1901–1911 (The Sterling Years) The
University of South Dakota College of Law was founded in 1901.
Thomas Sterling served as the law school's first dean until 1911 when he left to become the third
U.S. Senator from South Dakota. During the
Sterling years, the law school proved successful in developing attorneys for the new state. In fact, by the time Sterling was in Congress, two of his earliest graduates
William Williamson and
Royal C. Johnson were Congressmen themselves. Before Sterling and the College of Law, the few lawyers there were, came from eastern states or read law for admission into the bar. Along with Sterling, U.S. Ambassador to Austria
Bartlett Tripp was an integral part of establishing the school. Tripp was returning to South Dakota from his diplomatic post in Austria at the turn of the century. Tripp had been initially considered to be the running mate of President
William McKinley, his friend and
Albany Law School classmate, but was overlooked in lieu of then-Governor of New York
Teddy Roosevelt. With no other political opportunities left to him, Tripp devoted his full attention to establishing the College of Law. He played many roles in the law school, not only was he the school's first taxation and constitutional law professor but he had served as President of the first bar association, the Constitutional Convention of South Dakota & the commission to codify South Dakota's laws, as well as the last Chief Justice of the
Dakota Territory Supreme Court. Tripp and his son-in-law
Charles Hall Dillon, a fellow professor, provided much of the law library's contents and upon Tripp's death donated much of his estate to the College of Law. It is speculated that had
William McKinley not overlooked him for
Vice President of the United States the College of Law may not have been founded as soon as it was. Thomas Sterling's 1911 departure was partly led by the death of his friend and colleague Bartlett Tripp.
1911–1984 for the
87th Congress contained three alumni from the class of 1927: Rep.
E.Y. Berry, Sen.
Joseph Bottum, and Rep.
Harold Lovre. In 1911, Marshall McKusick became the school's second and subsequent longest-serving dean, serving until his death in 1950. The 1927 class proved to be one of the strongest classes in USD Law history, producing
Frank Biegelmeier,
George T. Mickelson,
E.Y. Berry,
Joseph Bottum, and
Harold Lovre. A stronger class did not come until 1975, when USD Law produced
Steven L. Zinter,
David Gilbertson,
Glen A. Severson,
Steve T. Kirby, and
Tim Johnson. In 1982, the College of Law moved from its then-82-year-old building to a new building and was renamed the 'School of Law'. During this period the law school was led by the 11th
Deputy Attorney General of the United States from the Nixon Administration,
Ralph E. Erickson.
1984–2016 In 1984, the South Dakota Supreme Court abolished the nearly century-old practice of
diploma privilege, which previously admitted School of Law graduates into South Dakota bar without examination. Also in 1984,
Camden 28 member and Indian Law scholar
Frank Pommersheim joined the faculty. From 1993 until 2011 Barry Vickrey, a
Vanderbilt law alumnus, served as Dean of the School of Law. During Vickrey's tenure, noted federalist professor
Patrick Garry joined the faculty in 2003. Former CEO of the
Mayo Clinic,
Mike Myers served on the faculty as an elder law professor. Myers, known for his eccentric behavior, resigned in 2012 and ran for Governor of South Dakota in
the next election. In 2013, Thomas Earl Geu, a
University of Nebraska College of Law alumnus, was hired from his previous position of interim dean into full dean.
2016–present In June 2017,
George "Mark" Mickelson, son and grandson of alumnus
George S. Mickelson and
George T. Mickelson chaired the USD Law Task Force to determine if the location of the School of Law should be moved to
Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The USD Law Task Force voted 8–5 to keep the School of Law in Vermilion, South Dakota, but would develop non-degree programs there. On March 20, 2018, Thomas Geu announced his intentions to resign as dean of the School of Law.
Neil Fulton, the Federal Public Defender for the
District of South Dakota and
District of North Dakota, became the new dean of the School of Law. On May 15, 2020, the council of the
American Bar Association's Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar met remotely and determined this school and nine others had significant noncompliance with Standard 316. This Standard was revised in 2019 to provide that at least 75% of an accredited law school's graduates who took a bar exam must pass one within two years of graduation. ==Demographics and rankings==