October 4, 2010

Cooley Law School Becomes the New Home for the Adams Pratt Collection of Legal Texts

A rededication ceremony recognized the collection’s new home

The Thomas M. Cooley Law School's Auburn Hills campus officially became the new home of the Adams Pratt collection of legal texts today during a rededication ceremony. The collection, which contains 23,000 volumes, was previously housed at the Oakland County Courthouse. Cooley, Oakland County, the Oakland County Library Board and the Oakland County Bar Association and Foundation worked together to establish Cooley as the new home of the collection.

The Adams Pratt collection includes state and federal statutes and case reports, digests, treatises and law reviews, and a wide range of specialized legal materials. The addition of the Adams Pratt collection makes Cooley's library the largest and most comprehensive legal collection in the county.

"This collection dates back to 1909," said L. Brooks Patterson, executive of Oakland County. "It has great roots in our community and will offer our citizens, members of the bar, and Cooley’s students increased use at its new home, all at great savings to the Oakland County taxpayers."

Staff members are available at Cooley’s Law Library during its hours of operation to provide service and support to visitors, and professional librarians staff the reference desk. The library is open from 7 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to midnight on weekends, giving visitors an extended opportunity to use the texts.

"It is a great honor to be able to house this collection within Cooley’s walls," said Don LeDuc, Cooley Law School’s president and dean. "I hope that visitors to the library will feel welcome and have a chance to not only read the texts, but do so in a comfortable environment that provides an ideal setting to study the law."

A plaque was installed near the front door of the library to recognize the dedication and honor the Honorable Clark J. Adams and Honorable Philip Pratt, two of Oakland County’s greatest jurists for whom the collection was renamed in 1976.

"Our local law school seems to be the best home for this historic collection," stated Bill Bullard, Jr., chairperson of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners. "For years, our local attorneys and citizens have used these legal research materials to support arguments given in the courts. In the collection's new home, they will remain available to the local law community while also being at the fingertips of tomorrow's attorneys."

Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the nation.  Founded in 1972, the private, non-profit law school operates J.D. programs across Michigan in Lansing, Auburn Hills, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor. Today, Cooley Law School has more than 14,000 graduates across the nation and worldwide and also offers joint degree and master of laws programs. Cooley offers enrollment three times a year; in January, May and September. Additional information about Cooley can be found at cooley.edu.