In 1891, 33 Ohio State University law students began their studies in the basement of the Franklin County Courthouse. Students in the inaugural class of what would become the Moritz College of Law were within walking distance of law firms, judges and the Ohio Statehouse as they pursued their education.
Now, more than a century later, Ohio State is bringing its law school back to the heart of downtown Columbus.
The university announced Sept. 14 that the Moritz College of Law – with it's more than 500 students and 100 faculty and staff members – will move from campus to Capitol Square's historic Huntington Bank Building.
University, business and civic leaders gathered in the building's ornate first-floor lobby – complete with the original banking
counters, teller windows and a hexagonal-tiled ceiling – for the announcement.
Ohio State University Ravi Bellamkonda said the move is about more than a building, but rather it is symbolic of what it means to be a land grant university, with a focus on teaching, research and public service.
"The block O being on this building will be a special thing," Bellamkonda said.
Located at 17 S. High St., the 12-story building is owned by quasi-public development agency Downtown Columbus Inc. Ohio State will lease roughly 200,000 square feet within the building for a 30-year term. The building is located across from the Ohio Statehouse, down the street from the Franklin County Courthouse and around the corner from the Supreme Court of Ohio and Joseph P. Kinneary United States Courthouse.
Ohio State Moritz College of Law Dean Kent Barnett said that proximity will give students "opportunity in every direction."
"I want us to be the hub of legal services in Columbus," Barnett told The Dispatch.
Barnett said the conversation to move the law school Downtown started a couple of years ago, shortly after he joined the university.
Alex Fischer, who serves on the Downtown Columbus, Inc. board, said at the announcement that Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and other city officials took a "curiosity trip" to Phoenix in 2024. There, they met with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, Arizona State University President Michael Crow and Huntington Bank CEO Steve Steinour.
Arizona State University's main campus is located in Tempe, Arizona, but it relocated its law school to Phoenix in 2016. The move has been a draw for new law students there, Ginther told The Dispatch.
"ASU has not abandoned or backed down from its law students," Ginther said.
Alia Baig, a third-year Ohio State Moritz College law student from the Cleveland area, said she's a little jealous that the move won't take place before she graduates in May. But she's excited about the change for future students.
Baig went to the University of Akron for undergrad and noted that the university was intertwined with Akron proper.
"A university should be connected with its Downtown," she said.
As president of the Student Bar Association, Baig said she and some of her peers initially had some hesitations about law students being away from main campus. But she said the plan to move is "very well considered," and conversations with college leaders reassured her that it will be a net positive for students.
Ohio State's law school will only be about three miles from main campus, Barnett said, but the move will create more professional opportunities for law students.
Law students will be closer to externships and other work opportunities with law firms, nonprofits, judges, lawmakers and other public offices, Barnett said. The move will also help build better connections with those entities and use the space for high-profile events, "bringing in a variety of voices and views," he said.
Bellamkonda and Ginther said the move is also going to help strengthen Downtown's revitalization.
Ginther said he hopes that being within walking distance of the county courthouse, city hall and state government will encourage some law students to consider moving into public service.
"This is an opportunity for us to get the best and the brightest to consider work in public service," Ginther said. "We need really great attorneys in public service."
Extensive renovations of the space will start in June 2027 with classes scheduled to begin in the Huntington building by fall 2029. The former bank and office building will eventually include faculty offices, flexible classrooms and a four-floor law library with study space. The building's grand bank lobby will maintain it's opulent features and will be converted into a multi-purpose space. There, students can study by day, and the college can host events by night.
As far as what will happen to Drinko Hall, the current home for the Moritz College of Law, Bellamkonda said the university has "several ideas" for the space but did not share any other details.
Higher education reporter Sheridan Hendrix can be reached at shendrix@dispatch.com and on Signal at @sheridan.120. You can follow her on Instagram at @sheridanwrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State Moritz College of Law is moving to downtown Columbus
