141-Year Legacy: Oregon Law, 1884-2025

In 141 years since Oregon Law was established in Portland, it has undergone transformational change in its academic programs, breadth and scope of pedagogy, location and infrastructure, and opportunities for practical, career-building experiences. 

From its beginnings with professor, then dean, Robert Thornton at its helm to the present day under the leadership of Dean Jennifer Reynolds, Oregon Law is a leader in legal education.

The 19^th Century: Origination and Change

In 1884, most lawyers never attended law school, instead receiving their legal education by "reading law" in the offices of a practicing lawyer. That year, the University of Oregon changed the face of legal education in Oregon by opening the "law department." It was an inauspicious beginning, a small program with only one professor, Richard Thornton, who later became dean. 

 According to the late Professor Emerita Mary Lawrence's article, "The University of Oregon School of Law 1884-1903: The Thornton Years," Thornton moved to Portland to establish the school at the request of Judge Matthew P. Deady. Thornton was originally from England and graduated from Georgetown Law School. According to Professor Lawrence, "Thornton's background in commerce and his interest in commercial law made him an appropriate teacher for a student body consisting mainly of law office clerks. In addition, Thornton's 'literary tendencies,' together with his familiarity with the classics, promised an eloquence and polished erudition to which much of the legal profession aspired."

 The young law school operated out of rented offices at Second and Yamhill in Portland. Oregon Law's first class had seven students— four of whom dropped out. Unlike today's law students, Oregon's earliest students attended classes at night, working as law clerks, teachers, bankers, retailers, and government employees by day. Also unlike today, law students were not required to hold an undergraduate degree — or even a high school diploma. Thornton was not paid by the university, but rather, the university regents permitted him to retain the fees and tuition charged. In the students' two years of study, they attended lectures in the common law, contracts, evidence, pleading, equity, constitutional law, and negligence, with occasional offerings in the areas of taxation and mining, according to Professor Lawrence. They took the bar exam just a few days after their graduation and learned whether they had passed the morning after the test. Indeed, according to Nancy Haught's 1983 history, "When Law Was in Portland," it was "not unusual, to Thornton's chagrin, for a student to fail the [law school final] exam and pass the Supreme Court test." The likely reason for this discrepancy was that Thornton's commitment to excellence set Oregon Law apart from most law schools of the era – in the company of institutions such as Harvard Law School – in requiring law school examinations at all, and in making those examinations a true and stringent test of student learning. 

 Oregon Law's first class studied in the midst of a booming economy, in which transactional lawyers were in high demand. In the 1880s, Portland was rich and boasted banks, brokerage firms, corporations, and a transcontinental rail link. Oregon Law’s earliest alumni went on to practice law, to teach, and to pursue careers in business. 

 In the 1890s, the nation experienced an economic setback that affected students' ability to afford a legal education. To add to the young law school's difficulties, in 1894 the state attorney general opined that any university subsidization of the law program would be illegal, on the grounds that the school's Portland location rendered it a separate institution. The state government's position reflected a tide of antilawyer sentiment then-prominent in American culture, in which lawyers were depicted, according to Haught's article, as making "large incomes at the expense of the people." The Oregon Bar Association also criticized the law program's reliance on the "lecture method" as outdated. Amid these woes, the law school's enrollment shrunk from seventy-five down to eighteen between 1896 and 1902.

The early 1900’s: Oregon Law Moves to Eugene, Professionalizes Program

In the early twentieth century, legal education was in a state of transition, with the previously widespread use of lectures giving way to the case method. Amid public criticism of the law school's pedagogical methods and other policies, Thornton left the law school and Calvin Gantenbein, an 1891 law graduate, became dean. Under his leadership, the curriculum expanded, and enrollment increased from approximately fifteen students in 1902-03 to forty-six students in 1904-05.

In 1915, UO regents decided to move the law school to Eugene. Dean Gantenbein did not want to leave Portland. He initiated law classes in the Multnomah County Circuit Court courthouse — a program that became the Northwestern College of Law and, fifty years later, merged with Lewis and Clark College. Meanwhile, back in Eugene, the law school was led by a new dean, Edward Hope, and held classes in the building now known as Gilbert Hall. At that time, the law school became a full-time day program and instituted a requirement that students complete two years of college prior to their law studies. Four years later, Oregon Law became one of the first eight law schools in the West to be admitted to the Association of American Law Schools. 

