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Ave Maria School of Law

Our history

Ave Maria School of Law was founded in 1999 through the generosity of well-known Catholic philanthropist Mr. Thomas S. Monaghan. The founder of Domino’s Pizza, Mr. Monaghan, sold the company in 1998 and decided to use the profits to advance several important causes, including Catholic legal education. Ave Maria Law’s first class began studies in August 2000 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In August 2005, the law school received full accreditation by the American Bar Association. Following a multi-year study, the law school relocated to Naples, Florida during the summer of 2009, and resides there today.

The founding board of governors included religious and political figures, including Henry Hyde, Edward Cardinal Egan, Robert P. George, Kate O’Beirne, Adam Cardinal Maida, Bowie Kuhn, Bishop Frank Joseph Dewane, and John Cardinal O’Connor. Robert Bork was an early faculty member, and Antonin Scalia and Charles E. Rice consulted on the structure of the curriculum. The National Catholic Reporter described the school as having “a more conservative religious orientation than any existing Catholic law school in the nation” and “militantly religious.”

As Mr. Monaghan often says, “next to priests and consecrated religious, lawyers are the most influential leaders in our country.” Ave Maria School of Law was founded as a Catholic law school that would provide a premier legal education enhanced by the Catholic intellectual tradition that recognizes the existence of objective moral truths and the inherent dignity of every human being. We hope our graduates will see the practice of law not as a separate compartment of their lives but as a vocation, an extension of lives lived in conformance with objective moral truths. We seek to accomplish this by developing in our students the knowledge and skills critical to the intelligent practice of the profession. We work to build in our students a mature judgment informed by exposure to Catholic moral and social teachings through which those students can analyze and approach problems and issues they will face in practice.

 


 

Mr. Thomas Monaghan

AVE MARIA LAW HISTORICAL TIMELINE

Thomas S. Monaghan Founded Ave Maria School of Law

  • In 1999, Founder and Chairman, Thomas S. Monaghan along with Founding Dean Bernard Dobranski, worked to assemble a group of 11 distinguished Catholic leaders to make the vision of this Catholic law school a reality.
  • These individuals comprised the Founding Board of Ave Maria School of Law.
  • In addition, the Founding Faculty worked tirelessly to establish AMSL’s reputation for a quality legal education.
Classes Begin

  • The Law School was licensed by the State of Michigan and classes began in the fall of 2000.
  • The attention of many of the elite in the legal world, including Edwin Meese, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Kenneth Starr, and a host of others was focused on AMSL.
  • Original teaching faculty includes Judge Robert Bork, Richard Myers, Stephen Safranek, Joseph Falvey, Mollie Murphy, and Howard Bromberg.
  • Bernard Dobranski becomes the first President and Dean.
2001-2002

  • Students and faculty attend the March for Life in Washington D.C., a tradition that continues each year.
  • AMSL was granted provisional accreditation by the American Bar Association.
  • Ave Maria Lecturer: The Honorable Kenneth Starr
2003

 

  • AMSL’s inaugural commencement and the highest bar passage rate in Michigan and above 90 percent nationwide.
  • His Eminence Edward Cardinal Egan donates a rare collection of 45 Canon Law books to the Law Library.
  • Commencement speaker: Samuel Dale Brownback, U. S. Senate
  • Honorary degree recipients: The Honorable Samuel Dale Brownback, The Honorable Robert Heron Bork and Charles Edward Rice.
  • Ave Maria Lecturer: Ambassador Michael Novak, George Frederick Jewett Scholar in Religion, Philosophy and Public Policy.
2004

  • AMSL opens its first clinical program: Asylum and Immigrant Rights Law Clinic.
  • Commencement speaker and Honorary degree recipient: The Honorable Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
  • Ave Maria Lecturer: The Honorable Edwin Messe, III, Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy the Heritage Foundation
2005

The Honorable Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice, The Supreme Court of the United States at Ave Maria School of Law.

  • AMSL received full accreditation – in shortest possible time – from the America Bar Association.
  • Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient: The Honorable R. James Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Ave Maria Lecturer: The Honorable Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice, The Supreme Court of the United States.
2006

Honorary Degree Recipient and Speaker: The Honorable Edith Brown Clement

  • Professors Jane Adolphe, Eugene Milhizer and Jim Sonne receive tenure while at AMSL.
  • Commencement Speaker: The Honorable Edith B. Clement, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Honorary Degree Recipients: The Honorable Edith Brown Clement, The Honorable James Lane Buckley, The Honorable William Patrick Clark and The Honorable James Leo Ryan
2007

  • On February 20, 2007, the AMSL Board of Governors announce the relocation of the Law School to Southwest Florida.
  • Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient: The Honorable Janice Rogers Brown, United States of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Ave Maria Lecturer: Reverend R. John Neuhaus, President of the Institute on Religion and Public Life, Editor in Chief – First Things
2008

 

Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient: The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, U.S. House of Representatives

 

  • Eugene R. Milhizer is named Acting Dean.
  • Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient: The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, U.S. House of Representatives
2009

Ave Maria School of Law moving from Michigan to Naples, Florida in 2009.

  • Over the summer of 2009, AMSL moves from Ann Arbor to its new home in Naples, Florida.
  • Under the leadership of acting President and Dean Eugene R. Milhizer, AMSL obtains ABA acquiescence for the relocation.
  • ABA continues AMSL’s full accreditation following a comprehensive review and sabbatical site visit. A
  • MSL matriculates its largest class, over 200 students.
  • AMSL is ranked Best Teaching Faculty by Princeton Review.
  • Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight, Knights of Columbus is guest speaker for Opening Gala for the Law School.
  • Inaugural St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Thomas More Oratorical Contest.
  • Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient: His Eminence Adam Cardinal Maida.

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