# List of University of Michigan Law School alumni

The list of University of Michigan Law School alumni includes notable alumni of University of Michigan Law School.

## Alphabetized list
### A-D

* Ralph W. Aigler (J.D. 1907), expert on property; member of U-M faculty, 1910–1954; inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor
* Gideon Winans Allen (LAW 1864), Wisconsin State Assemblyman
* Ronald J. Allen (J.D. 1973), Northwestern University John Henry Wigmore Professor of Law, one of only four Americans to be designated as a Yangtze River Scholar (China's highest academic award, formerly only for Nobel Laureates) in 2007; the first law professor to receive the award, which usually goes to scientists or economists
* Justin Amash (J.D. 2005), U.S. congressman from Michigan, 2011–2021
* Edgardo Angara (LL.M. 1964), former president of the University of the Philippines; Senate President of the Philippines
* George Ariyoshi (J.D. 1952), third governor of Hawaii (1974–1986)
* Susanne Baer (LL.M. 1993), elected to the German Federal Constitutional Court in February 2011
* Melody Barnes (J.D. 1989), director of the President's Domestic Policy Council
* Mitchell Berman, Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
* Mary Frances Berry (J.D. 1970), former chairwoman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights; current professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania
* Lester Bird (LL.B. 1959), Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda
* Henry Bodenstab (LL.B. 1898), Wisconsin State Senator
* Heidi Bond (J.D.), bestselling author of historical romance novels under the pseudonym Courtney Milan
* Willard Lee Boyd (LAW: LL.M. 1952; S.J.D. 1962), president emeritus of University of Iowa, and its 15th president; chairman of the Association of American Universities, 1979–1980
* Steven G. Bradbury (J.D. 1988), former acting assistant attorney general (Office of Legal Counsel)
* Charles Henry Brown, Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives
* John Robert Brown (J.D. 1932), Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, one of the "Fifth Circuit Four"
* Vernon A. Bullard (LL.B. 1884), United States Attorney for the District of Vermont
* William J. Bulow (LL.B. 1893), U.S. Senator from and Governor of South Dakota
* Rousseau Angelus Burch (1885), Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court
* Nicole (Niki) Burnham (J.D. 1994), author, RITA award winner
* Clarence A. Buskirk, 10th Indiana Attorney General (1874–1878)
* Michael T. Cahill (1996), Dean of Brooklyn Law School
* Llewellyn L. Callaway (LL.B. 1891), chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court
* David Francis Cargo (LL.B. 1957), Governor of New Mexico, 1967–71; New Mexico State House of Representatives Albuquerque (1963–67)
* Roger Carter (LL.M., 1968), dean of University of Saskatchewan College of Law; recipient of Order of Canada
* Avern Cohn (J.D. 1949), Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
* William W. Cook (JD 1882), heavily published and cited author of textbooks on corporate law; donor of the quadrangle to Michigan
* Ann Coulter (J.D. 1988), political personality, author
* Mike Cox (J.D. 1989), Michigan Attorney General, 2003–2010
* Andrew Cray, LGBT rights activist and husband of Delaware state senator Sarah McBride
* George Crockett Jr. (LAW: 1934), civil rights activist; helped found the National Lawyers Guild; first African American lawyer hired by the Department of Labor; Recorder's Court Judge, Detroit, Michigan, 1966–74; U.S. House of Representatives (D-Mich.), 1991
* Byron Mac Cutcheon (LL.B. 1866), American Civil War officer; Medal of Honor recipient; politician from Michigan
* Clarence Darrow (attended), trial lawyer; defense counsel in the Scopes Monkey Trial and Leopold and Loeb
* Harry M. Daugherty (LL.B. 1880), United States Attorney General, 1921–24, Republican Party boss, member of the "Ohio Gang"
* William R. Day (LL.B. 1870), United States Secretary of State, 1898; United States Supreme Court Associate Justice, 1903–1922
* Pat DeWine (JD 1994), Associate Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, 2017–
* Donald McDonald Dickinson (LL.B. 1867), in 1887 appointed by Grover Cleveland as United States Postmaster General; served from January 6, 1888, until the end of Cleveland's first term in 1889
* Gershwin A. Drain (J.D.), District Judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
* Mike Duggan (J.D. 1983), incumbent and 75th mayor of Detroit, Michigan, serving since 2013, and former deputy County Executive of Wayne County