In 1921, Dean William Hale established the Oregon Law Review, one of the first law reviews in the West. The school was accredited by the American Bar Association in 1923, the first year such accreditation was available. As the nation persevered through the Great Depression, the legendary Wayne Morse became dean — the youngest law school dean in the country — in 1931. Three years later, the law school organized a chapter of the national law school honor society, the Order of the Coif. In 1938, the law school moved into Fenton Hall. The building, which had previously housed the university library, was named after Judge William David Fenton, who donated 8,000 law books to the school as a memorial to his son, Kenneth Lucas Fenton, thereby establishing the Fenton Memorial Library.

 Prior to the great war, Oregon Law's graduates continued to distinguish themselves. In 1939, Harvey DeArmond, LLB ’10, was elected the first president of the Oregon State Bar. That same year, the law school graduated Minoru Yasui, JD ’39, who later gained fame as a human rights crusader and civil rights attorney. Yasui took his challenge to the military curfew on Japanese Americans during World War II all the way to the US Supreme Court.

The 1940s: Continuing Legal Education Throughout the War Years

In 1941, while Dean Morse was in Washington, DC, acting as a national labor arbitrator, Orlando John Hollis became acting dean. His appointment became permanent in 1945 when Morse resigned to run for the US Senate. Hollis remained dean until 1967 and is remembered by generations of students as a commanding presence and a rigorous teacher. In 1943, Lois Ackerman, known as "Mrs. A," became the school's first administrative employee. She stayed for fifty years.

During the war years, many law students were called to service: in 1944, there were no graduating students. In 1945, only one student, Harry Skerry, graduated. He later became the city attorney in Ashland.

 Oregon Law adopted a policy of admitting every returning veteran who sought a legal education. To accommodate the large number of returning veterans, in 1946 the school modified its previous policy of fall-only admission and let some students begin their studies in January. The school then held a summer session for the January class so they could complete their studies on time and graduate with the class of 1948. Out of the twenty-six students who graduated that year, twenty-five had served in World War Il.

The 1950s: Oregon Law Professor Drafts Revised Oregon Statutes, Law School Continues to Improve Facilities

In the post-war era, Oregon Law continued to distinguish itself through its contributions to public service. In 1953, Professor Kenneth O'Connell's Oregon Revised Statutes were adopted by the state legislature: both the state House and the state Senate voted in favor of the revisions unanimously. He was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court in 1958. He later became its chief justice. Today, Justice O'Connell is officially remembered through an annual "bench and bar" conference held in the fall.
During the 1950s, Oregon Law worked to improve its physical facilities. In 1953, the law library in Fenton Hall was remodeled to include a new reading room and additional stacks to house the law school library collection.

 The 1950s were also a notable period in the school's history as the decade during which its excellence in teaching began to achieve more recognition. In 1957, law professor Charles Howard was the first recipient of the university's Ersted Award for Distinguished Teaching. Numerous members of the law school faculty have been honored with the Ersted Award over the years, including current faculty members Tom Lininger, Michael Moffitt, Mary Wood, Dean Jennifer Reynolds, and Alaí Reyes-Santos.

 The 1960s: Changing Times

Although Oregon Law had enjoyed a strong statewide and regional reputation during its first seven decades, it was in the 1960s that the school began to establish a national presence. During that decade, Professor (and later dean) Chapin Clark offered the school's first courses in environmental and natural resources law — course offerings that were the building blocks of today's nationally ranked Environmental and Natural Resources Program. Other new areas of study included the school's first admiralty and land-use planning courses, initially offered in 1967.

The late 1960s were a time of cultural change and a sea change at the law school. In 1967, the school began to design plans for a new building at Eleventh and Kincaid. In 1968, Eugene Scoles became dean. In 1968-69, Professor Jon Jacobson founded the Ocean and Coastal Law Center.

 The 1970s: New Buildings, New Programs, New People

The school completed its move into its "new building"— the Law Center — in 1970. In 1972, the school switched to a semester system and held its first separate commencement ceremony. That decade was a time of internal change as well. The 1970s marked at least three "firsts" in the diversification of the faculty and administration: the first woman professor, the first full-time assistant dean who was from an underrepresented community, and the first woman tenured professor. Similarly, it was in the 1970s that the law school initiated efforts to recruit more underrepresented students.

Oregon Law's public interest and public service commitment continued to solidify during the 1970s. In 1974, the Wayne Morse Chair of Law and Politics was established as a "living memorial" to the former dean and "Tiger of the Senate," who, that year, delivered one of his last major addresses at the Oregon Law commencement. In 1977, Professor Hans Linde, one of the nation's foremost scholars and fomenter of the "state constitutional revolution," was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court. In 1978, the school established, with the help of Professor John Bonine's leadership, the first-in-the-world Environmental Law Clinic, which had its origins in a school externship program. The Prosecution Clinic, the Criminal Defense Clinic, and the Civil Practice Clinic were also established in the 1970s, providing students with additional opportunities to develop their litigation skills.

