Mitchell Hamline School of Law

Located in St. Paul’s scenic Summit Avenue neighborhood, just minutes from the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul, William Mitchell is known for “wonderful professors,” “generous scholarships,” and a “good balance of legal theory and practical experience.” It offers a flexible program that allows students to attend full time, part time, or on campus/online. In fact, it’s the first on-campus/online hybrid program at an ABA-approved law school. The hybrid program combines “intensive in-person experiential learning and online coursework that allows students to study the law from anywhere in the world.” This is especially beneficial for “non-traditional” students who need to “work and go to school.”
Students appreciate the “emphasis on practical education.” William Mitchell’s “great instructors” focus on “experiential learning,” and there are “numerous opportunities to practice skills in the real world and in areas that are of greatest interest to you.” The “courses focus on practical skills, while still teaching the necessary doctrine.” Students praise the “focus on how the concepts will actually apply in practice.” Also, all “Mitchell students take a three-credit hands-on skill-building Advocacy course that focuses on client representation, negotiation, and advocacy skills.” In a lot of the classes, one student notes, “I feel like I’m doing work similar to a ‘real lawyer.’” Recently, the program has been especially “innovative, responsive, and creative in reworking the curriculum,” notes another. William Mitchell offers thirteen clinics—including Business Law, Child Protection, Civil Advocacy, Community Development, Criminal Appeals, Immigration Law, Indian Law, Intellectual Property Law, Law and Psychiatry, Legal Assistance to Minnesota Prisoners (LAMP), Legal Planning Clinic for Tax-Exempt Organizations and Low Income Clients Misdemeanor, and the Reentry Clinic. The Indian law program is of special interest, as the “professors are truly experts in the field.” William Mitchell also offers eleven simulation courses, and seventeen externships, which are “encouraged and highly facilitated,” but some students say popular classes can be hard to get into.
There are big changes afoot at William Mitchell as it combines with Hamline Law, and some students worry that they will lose the small-class environment, but others welcome the change. Either way, “everyone at William Mitchell is there to support you in excelling,” says one student. William Mitchell “provides highly accessible staff and admin.” Every “opportunity you could ask for awaits at your fingertip at this school,” and if you “reach out to alumni, faculty or staff members, they will give their all in trying to help you succeed.”
The “long tradition of the school gives the students a huge alumni base to access,” and “the alumni are hungry to help current students.” “Mitchell people help out other Mitchell people,” says one student. “I could not believe how prevalent this sentiment was when I started.” “I feel very prepared to enter the legal field upon graduation—both in knowledge and support,” notes a 2L. William Mitchell has an especially “strong alumni base in the Twin Cities.” For students who wish to stay in “Minnesota or the surrounding states (i.e. North Dakota, Iowa, etc.),” “finding a job after graduating from William Mitchell is very likely.”

When not in class or studying, William Mitchell students can be found “relaxing on nearby Grand Avenue,” “making connections with the thousands of Mitchell alumni who live and work in the area, and enjoying the vibrant cultural, entertainment, and nightlife that the area has to offer.” There are also “more than sixty student groups and organizations” from “academic and professional to athletics and recreation to religious and multicultural.” Students praise the campus facilities and note that “multiple other campuses use [William Mitchell’s] library because of its ambiance and resources.”