### E-G

* David M. Ebel (J.D. 1965), Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
* Aghogho Edevbie (J.D.), deputy Michigan Secretary of State (2023–present)
* Harry T. Edwards (J.D. 1965), former chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
* Larry Elder (J.D. 1977), syndicated radio and television talk show host
* Rossa Fanning (LL.M 2000), Attorney General of Ireland (2022–present)
* John Feikens (J.D.), politician and judge from Michigan; Senior Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (1986–present); was nominated to the same district court by three presidents
* Heidi Li Feldman (J.D. 1990), American law professor
* Jeffrey L. Fisher (J.D. 1997), Stanford Law School professor; prevailing counsel in Crawford v. Washington and Blakely v. Washington
* Harold Ford Jr. (J.D. 1996), former U.S. Representative from Tennessee; Democratic Leadership Council chair
* Ralph M. Freeman (LL.B. 1926), Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
* John J. Gardner (attended 1866–1867), U.S. Representative from New Jersey; mayor of Atlantic City
* Ralph F. Gates (J.D. 1917), 37th governor of Indiana
* Richard Gephardt (J.D. 1965), U.S. Representative from Missouri (1977–2005); House Majority Leader, 1989–1995; Minority Leader, 1995–2003
* Heather K. Gerken (J.D. 1994), 17th Dean of Yale Law School
* Charles E. Gibson Jr. (LL.B. 1952), Vermont Attorney General
* Ernest Willard Gibson (attended 1898–99), United States Senator from Vermont
* Arthur L. Gilliom (LL.B. 1913), 25th Indiana Attorney General (1925–1929)
* Paul Gillmor (J.D. 1964), U.S. Representative from Ohio, 5th District; President of the Ohio Senate
* Jay Gorney (LL.B. 1919), Tin Pan Alley songwriter who co-wrote "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?;" blacklisted during McCarthy era
* Ronald M. Gould (J.D. 1973), Judge, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
* Jim Graham (D.C. City Councilmember)
* Chuck Greenberg (J.D. 1985), owner, CEO of the Texas Rangers
* Wycliffe Grousbeck (J.D. 1986), owner of the Boston Celtics

### H-K

* Franklin D. Hale (LL.B. 1877), Vermont Auditor of Accounts, and longtime U.S. Consul in several locations
* Seneca Haselton (LL.B. 1875), mayor of Burlington, Vermont, U.S. Minister to Venezuela, Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
* Kirby Hendee (LL.B. 1953), Wisconsin State Senator
* J. Lister Hill (attended), former U.S. Senator from Alabama
* James P. Hoffa (LL.B. 1966), president, International Brotherhood of Teamsters
* James W. Houck (J.D. 1985), Judge Advocate General of the United States Navy
* Harland Bradley Howe (LL.B. 1894), United States District Court for the District of Vermont
* Wilbur E. Hurlbut (LL.B. 1893), Wisconsin State Assemblyman
* Bela S. Huntington (attended 1882–83), member of the Oregon House of Representatives
* Sada Jacobson (J.D. 2011), Olympic fencing silver and bronze medalist
* Valerie Jarrett (J.D. 1981), senior advisor to President Obama
* Christopher M. Jeffries (J.D. 1974), real estate developer and namesake of Jeffries Hall
* Robert M. Johnson (J.D. 1971), former publisher of Newsday
* Matthew M. Joyce, United States federal judge
* Amalya Lyle Kearse (J.D. 1962), Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
* Paul S. Kemp (J.D. 2000), fantasy author, known for Forgotten Realms novels; defender of shared world fiction; his novel Deceived (2011) was on the New York Times best-seller list
* Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy (J.D. 1947), Senior Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
* Raymond Kethledge (J.D. 1993), Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
* John Knauf (1892), justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court

