Document Type
Program
Publication Date
2024
Abstract
Henry Munroe Campbell was a distinguished lawyer who served as legal counsel to the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents for several years.
He was born in 1854, the son of famed Michigan Supreme Court Justice James V. Campbell. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1876 and later from the University of Michigan Law School. In 1878, he established a law partnership in Detroit with Henry Russell. Over the years, the firm prospered and continues today as the Detroit-based firm Dickinson Wright PLLC.
Campbell became an attorney of considerable eminence in Michigan and was widely regarded as a constitutional scholar. He helped draft the Michigan Constitution in 1908 and served as chief counsel to the delegates who petitioned the Michigan Supreme Court to secure early submission of the document to the electorate.
Campbell maintained a keen interest in the affairs and growth of the University of Michigan. In Board of Regents of the University of Michigan v. Auditor General, 132 N.W. 1037 (Mich. 1911), he successfully argued for the constitutional autonomy of the University and its governing body. Campbell was a well-liked and inspiring teacher. One of the young lawyers he trained recalled years later that “he created and fostered a sense of loyalty, of cooperation, and uncompromising integrity that must endure. To him the law was a science, its profession a service.”
Following Campbell’s death in 1926, his law partners met with then-University of Michigan Law School Dean Henry Bates to discuss a fitting memorial. They decided to establish a case club competition to foster training for law students in appellate advocacy in his honor. The first Henry M. Campbell competition was held in the 1927–1928 academic year.
A trust fund to finance the competition was established in 1927 and has been periodically augmented with gifts from Dickinson Wright PLLC. Each year, prizes are paid from the income of the trust fund to the finalists in the Henry M. Campbell Moot Court Competition. This year cash prizes will be paid to the top five finalists.
Citation
University of Michigan Law School, "99th Henry M. Campbell Moot Court Competition: Final Round" (2024). Event Materials.
https://repository.law.umich.edu/events/77