Michigan State Law Review


The Michigan State Law Review is a law review published by students at Michigan State University College of Law. It is the flagship journal of the school and it publishes five issues per year. According to the Washington & Lee Law Journal Ranking, Michigan State Law Review was the 48th highest-ranked flagship legal journal in 2020, a dramatic increase from its ranking of 332rd in 2003. The journal also hosts an annual academic conference of global legal experts with past events covering issues such as autonomous vehicles, quantitative legal analysis, civil rights, and intellectual property.
Michigan State Law Review has published the works of numerous legal scholars, such as Scott L. Kafker, Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, and Nathalie Martin, professor of consumer and bankruptcy law at University of New Mexico School of Law.

History

Prior to the founding of the Michigan State Law Review, the school published a periodical known as The Brief Case. Although this was met with approval, potential authors who were unaffiliated with the school requested to be published. In response, a law review was established. The Michigan State Law Review, then known as the Detroit Law Review, released its first publication in June 1931. At the time, the school was known as the Detroit College of Law. After seven years, the Detroit Law Review ceased publication in 1938, but was brought back for three issues during the 1947-48 academic year. Following another hiatus, the journal was revived in 1975.
In conjunction with the school's integration into Michigan State University, the journal went through a series of name changes: Detroit College of Law Review, Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University Law Review, The Law Review of Michigan State University, Detroit College of Law, Michigan State DCL Law Review, and Michigan State Law Review.