The law school's mission includes a commitment to the Jesuit idea of cura personalis ("care of the entire person"), a duty to promote diversity, and a goal of encouraging its "students to become agents for positive change in society.

First known as the Marquette University College of Law, the school added a day division to the two predecessors' evening programs.

The first dean was James Graham Jenkins, a retired judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

[8] Boden also oversaw a significant increase in the physical plant of the law school, making two major additions to Sensenbrenner Hall.

[8] Moreover, in January 1968, the law library moved into the newly constructed Legal Research Center, appended to the west side of Sensenbrenner Hall.

The move was managed by Professor Mary Alice Hohmann, the first woman to teach a law course at MULS.

[10] The school also recently received the two largest gifts in its history: $51 million from alumni Ray and Kay Eckstein for Eckstein Hall, and $30 million from real estate developer Joseph Zilber, the bulk of which will endow scholarships.

[11] Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia spoke at the September 8, 2010 dedication ceremony.

[12] In September 2010, the Law School opened $85 million Eckstein Hall in downtown Milwaukee.

The building was largely funded by donations from Ray and Kay Eckstein, Joseph Zilber, Wylie A. Aitken,[13] and the Bradley Foundation.

Zilber and Sheldon Lubar contributed provided funding for scholarships, research and other law school programs.

[23] U.S. News & World Report placed Marquette #8 among 14 alternative dispute resolution programs ranked in 2013.

As of 2015, it ranked 134th among student-edited general law journals in a combined score based on citation impact-factor and currency-factor.

[39] By arrangement with the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, MULS faculty and students edit the FDCC Quarterly, a practitioners' journal for attorneys who defend clients in cases involving torts, products liability, environmental law, and other civil claims.