I recommend Howson for EO, he’s really personal, funny, and interactive with the class, plus he remembers names and he’s really accomplished professionally (was a partner at Paul Weiss before he came to UMich).
I loved him, thought he was a great teacher and liked the class. That being said, it wasn’t that great of a grade for me; I’d consider taking it pass/fail. There are just so many people and part of the final exam is multiple choice?
I had howson for eo. a weird dude (in a good way – if I can practice corporate law for several years and still end up that crazy, I’ll be happy), good teacher, but a terrible exam. i had to leave the room because i was laughing so hard at the absurdity of the multiple choice. It wasn’t representative of what we covered in class, and the choices were indistinguishable. but if you want to learn stuff and don’t mind taking it pass/fail, i’d recommend howson.
Howson is a decent professor – he is an expert in corp law, having worked as a biglaw partner for
several years. He explains things well and even manages to be entertaining at times. He is definitely better than the alternative [Evans]. The downside though is that you never know what to expect from him, either when he calls on people in class or on the exam. His exam was the most unfair exam I’ve ever taken in law school, imo, with 75 crazy hard multiple choice questions 1/2-1 page long, and one 4-5 page fact pattern. If you take that class, I highly recommend you P/F it.
I had Howson for EO and Evans for M/A. Definitely liked Howson 200 times better. Evans is nice, but I just couldn’t stand her class or her teaching style – put me to sleep. Howson, on the other hand, is humorous and engaging. Howson is arguably one of my all time favorite professors ? ever
I took EO with Professor Howson without a business background and did just fine. I also took Professor Evans for M&A, and comparatively, I much prefer Professor Howson. While there are no business basics, he definitely understands that not all of his students were investment bankers before law school.
Howson was great for EO. Sec Reg with him was less than great. Either way, his multiple choice exams are ridiculously difficult. He’s one of those professors who either doesn’t realize how smart he is, or he’s faking us out to screw you on the exam when he downplays the difficulty of the multiple choice. I prefer to believe the former.
I took Howson for Sec Reg and liked it way more than I ever thought I would. He is a very clear lecturer and does not unnecessarily hide the ball. I put a lot of effort in but thoroughly enjoyed the class. Exam was a pandemic exam and he says he purposely made it straightforward (whereas normally he has absurdly difficult multiple choice). I would take another course with Howson easily.
Loved Howson for Sec Reg…tough course but he teaches it very clearly and I thought his exam was more than fair. Would recommend getting the E&E for the class if you do take it!
Had him for 2 classes. He was the best professor I had. He is clear, super engaging, passionate about the subjects he teaches, tries to know everyone by name and brings biglaw experience as a partner, which is nice because he is not just discussing theoretical nonsense. The exam is not as terrible as many say, although it is usually curved. It is usually many multiple choice questions (maybe too many) and then an essay. There is a lot to read, that is true. I definitely and strongly recommend taking his classes if you are interested in the subjects.
Engaging professor, though he can be pretty demanding with his readings and cold calling. I also found his exam to be pretty straightforward. Overall enjoyed his course (EO) and plan to take more with him in the future.
I took Howson for EO in the Fall of 2021. Professor Howson is better discussed in two parts: (1) the in-class experience and (2) the exam, because they vary. In class Professor Howson is excellent. He is one of the most engaging, interesting, and interested professors I have had at Michigan law. He is affable, knowledgeable, and kind. As a future litigator, he made me genuinely interested in corporate law (I know EO is still litigation-focused). The classes are fun, clear, and memorable. If you want to learn EO and learn it well, I think Howson probably provides the best experience that I have heard of. I don’t remember the cold calling to be as bad as the other reviews say (if you Quimbee you will be totally fine), but sometimes he wants you to be specific (read the footnotes in cases!). But the exam was rough. In 2021, it was half closed-book multiple choice and half open-book issue spotter. The multiple choice was bothersome in the sense that we were told there would be no “gotcha! you didn’t remember this specific thing” questions, but there were. And generally the MC questions were wicked hard. The issue spotter was much more traditional, and I found it to be fairly indistinguishable from other classes. Generally, I recommend this class. If you have a pass/fail then this class is top flight; if not, it is still a good class.
Friendly, but only allowed us to use an annotated statutory supplement on the exam, no casebook or notes allowed. On an exam with 70 multiple choice questions and several essay questions.