### L-Q

* Cary D. Landis (LL.B., 1899), 25th Florida Attorney General (1931–1938)
* Eric Lefkofsky (J.D. 1993), serial entrepreneur; co-founder of and angel investor in Groupon; president of private equity and consulting firm Blue Media, LLC; named to Forbes' 2011 list of billionaires
* Jeffrey Lehman (J.D. 1981), 11th President of Cornell University
* Brian Leiter (J.D. 1987), professor, University of Chicago
* U. S. Lesh (LL.B., 1891), 24th Indiana Attorney General (1921–1925)
* Jason Levien (J.D. 1997), co-owner of the Major League Soccer club D.C. United and Welsh club Swansea City A.F.C.
* Tom Lewand (J.D. 1996), president of the Detroit Lions
* E.W. Marland (LL.B., 1893), oilman; U.S. Congressman; Oklahoma governor
* J. Thomas McCarthy (J.D. 1963), author of McCarthy's Treatise on Trademark and Unfair Competition
* Francis McNulty Jr. (LL.B. 1888), Republican member of the Iowa House of Representatives, 1896–1898
* Charles Edward Merrill (1906–1907), co-founded stock brokerage firm Merrill Lynch with Edmund C. Lynch; worked at Merrill Lynch, 1914–56
* Charles W. Miller (1884), 18th Indiana Attorney General (1903–1907)
* Robert E. Minahan (LL.B. 1894), Mayor of Green Bay, Wisconsin
* Jeffrey P. Minear (J.D. 1982), Counselor to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
* Mayo Moran (LL.M. 1992), Professor of Law, Provost and Vice-Chancellor of Trinity College, Toronto
* Frank Murphy (LL.B. 1914), United States Attorney General, 1939; United States Supreme Court Associate Justice, 1940–1949
* Gordon Myse (LL.B. 1960), Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
* Harry Nelson, author
* Helen W. Nies (L.L.B. 1948), Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 1990–1994
* Ronald L. Olson (J.D. 1967), attorney and name partner in the Los Angeles office of the law firm of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP
* Kevyn Orr (J.D. 1983), partner with Jones Day LLP and emergency financial manager of the city of Detroit, Michigan, 2013–2014
* Rob Pelinka (J.D. 1996), general manager of Los Angeles Lakers; former sports agent, known for representing Kobe Bryant
* Frank Plumley (attended 1867–68), United States Congressman from Vermont
* Mark F. Pomerantz (J.D. 1975), New York attorney
* Lloyd Welch Pogue (J.D.), pioneering aviation attorney; chairman of the now-defunct Civil Aeronautics Board
* John Porter (J.D. 1961), United States Representative from Illinois, 1980–2001
* Rob Portman (J.D. 1984), director of the Office of Management and Budget; United States Senator from Ohio

