News + Events

“Being a proud and humble graduate of C|M|LAW allows me to celebrate being part of the fabric of the community in which I work, live and play...” -Teresa Metcalf Beasley ’92, 2018 C|M|LAW Hall of Fame Inductee

 “…this law school provided the education and inspiration I needed to take my life in a very different direction. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity C|M|LAW provided to Learn Law, Live Justice.” -Professor Emerita Susan J. Becker ’83, 2018 C|M|LAW Hall of Fame Inductee

 “C|M|LAW created an environment that shaped my confidence to emulate lawyers who sacrificed comfort and prestige to work for people's rights. My time at C|M|LAW was indispensable to my life in law…” -Terry Gilbert ’73, 2018 C|M|LAW Hall of Fame Inductee

Today is the birthday (September 24, 1755) of the fourth Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Marshall, known as the “Great Chief Justice” because of his historic role in establishing the Supreme Court’s role in our federal government.

Our law school, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University, takes its name from that great jurist, and we preserve his remarkable legacy by honoring our past and celebrating our future.

This morning, I am asking you to honor our covenant to preserve Chief Justice Marshall’s legacy. We do so by being a law school of both excellence and opportunity.

Last year we celebrated our 120th anniversary by establishing the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (C|M|LAW) Hall of Fame. Each year, we honor those living and deceased leaders who have contributed to our past, present, and/or future success. (See last year’s inductees here: 2017 C|M|LAW Inaugural Hall of Fame Class)

The annual Hall of Fame Celebration is also our single best opportunity this year to raise funds for student scholarships.

Please join us on Friday, October 26, 5:30-8pm for our 2nd Annual C|M|LAW Hall of Fame Celebration honoring our 2018 C|M|LAW Hall of Fame Honorees. We will have the opportunity to honor the very distinguished leaders pictured below who have contributed to the great success of our law school, when they will be inducted in our 2018 Hall of Fame.

In honor of Chief Justice Marshall’s birthday, I am respectfully asking you to accelerate our trajectory as a law school on the rise by your financial support of our October 26 Hall of Fame event. See the below sponsorship levels.

We are at a unique moment in our 121-year history. Despite the headwinds of a national decline in LSAT takers, a national reduction in applicants to law schools, a decline in State of Ohio funding for higher education, high levels of student educational debt, and a challenging legal market, we are, nonetheless, a law school on the rise.

• First and foremost, we are Cleveland’s and Northeast Ohio’s “brain-gain law school.” More than 70% of our graduates remain in Cleveland/Northeast Ohio after graduation. We are the largest and most reliable talent pipeline for Cleveland’s and Northeast Ohio’s legal community. Our graduates not only practice in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio after graduation; they make it their home.
• Cleveland-Marshall had the highest passage rate for first-time takers of the February 2018 Ohio Bar Exam among Ohio’s nine law schools. We also had the highest number of students who passed the bar exam and the highest number of first-time passers of any law school in Ohio. Cleveland-Marshall First on Ohio Bar Exam Passage
• We recently had a 14-point increase in our U.S. News national ranking, the 4th largest increase of any law school in the nation, and the largest increase in national ranking of any Ohio law school. Our part-time program was named 1st in Ohio. See Cleveland State University C|M|LAW Rises; Case, Akron Drop in U.S. News Law School Rankings (note: that’s the media headline, not our description…)
• This fall we enrolled a class of 140, a 30% increase over last year, and the largest and most diverse class in the past 4 years. The median LSAT of our first year class held firm and our median undergraduate GPA increased.

Our biggest challenge is financial. Tuition is our most reliable revenue source, and in this intensely competitive law school environment, the only way to attract high quality law students and increase enrollment is through scholarships. Our 120 Scholarship Campaign continues and it has taken on increased importance and urgency.

Please make a C|M|LAW John Marshall Scholar contribution or pledge by October 5 to our October Hall of Fame celebration of an amount ranging from $120 to $12,000. Below are the different levels of support for our Hall of Fame Celebration. Please visit csulaw.org/hof_registration to purchase tickets or sponsorships.

If you are not able to attend, please give here: Believe in C|M|LAW. Give Now. or send me an email with your pledge at: lee.fishernull@csuohio.nulledu. We thank you! Chief Justice Marshall thanks you!

Please see below for more information about our October 26 Hall of Fame Celebration.

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Have a great day…Have a great week.

My best,

Lee

For copies of past messages, please go to this link: Monday Morning Messages. 

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My views in all my Monday Morning Messages are my personal views alone and do not reflect the views of our Law School or our University.