MLaw Prof Reviews
I recommend Howson for EO, he’s really personal, funny, and interactive with the class, plus he remembers names and he’s really accomplished professionally (was a partner at Paul Weiss before he came to UMich).
I loved him, thought he was a great teacher and liked the class. That being said, it wasn’t that great of a grade for me; I’d consider taking it pass/fail. There are just so many people and part of the final exam is multiple choice?
I had howson for eo. a weird dude (in a good way – if I can practice corporate law for several years and still end up that crazy, I’ll be happy), good teacher, but a terrible exam. i had to leave the room because i was laughing so hard at the absurdity of the multiple choice. It wasn’t representative of what we covered in class, and the choices were indistinguishable. but if you want to learn stuff and don’t mind taking it pass/fail, i’d recommend howson.
Howson is a decent professor – he is an expert in corp law, having worked as a biglaw partner for
several years. He explains things well and even manages to be entertaining at times. He is definitely better than the alternative [Evans]. The downside though is that you never know what to expect from him, either when he calls on people in class or on the exam. His exam was the most unfair exam I’ve ever taken in law school, imo, with 75 crazy hard multiple choice questions 1/2-1 page long, and one 4-5 page fact pattern. If you take that class, I highly recommend you P/F it.
I had Howson for EO and Evans for M/A. Definitely liked Howson 200 times better. Evans is nice, but I just couldn’t stand her class or her teaching style – put me to sleep. Howson, on the other hand, is humorous and engaging. Howson is arguably one of my all time favorite professors ? ever
I took EO with Professor Howson without a business background and did just fine. I also took Professor Evans for M&A, and comparatively, I much prefer Professor Howson. While there are no business basics, he definitely understands that not all of his students were investment bankers before law school.
I had him for Sec Reg. Incredibly charming. He keeps students’ attention very well. Test was hard.
Howson was great for EO. Sec Reg with him was less than great. Either way, his multiple choice exams are ridiculously difficult. He’s one of those professors who either doesn’t realize how smart he is, or he’s faking us out to screw you on the exam when he downplays the difficulty of the multiple choice. I prefer to believe the former.
I took Howson for Sec Reg and liked it way more than I ever thought I would. He is a very clear lecturer and does not unnecessarily hide the ball. I put a lot of effort in but thoroughly enjoyed the class. Exam was a pandemic exam and he says he purposely made it straightforward (whereas normally he has absurdly difficult multiple choice). I would take another course with Howson easily.
Loved Howson for Sec Reg…tough course but he teaches it very clearly and I thought his exam was more than fair. Would recommend getting the E&E for the class if you do take it!
Had him for 2 classes. He was the best professor I had. He is clear, super engaging, passionate about the subjects he teaches, tries to know everyone by name and brings biglaw experience as a partner, which is nice because he is not just discussing theoretical nonsense. The exam is not as terrible as many say, although it is usually curved. It is usually many multiple choice questions (maybe too many) and then an essay. There is a lot to read, that is true. I definitely and strongly recommend taking his classes if you are interested in the subjects.
Engaging professor, though he can be pretty demanding with his readings and cold calling. I also found his exam to be pretty straightforward. Overall enjoyed his course (EO) and plan to take more with him in the future.
I took Howson for EO in the Fall of 2021. Professor Howson is better discussed in two parts: (1) the in-class experience and (2) the exam, because they vary. In class Professor Howson is excellent. He is one of the most engaging, interesting, and interested professors I have had at Michigan law. He is affable, knowledgeable, and kind. As a future litigator, he made me genuinely interested in corporate law (I know EO is still litigation-focused). The classes are fun, clear, and memorable. If you want to learn EO and learn it well, I think Howson probably provides the best experience that I have heard of. I don’t remember the cold calling to be as bad as the other reviews say (if you Quimbee you will be totally fine), but sometimes he wants you to be specific (read the footnotes in cases!). But the exam was rough. In 2021, it was half closed-book multiple choice and half open-book issue spotter. The multiple choice was bothersome in the sense that we were told there would be no “gotcha! you didn’t remember this specific thing” questions, but there were. And generally the MC questions were wicked hard. The issue spotter was much more traditional, and I found it to be fairly indistinguishable from other classes. Generally, I recommend this class. If you have a pass/fail then this class is top flight; if not, it is still a good class.
Friendly, but only allowed us to use an annotated statutory supplement on the exam, no casebook or notes allowed. On an exam with 70 multiple choice questions and several essay questions.