Welcome From Dean Michael McGinniss

As our new Dean, and after serving for nine truly fulfilling years as a member of our faculty, I am both humbled and excited by the opportunity to provide leadership for a law school I love so much.  I undertake this role knowing that I follow in the footsteps of many before me who helped make UND Law’s traditions, values, and integrity so strong, and an institution in which its alumni and friends take so much proper pride.

At the UND School of Law, we are committed to excellence in research and scholarship and to providing valuable service in the academy and the legal profession.  But we have also always recognized that teaching our students in preparation for their future practice of law is our first and most important mission. We attract aspiring lawyers from both near and far with a wide variety of experiences and backgrounds.  While at the School of Law, students will learn from a highly qualified and accessible faculty.  As the only law school in the state, we also have unique access to and support from our judiciary and state bar.  Our students leave not only prepared to join the legal profession, but also having developed life-long friendships and professional connections.

I am deeply committed to ensuring that the qualities that have made us so distinctive and special among law schools endure for the future.  Touchstones in my philosophy of legal education are student success and well-being in the short term—accomplished through a rigorous academic program and a culture of caring and respect for individuals—and in the long term, including bar passage after graduation and the best possible preparation for professional life thereafter.

We invite you to see UND School of Law for yourself. To arrange a personalized tour, just call 1.800.CALL.UND or 701.777.2047 or send an email to admissions@law.UND.edu. We look forward to seeing you.