The 1970s were also a time of pedagogical innovation. Professor Dominick Vetri, who had joined the faculty in the late 1960s, established a course offering in "interviewing skills." In that course, students studied communication patterns, conducted videotaped interviews, and visited personal injury lawyers in Eugene. Students gained additional exposure to the practice of law when, in 1977, the Oregon Supreme Court visit was established and began its tradition of holding oral arguments in Eugene once per year. In 1978, Oregon Law's acclaimed Legal Research and Writing Program began under the directorship of Professor Mary Lawrence. It continues to be a top-ranked program at Oregon Law.

 The 1980s: A Renewed Emphasis on Law in the Public Interest

The 1980s were marked by the school’s increasing involvement in public interest law. In 1980, the Environmental Law Clinic doubled in size and was renamed the Pacific Northwest Natural Resources Clinic.

In 1981, Professor Dave Frohnmayer became Oregon Attorney General. In that position, he argued seven cases before the United States Supreme Court — and won six of them. That same year, the law school hired its first Black dean, Derrick Bell, who brought with him his established reputation as a trailblazing national thought leader on civil rights and the understanding of racism and American law. Bell served the law school from 1981-85. An annual lecture at the law school was started in his name about three decades later.

 In 1982, the Oregon Law Review sponsored a groundbreaking symposium on American Indian law that attracted the nation's leading scholars on the topic, including Rennard Strickland, the law school’s future dean. Also in 1982, students organized the first Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC), which continues as the oldest and largest conference of its kind in the world. In 1987, the Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation began publication.

 As Oregon Law's curriculum and co-curricular activities focused more on the public interest, the 1980s were also a time in which the school gained increased communications capabilities. In 1989, Law Library Director Dennis Hyatt oversaw the first computer network at the law school and connected it to the internet.

 The 1990s: Another New Building, More New Programs, More New People

The 1990s were a time of growth. From 1992-94, the law school, under the leadership of Dave Frohnmayer, created seven new professorships. In 1994, the school received a $1 million donation from local businesswoman Carolyn Chambers to establish the Center for Law and Entrepreneurship. In 1995, the school launched a $25 million building campaign with a $10 million naming gift from Nike's Phil Knight. The new — and current — building was dedicated in 1999 with a visit from US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The Knight Law Center more than doubled the size of the law school’s facilities. It sits across from Hayward Field at 15th and Agate. That same year, the Wayne Morse Chair expanded into the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, an independent center located within the new building.

 Rennard Strickland, a nationally renowned scholar of Osage and Cherokee heritage, was appointed dean of the law school in 1997. He served as dean for five years, leading the school through the move into the Knight Law Center and into the twenty-first  century. 

The 2000s: New Clinical Offerings, An Expanded Environmental Program, and a Return to Portland

With the new century and the greatly expanded physical facilities, the law school continued to add new and innovative programs. In 2000, with a gift from Gary Galton, JD ’70, and Anne Marie Galton, the school opened the Appropriate Dispute Resolution Program (now Center), which supports teaching and research in negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. Former Dean Orlando John Hollis died in 2000, bequeathing a $4.5 million gift to the law school to endow professorships and student scholarships.

In 2002, the Lane County Domestic Violence Clinic received a nearly half-million dollar grant to allow law students to continue representing clients in contested restraining and stalking cases. In 2003, the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program (now Center) opened a fully staffed office, with Professor Mary Wood, a fifth-generation Oregonian, as the program's first director. The Public Interest Public Service Program, now known as the Public Service and Policy Program, and the Conflict and Dispute Resolution master’s degree program were both established in 2004.

Soon after, the law school started the LLM program to provide advanced study for both US-trained and foreign-trained attorneys and law graduates. The program began with a focus on Environmental and Natural Resources Law and now also offers American Law and Business Law tracks.

Carolyn Chambers' 1994 grant was also put to work during this decade, funding the school's Small Business Clinic, which assists small and micro businesses.
The new century marked the law school's return — to an extent— to Portland. In 2003, a law school program focusing on business law and related externships began operating in Portland under the direction of Professor Steve Bender. In 2008, the Portland Program moved into downtown’s legendary White Stag building and increased its academic offerings.

Groundbreaking new leadership also shaped this era as Margaret “Margie” Paris became the first woman dean in Oregon Law’s history. Paris served as dean from 2006-10.

