Members of Cooley Law School's 112th graduating class will be presented with the degrees of juris doctor or master of laws during graduation ceremonies on Sunday, Jan. 20, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
In January 1973 Cooley began offering classes in Lansing and its inaugural class of students graduated in 1976.
In honor of the school's 40th anniversary, Thomas E. Brennan, founder of Thomas M. Cooley Law School and former Michigan Supreme Court chief justice, will be the keynote speaker during the commencement.
Brennan was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 1953. He was elected to the Detroit Common Pleas Court in 1961, advancing to the Wayne County Circuit Court, and finally to the Michigan Supreme Court where he served as chief justice in 1969 and 1970. In 1972 Brennan founded the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, where he served as dean and president before retiring on Jan. 19, 2002.
Each entering class at Cooley bears the name of a distinguished member of the legal profession. The Jan. 2013 class is named after former U.S. Associate Supreme Court Justice Alfred Moore. During the Revolutionary War, he served as a captain, company commander and judge advocate for the North Carolina forces. In 1782, the General Assembly appointed Moore attorney general, where he was heavily involved in the first instance in United States history where a court declared a legislative act unconstitutional. In 1799, President Madison appointed him to the Supreme Court, where he served for five years before resigning due to his health.
Published: Thu, Jan 17, 2013