### R-Z

* Luis María Ramírez Boettner (J.D. 1944), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay, 1993–1996
* Clark T Randt Jr. (J.D. 1975), United States ambassador to China (2001–2009)
* Nicholas Ranjan (J.D. 2003), District Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
* Branch Rickey (LL.B. 1911), Major League Baseball executive and Hall of Famer; created the modern minor league system and signed Jackie Robinson to a contract, breaking the sport's 20th-century color line
* Richard Riordan (J.D. 1956), Mayor of Los Angeles, 1993–2001
* John M. Rogers (J.D. 1974), Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
* Marvin B. Rosenberry (J.D. 1893), Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Donald Stuart Russell, U.S. Senator from South Carolina, 1965–1966; 107th Governor of South Carolina, 1963–1965
* Ken Salazar (J.D. 1981), former U.S. Senator from Colorado; former United States Secretary of the Interior
* Miriam Defensor Santiago (LL.M. 1975, S.J.D. 1976), member of the Senate of the Philippines; Judge of the International Criminal Court
* Joseph Francis Sartori 1881, founder and president, Security First-National Bank, co-founder, president, Los Angeles Country Club
* Anthony Joseph Scirica (J.D. 1965), chief judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
* Robert E. Scott (S.J.D. 1973), bankruptcy scholar and professor at Columbia Law School
* Carol Sanger (J.D. 1976), reproductive rights expert, professor at Columbia Law School
* Theary Seng, Cambodian-American human-rights activist and lawyer
* Ma. Lourdes Aranal Sereno (LL.M. 1993), Filipino jurist, lawyer and law professor; former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
* Myra C. Selby (J.D. 1977), first woman and first African American Justice on the Indiana Supreme Court
* Cynthia Leitich Smith (J.D. 1994), author
* Rick Snyder (J.D. 1982), former CEO of Gateway; former Governor of Michigan
* George Alexander Spater (J.D. 1933), chairman of American Airlines, 1968–1973
* Oliver Lyman Spaulding (LL.B., 1896), U.S. Army brigadier general
* Robert Stafford, US congressman and senator; 71st Governor of Vermont
* Bert Sugar (J.D. 1961), author of more than 80 books; editor and publisher of The Ring, a magazine devoted to boxing (his daughter Jennifer attended Michigan as an undergrad)
* George Sutherland (attended 1891), United States Supreme Court Justice
* Kent D. Syverud (J.D. 1981), dean of the Washington University School of Law
* Masaaki Tanaka (LL.M), president and chief executive officer of UnionBanCal Corporation and its principal subsidiary, Union Bank of California
* Daniel Tarullo (J.D. 1977), member of Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve Board since January 28, 2009
* Hobart Taylor Jr., executive vice chairman of the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunities, Special Counsel to President Lyndon Johnson, director of the Export–Import Bank of the United States; first African American editor of the Michigan Law Review
* Arn Tellem (J.D.), sports agent; former columnist for The New York Times
* Larry Dean Thompson (J.D.), lawyer; deputy Attorney General of the United States under United States President George W. Bush until August 2003
* William Wheeler Thornton (LL.B. 1876), judge; author; Indiana Deputy Attorney General; Indiana State Supreme Ct. Librarian
* Norman O. Tietjens (J.D. 1930), judge of the United States Tax Court
* John D. Voelker (JD 1928), justice of the Michigan Supreme Court; author of Anatomy of a Murder
* John M. Walker Jr. (J.D. 1966), former Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
* Moses Fleetwood Walker (attended 1881–1882), baseball player and author; first African-American to play major league professional baseball
* Johnnie Mac Walters, former Commissioner of Internal Revenue
* Albert D. Walton (LL.B. 1907), former US Attorney for the district of Wyoming
* James Franklin Ware, Wisconsin State Assemblyman and Senator
* Charles W. Waterman (LL.B. 1889), U.S. Senator from Colorado
* Walter W. Wensinger (LL.B. 1917), highly decorated lieutenant general in the Marine Corps during World War II
* Sarah Killgore Wertman (LL.B. 1871), née Sarah Killgore, the first woman to be admitted to the bar of any US state
* David Westin (J.D. 1977), president of ABC News
* Mary Collins Whiting (1835–1912), lawyer, business woman, teacher
* James J. White (J.D. 1962), Robert A. Sullivan Professor of Law at Michigan Law; expert on the Uniform Commercial Code
* G. Mennen Williams (J.D. 1936), 41st Governor of Michigan and the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under President John F. Kennedy
* Ralph Wilson, owner, Buffalo Bills
* Bob Woodruff (J.D. 1987), journalist; ABC News anchor
* Frank Wu, dean of University of California, Hastings College of the Law
* John C.H. Wu (J.D. 1928), principal author of the constitution of the Republic of China
* Sam Zell (LSA B.A. 1963; J.D. 1966), land developer; founder of EQ Office; former National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts chairman; current chairman and majority owner of the Tribune Company