The Law Department of the University of Tennessee opened on February 18, 1890. Nine students met with Thomas J. Freeman, former justice of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, in a law office in downtown Knoxville. Tuition was $100 per year plus other university fees, but the school was semi-independent financially, with the funds being used to pay instructional salaries. Students who had previously read law or who did extra work might graduate in one year. Upon successful completion of the course, the Law Department itself granted a license to practice law. An applicant for law did not need prior college work for admission but could be admitted on the same basis as students in any academic course of the university.
Justice Freeman became ill before a year was completed and was succeeded temporarily by Judge Henry H. Ingersoll, who was elected permanent dean upon the death of Judge Freeman in summer 1891. The school was moved to North College (Humes Hall) in September 1890 following Freeman’s illness.
At the turn of the century, the law course was four years, with students completing the work required for the first two years receiving bachelor’s degrees, and those who completed the four-year course receiving master’s degrees. In 1907 the trustees merged the Law Department into the university with all fees and professors’ salaries placed under the authority of the university’s administration. This allowed the law fees to be reduced to the same amount paid by other students and assured the law faculty a guaranteed salary. The Law Department became a college in 1912 and the same year became a charter member of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS).