| 1848 | Law department authorized in University charter |
|---|---|
| 1868 | Law department opens with the admission of 15 students for a one-year course of study (12 graduated) |
| 1875 | First African-American student, William Noland |
| 1885 | First female graduate, Belle Case LaFollette |
| 1889 | Law department becomes the College of Law and a second year added to the curriculum |
| 1892 | First African-American graduate, William Green |
| 1893 | First Law building built on Bascom Hill |
| 1895 | Third year added to curriculum |
| 1896 | Entrance requirements increased to coincide with those for undergraduates |
| 1900 | Law School becomes a Charter Member of the Association of American Law Schools |
| 1903 | Dean Harry S. Richards installed and begins transforming the Law School |
| 1905 | Entrance requirements increased to require completion of at least one year of college |
| 1907 | Prof. Eugene Gilmore drafts the Public Utilities Bill for the Wisconsin Legislature, perhaps the first piece of Progressive legislation. School requires two years of college for entrance. Summer School established |
| 1908 | Order of Coif chapter established |
| 1909 | College of Law becomes the Law School |
| 1911 | Prof. Oliver Rundell undertakes a study of the administration of criminal justice, one of the first "law in action" studies |
| 1914 | Dean Harry Richards elected president of the Association of American Law Schools |
| 1920 | Wisconsin Law Review established |
| 1920's | Six months practice experience required for graduation |
| 1922 | Prof. William Rice offers one of the first labor law courses in the country. |
| 1928 | Prof. Ray Brown completes a ground-breaking study of the problems of Native Americans |
| 1929 | Three years of college now required for admission to Law School. Dean Harry Richards dies |
| 1930's | "Law and Society" courses appear, evidence of the School's interpretation of the Wisconsin Idea |
| 1930's | Law faculty and Economics faculty cooperate to create the first workers compensation system in the nation |
| 1930's | Prof. J. Willard Hurst begins research and teaching in Legal History |
| 1930 | Law School takes over the Legal Aid Society from the Dane Co. Bar Association, begins dispensing legal services to low income consumers |
| 1932 | Dean Lloyd Garrison arrives, grandson of William Lloyd Garrison, the abolitionist |
| 1933 | Wisconsin Law Alumni Association formed |
| 1939 | Library wing added to the original Law building |
| 1942 | John Stuart Curry, UW Artist-in-Residence, paints the "Freeing the Slaves" mural in the Law library |
| 1950 | Prof. Charles Bunn is principal draftsperson of the Uniform Commerical Code, eventually adopted by all states |
| 1950's | Continuing Legal Education in Wisconsin established to provide continued instruction to the practicing bar |
| 1950s-1960s | Prof. Jacob Beuscher conducts his groundbreaking research and legislative drafting in the area of Water Law and land-use in small Wisconsin communities. This work grows into the first environmental law studies |
| 1959 | First female professor, Margo Melli |
| 1959 | After Feb., applicants must have taken LSAT (although it was apparently not used in making the determination for a number of years) |
| 1962 | Gargoyle survives demolition of original Law building and is elevated to icon-status by Dean George Young. |
| 1963 | Second Law building completed on Bascom Hill |
| 1966 | First Hispanic professor, Joseph Thome |
| 1967 | Legal Education Opportunities Program (LEO) is established to enhance diversity in the legal profession |
| 1968 | Stuart Gullickson arrives to direct the General Practice Course, successor to the Summer Problems Course. Course becomes the principal method of teaching students the practical skills necessary for careers in law |
| 1969 | First African-American faculty member, Prof. James E. Jones, Jr. |
| 1969 | Law faculty serves on the "Committee of '30'", serving as fact-finders during the student unrest of the period |
| 1970's | William Hastie Fellowship program established to encourage minority lawyers to become law school faculty members. |
| 1970's | Clinical legal education blossoms: clinics evolve from ad hoc arrangements to formal programs, often connected to specific academic courses, with full time supervising lawyers |
| 1978 | Modest addition to the Law Library: not built with sufficient load capacity for books, not air conditioned, and scaled back from five levels to four |
| 1980's | Institute for Legal Studies (research) and East Asian Legal Studies Center (international law) come to fruition |
| 1984 | First Native American faculty, Robert Williams |
| 1989 | First African-American female professor, Linda Greene |
| 1990 | First African-American Dean, Daniel O. Bernstine |
| 1990's | Senior faculty luminaries including J. Willard Hurst, Frank Remington, Robert Skilton, John Stedman and Abner Brodie pass away. Bright young faculty recruited to fill the void but, with decreasing public support and an increasingly competitive market for law faculty, challenges arise in retaining the best faculty. |
| 1994 | Construction begins on $16.5 million addition and remodeling project. Completed in the fall of 1996, wins Honors Award for design from the AIA, Wisconsin Chapter |
| 2000 | First Hispanic female professor, Pilar Ossorio |
| 2011 | Dean Margaret Raymond becomes the 13th Dean of the Law School Raymond is the first female dean of the Law School |
