funded by student contributions. Robert E. Leach '35, former Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, was the first editor of the Law Journal. Today, the journal is edited by students and publishes six issues each year. In April 2012, OSLJ launched Furthermore, an online supplement to the print version, which in 2019 became Ohio State Law Journal Online. According to Bepress and its ExpressO Top 100 Law Review Rankings, the Ohio State Law Journal is the most popular law review accessed by authors on its online submission delivery service for legal scholars.^[11]
• The Ohio State Technology Law Journal (published semiannually; interdisciplinary journal focused on the intersection of technology and the law; faculty-edited in collaboration with student editors).^[12]
• The Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution (sponsored quarterly journal of the American Bar Association focusing on alternative dispute resolution; student-edited; founded in 1985).^[13]
• The Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law (published semiannually; peer-evaluated, faculty-student cooperative venture).^[14]
• The Ohio State Business Law Journal (published semiannually; student run; focuses on legal issues facing entrepreneurs, small business owners, and venture capitalists).^[15]

The Moot Court & Lawyering Skills Program includes intramural competitions and inter-scholastic teams covering various areas of the law. The Moot Court and Lawyering Skills Governing Board is responsible for organizing and administering four intramural competitions: the Herman Moot Court Competition, Colley Trial Practice Competition, the Representation in Mediation Competition, and the Lawrence Negotiations Competition. The Moot Court Board is a student-run organization that oversees and assists various Moot Court teams that compete nationally against other schools. During the 2024-25 academic year, Moritz lawyering skills teams won two national championships.^[16]

The Drug Enforcement and Policy Center (DEPC) examines the impact of modern drug laws, policies and enforcement on personal freedoms and human well-being, giving sustained attention to analyzing the rapid evolution of marijuana laws and the impacts of reform efforts. The center focuses on conducting and supporting interdisciplinary, evidence-based research, scholarship, education, community outreach and public engagement on the myriad issues and societal impacts surrounding the reform of criminal and civil laws prohibiting or regulating the use and distribution of traditionally illicit drugs.

The center was founded in 2017 following a $4.5 million gift from the Charles Koch Foundation.^[17] The center also received a $5 million gift from the Menard Family and Menard Inc. In addition to these gifts, DEPC receives funding from a number of research and project grants.

The overall bar examination passage rate for Moritz College of Law first-time examination takers in the class of 2024 was 91.95%.^[18] The Ultimate Bar Pass Rate, which the ABA defines as the passage rate for graduates who sat for bar examinations within two years of graduating, was 95.08% for the class of 2022.^[2]

According to the college's official 2024 ABA-required disclosures, 93.8% of the Class of 2024 obtained full-time, long-term, and bar passage-required employment 10 months after graduation^[3]

Ohio was the main employment destination for 2024 Moritz College of Law graduates, with 70% of employed 2024 graduates working in the state.^[3]

The Moritz College of Law has 80 faculty members. Notable current faculty members include:

• Kent Barnett, dean and J. Gilbert Reese Chair in Contract Law
• Daniel C. K. Chow, Frank E. & Virginia H. Bazler Chair in Business Law
• Sarah Rudolph Cole, Michael E. Moritz Chair in Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Edward Foley, theorist of the blue shift and former Ohio solicitor general
• César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• Larry Garvin, Lawrence D. Stanley Professor of Law
• Steven F. Huefner, C. William O’Neill Professor in Law and Judicial Administration
• Margaret Kwoka, Lawrence "Larry" Herman Professor in Law
• Alan C. Michaels, Edwin M. Cooperman Chair in Law and former dean
• Amy J. Schmitz, John Deaver Drinko-Baker & Hostetler Chair in Law
• Marc Spindelman, Isadore and Ida Topper Professor of Law

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law has approximately 11,000 alumni across the United States. Selected notable alumni include:

• RonNell Andersen Jones (2000), American legal scholar and professor of law
• Evelyn Lundberg Stratton (1979), former justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
• Yvette McGee Brown (1985), first African-American female justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
• Erin Moriarty (1977), Emmy Award-winning journalist for CBS News and 48 Hours
• Vinay Reddy (2006), first Asian American to serve as White House Director of Speechwriting
• Brian Sandoval (1989), 29th Governor of Nevada and United States District Judge for the District of Nevada
• Henry Schuck (2009), founder and CEO of ZoomInfo
• Jeffrey Sutton (1990), United States Court of Appeals Judge for the Sixth Circuit
• Gregory J. Vincent (1987), President of Hobart and William Smith Colleges