38 | JUNE 30 • 2022 

M

ost histories of law 
schools focus on 
the notable deans 
and professors, and the chang-
es in curricula over time. In 
Detroit’s Wayne State University 
Law School: Future Leaders in 
the Legal Community, Alan 
Schenk, a WSU law profes-
sor, highlights the 
students and their 
influence on the 
school’s develop-
ment, character and 
employment oppor-
tunities.
Detroit’s Wayne 
State University 
Law School begins 
by placing the 
school in historical 
context. Public law 
schools in major American 
cities were rare in the 1920s. 
WSU Law School started as a 
night-only school on the brink 
of the Great Depression. It was 
administered by the Detroit 
Board of Education’s Colleges 
of the City of Detroit and was 
minimally funded out of stu-
dent tuition and fees. 
From its opening days, the 
school admitted students who 
had the required college credits, 
without regard to their gender, 
race or ethnic backgrounds, 
when many law schools 
restricted or denied admission 
to women, people of color 
and Jewish applicants. The 
school maintained its steadfast 
commitment to a racially and 
gender-diverse student body, 
though it endured significant 
challenges along the way. 

Denied employment at selec-
tive law firms and relegated to 
providing basic legal services, 
WSU law students pressed the 
school to expand the curric-
ulum and establish programs 
that provided them with the 
credentials afforded graduates 
from elite law schools. It took 
the persistence of 
the students and 
a persuasive dean 
to change the con-
versation about 
the quality of the 
graduates and for 
law firms repre-
senting the largest 
corporations and 
wealthiest individ-
uals to start hiring 
WSU graduates 
who now heavily populate 
those firms. 
In the 21st century, the 
school gained strength in 
international legal studies and 
established two law centers that 
reflect the institution’s long-
standing commitment to public 
interest and civil rights.
While much of the material 
was gathered from university 
archives, valuable information 
was derived from the author’s 
recorded interviews with alum-
ni, deans and professors. This 
book will strike the hearts of 
WSU law school students and 
alumni, as well as those inter-
ested in urban legal education 
and history. 

The book is available at www.

wsupress.wayne.edu, $39.99. Look for 

a review in an upcoming issue.

New book looks at how the law school 
has evolved since its inception.

History of Wayne 
State’s Law School

ANTONE, CASAGRANDE & ADWERS, P.C.

www.antone.com or email at law@antone.com

Representation in 

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