The 2010s: The Addition of Undergraduate Classes, Transformative Gifts, and the Start of the Summer Sports Law Institute

Oregon Law started its Nonprofit Clinic in 2011, training law students in practical skills while serving the local nonprofit community with assistance on transactional matters and governance. Michael Moffitt, a member of the law faculty, was named dean in 2011 and continued in that role for five years. In 2012, Oregon Law broadened its reach within the University of Oregon, offering two courses designed for undergraduates for the first time.

A gift of $1 million from the family of Oregon track legend Bill Bowerman doubled the number of student fellowships in the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center. An $850,000 gift from Morris Galen, JD ’50, a successful Portland-based attorney, created the Morris J. Galen Fund, which established the annual Galen Scholar in Legal Writing and also supports excellent writing produced by first-, second-, and third-year students, as well as master’s law students, each year. 

Entering an emerging field, in 2014, Oregon Law held its first Summer Sports Law Institute, starting as a six-credit experience with the opportunity to learn from top legal scholars and industry professionals about amateur and professional sports law. SSLI has since evolved substantially, with two distinct courses: Professional Sports Law and Pathway to Practice, which together cover concepts as well as skill development for a well-rounded experience. 

Oregon Law’s faculty continued to be acknowledged for their contributions to teaching the future legal community. 

The announcement of Marcilynn Burke as dean in 2017 represented another groundbreaking leadership change. Burke, an environmental law expert, was the second woman and second Black dean in the school’s history. That same year, undergraduate opportunities expanded with the new Undergraduate Legal Studies minor. 

Rounding out major gifts for the decade, Oregon Community Foundation granted $1.8 million to the law school to develop environmental policy and to work with nonprofits in the region. 

The 2020s: Pandemic-Related Pivots, Investments in Business Law and ENR, New Ideas, and Dynamic Leadership

As was true throughout the country and world, the early 2020s brought significant challenges, the need for nimbleness because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventually a return to stability.

Once the pandemic took hold in Oregon, the law school pivoted to meet needs for public safety. Classes temporarily shifted to an online format. The law school offered a pre-recorded virtual commencement for graduates in 2020 and 2021 before returning to the traditional in-person commencement in 2022. A one-time emergency diploma privilege enabled 2020 grads to join the state bar without passing the bar exam. 

Pandemic-induced pivots also provided the catalyst for two innovative programs. In 2020, Oregon Law launched a Litigation Lab, a 10-week intensive workshop series teaching effective litigation skills, including working with colleagues and clients, drafting and responding to pleadings, investigating and developing cases, interviewing and deposing witnesses, and writing and arguing motions. The Mergers & Acquisitions Bootcamp, also a 10-week program, was designed to provide students who had no prior experience with an understanding of mergers and acquisitions concepts and skills in transactional drafting and deal negotiation.

The Nancy and Dave Petrone Business and Law Success Initiative Fund supported Business Law and the M&A Bootcamp, with a gift of $250,000. An investment from the University of Oregon’s Presidential Fund for Excellence provided another $1.5 million to expand and enhance the Business Law Program. Ron and Linda Greenman donated $1 million to support Business Law as well.

In fall of 2023, the Portland Program relocated to the new UO Portland campus in NE Portland.

In spring of 2025, Oregon Law was recognized as the top-ranked law school in Oregon by U.S. News & World Report and was nationally ranked for Legal Writing (#1), Environmental Law (#7), Most Graduates in Public Interest Jobs (#11), and Appropriate Dispute Resolution (#12). 

Jennifer Reynolds was named dean, making her the third woman and 20^th dean in the law school’s 141-year history.

 

This contents of this history are drawn from multiple sources.

Chief among them are Professor Mary Lawrence's work, "The University of Oregon School of Law 1884-1903: The Thornton Years," 59 Oregon Law Review 249 (1980); "Those Were the Days: A School of Law Retrospective, " an unsigned publication of the law school dated May 2, 1997; "Making A Difference: 125 Years and Counting, " an unsigned publication of the University of Oregon Advancement office; Nancy Haught, "When Law Was in Portland," Old Oregon (December 1983); Nancie Peacock Fadeley, A History of the University of Oregon School of Law (1988); Professor Emeritus Don Brodie, "Plan for Change " (2005); Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, "Professionalism, " 78 Or. L. Rev. 385 (1999);"An Evening Honoring Oregon Justice" (2001); Oregon Lawyer, “125: Oregon Law 1884-2009,” (2008); and University of Oregon and Oregon Law websites and social media accounts.