The Ann Arbor Law School

It has been said "every man to his profession." This statement is no less true noiv than lormerly. Teaching, if the teacher desires to accomplish the most good, is a great profession. And those who have the -control of schools and colleges are coming to real i ze that the variouö positions which they have to flU must be filled by men who have qualificatione as teachers - who know how to preeent thelr respective subjects in the best, ctearest way- as well as the qualitication of seholarly attainmente. The Board of Regente of the UniverBiity of Michigan has been exceedingly fortúnate in securing a man posseseed in a ful! measure of both of theee quaHfications, as a member of it law faculty, in the person of Prof. Floyd R. Meehem. Prof Mecbem was ealled to the chair of Tappan. Professor oí Law in the law department ol the miverslty of Michigan in the fall of 1891, 6toce which time he has devoted all his time and energies toward the up-building and strengthening the reputation of this department. And it is said by thosei who know best that no one has exercised a greater nfluence in ralsing the reputation of tüie department to t he high and enviüWe posltion wiheh it now occupies, tillan he. He has as yet hard'y reached the prime of lite, but the fmished wörk of his head and hands represent the accumulat-ed productions of one of niany more ye&re. He is possessed of a mind, mathematical and analytical, working out concluisions and solving intricate p róbleme wtfch astonishlng penetration, amd resolving every argument into its ultimate principies ; "movlng among the intricacies of novel and difiicuk questions witfo calm, but persevertag, circnmepection ;" with a marve'ous instinct as to what .he law ought to be ; close and logical in the connection of his thoughts and as flhose who are accustomed to hear his lectures say. he is as "clear as light itself in his demonstratlons." He is a man of very great modest y vo:y quiet and unpretentious, which are the universal characteristies of great men. As a teacher and law lecturer we believe that he is one of the brig-htest ornamenta of his pro■iii and his age. He is univer'sally be'.oved and respected. and ihe members of his cteiss never lire in teilin? of his splendid quailfications. He te a selí-made man, being compeled, by forcé of eixcumstances, at a very early age, to depend upon his labors for his support. WhÜe in school he paid his way by doing odd jobs wlierever he 'COuId find them ; at one time driving a deHvery wagon tvhile im the Ann Arbor High School in order that he might continue at school and complete his education. After his admission to the bar, in 1S79, he engaged in the general practice of the law at Battle Creek. Mlch. and soon won for himself many laurels at the bar of his and adjoining counties. Many times he hos been solicited to accept political honors from the hands of the people, l)ut always declined, preferring ratlier to follow liis ehosen professlon. Finally. however, he began to devote his at tention to particular subjects and to prepare treatises upon thoe subjects which gradually absorbed most of his time. He Is the author of much valuable legal literature. notably "Meehem on Agency." "Mecliem on Public Ofiices and Officers," "Mecliem's Hutchinson on Carriers," "Mechem's Cases on Agency," "Cases on Damages," -'Cases on Succession," besides many articles publfehed in the leading law journals of the United States, all of which publications are marked by a legal acumen, 'extended research, ft familiarity with the authorities, and a sound logic which have gained the favorable opinión of the legal Iraternity generalij'. It has been said of him by those most familiar with his method of work, that "in temperament, in methodical industry nd in faci'lity of analysis he resembles Judge Cooley." Prof. Meehem founded th Detroit C'ol'ege 'of Iaw and was lts de n wb n ealled to the University of Michigan. Xo one has had more to do in tlio establishment of the "Practice Court," which attracted so much attenion wliüe under his charge and which is still proving to be so popular under tlifs charge of Prof. Bogle, in the law law department of the University, than he. In June 1894, tfhe board of Regente con'erred upon him the degree of A. M. The special subjects upon which he gives tnstruction ' in the department are "The Science of Jurisprudence," "Damages," "Agency," "Partnership" "Wills, their Execution and Revocatiom" and "The Administraron and DiBstribution of Estates of üeceased Pereons" and "Public Offices and Officers." Although the course of this law school has t-hie year been raised to three years, the registration is larger than last year, the total nuniber of srtudenfcs registered up to date beImg 67B. This ie a very much larger regtetratton than is shown by any other law school in the country. The faeuky expect the registration next year, howevcr, to lie somewhat smaller, as the second year class will be comparatively small. rule formerly was that anyoue who bad been admitted to the bar could enter the senior class and obtain his degree a"fter one year's study. The new rule adopted with the three years' course, however, requires two years' etudy and attendance at the TJniversity before a degree will be granted. ffomen were first admitted to the classes in this University In 1870. The first womaa to obtain a degree trom the Univereity graduated with the class of 1871. The first woman to ot)ta.in a diploma from thf Yale Law School was a student ior one year in the Law School of the Unlversity of Michigan. At present there are five women in attendance at the law department, there being one In the senior class, three in the first year class, and one in the postgraduate class. At the suggestion oí Professor Bradley M. Thompson, the Webster Soelety, one of the literary societies of the law department, has organized a Moot Congress for the purpose of studying and practicing Parliamentoary Law. Tliis (society has some one hundred membere. These members are divided toto two liouses, like the United States Congress, Ihirty being senators, and the remainder members of the house. The e'ections for senators will occur three times a. year, so thafc each member will have had practice, both as a member of the house and as a senator. Among tthe prominent members of the society are James Henry Mays, who won the inter-collegiate oratorical contest last year, and Fred Lewis Ingraham, the president oi the senior law class. who has taken üecond place in the oratorical contest, and Franklin H. Holzheimer the eritic of the isociety and one of the most prominent members oí the "96 law law class."