attainment. A considerable number, many of whom are graduates of other law schools, have elected this work every year since it was first offered.
The law students. — The student body of the Department of Law from the first was cosmopolitan. In the first year nine states and England were represented. Twenty-six of the ninety-two students were nonresidents of Michigan in that year; fifty-three of 134 the second year, representing thirteen states. There were large numbers from Ohio and Illinois, and some from most of the other Midwestern states. In 1861-62 fifty-eight of 129 students came from beyond the borders of Michigan, and ten years later only 115 of the 307 students enrolled in law were residents of Michigan. Some objections to providing training for non-Michigan men were met by the President and Dean Cooley with the statement that it cost no more to lecture to a larger group and that the fees of these nonresidents paid all the current expenses of the Law Department.
During the following years two-thirds of the students, sometimes slightly less, sometimes more, came from outside the state. In 1880-81 there were 112 students from Michigan, 259 from outside; in 1890-91, 165 and 416. In recent years Michigan students have constituted about half the total number. In 1934-35 270 students were from Michigan and 268 were from thirty-six states and four foreign countries. This situation serves as both cause and effect. Because the student body is cosmopolitan, instruction must be on broad lines and not confined to narrow local law. Because the law is broadly presented, this cosmopolitan body of students is attracted here. This condition is altogether favorable at once for the study of the law and for the best preparation for practice. Once through school the lawyer has a lifetime of study and practice of local law. He is fortunate in his student days to be presented with the broader view taking in jurisdictions other than his own. Moreover, this association with such a student body, men from every state and from many foreign countries, in itself is part of a liberal education.
Student societies. — From the very beginning the students of the School have had voluntary organizations to promote activities which were of special interest or value to students of the law. The Webster Society dates almost from the opening of the department. It is said to have been founded early in October, 1859, with the co-operation of the faculty. The Jeffersonian Society followed soon after. These were literary and debating societies which held weekly meetings in rooms provided for them in the Law Building. For almost sixty years these societies flourished. When in 1887 a professor of elocution was appointed for the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts (see Part IV: Department of Speech) , these law societies participated in the debating and oratorical contests held under his guidance. So keen was the interest that other societies — the Clay, Benton, Griffin, and Mechem — were formed to provide more active participation by a larger number.
As requirements for admission to the Law School were advanced to include preliminary college work, and especially after the Law School became a graduate department, the part these societies had played tended to be relegated to the college years, and in 1919 or 1920 the law societies died.
The case clubs. — To some extent, the place of the literary societies and the oratorical and debating contests has been taken by the case clubs, which were first organized in 1925. In the first year students may join one of four clubs. In each club teams of four are assigned a hypothetical case on which the students draw
