The School of Law at UND was founded in 1899 and became a member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1911. The school received official accreditation by the American Bar Association in 1923. UND School of Law graduated its first woman student, Helen Hamilton, in 1905. In 1973, the four-story Thormodsgard Law Library opened at the school, named for Olaf H. Thormodsgard, who was the dean of the school from 1931 to 1962.
UND School of Law is located on the University of North Dakota campus in Grand Forks, North Dakota, which is in the eastern part of the state close to the Minnesota border. Grand Forks (from the French, "Les Grandes Fourches") was originally settled by trappers and farmers and was incorporated as a city in 1881. The city is accessible by air (Grand Forks International Airport), train (Amtrak) and by car (Highway 2 and Interstate 29).
UND School of Law counts among its alumni 80 percent of the North Dakota Supreme Court justices, numerous federal appellate and district court judges and nearly 75 percent of all practicing attorneys in North Dakota. Other alumni include corporate leaders such as the CEO and Chairman of the American Heritage National Bank in Minnesota and Chief Operating Officer of Otter Tail Corporation, and government leaders such as the North Dakota Attorney General and the General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy.
The School of Law established the Northern Plains Indian Law Center to help local Native American tribes deal with legal issues affecting tribal lands and also to support and retain Native American law students in the student population. The Indian Law Center consists of the Tribal Judicial Institute, the Tribal Environmental Law Project, the Institute for the Study of Tribal Gaming Law and Policy and the Native American Law Project. The Indian Law Certificate Program awards certificates to students who successfully complete 17 credits in Indian Law and Tribal Law courses.