Mark Osbeck, ​’86, is a clin­i­cal pro­fes­sor of law at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan and teach­es in the Law School’s Legal Prac­tice Pro­gram. He also is a lead­ing author­i­ty on mar­i­jua­na law, hav­ing authored two sig­nif­i­cant books on the sub­ject: Cas­es and Mate­ri­als on Mar­i­jua­na Law (West, 2019) and Mar­i­jua­na Law in a Nut­shell (West, 2017).

Osbeck also is the author of a widely used legal research text: Impeccable Research: A Concise Guide to Mastering Legal Research Skills, 3rd ed. (West, 2022). In addition to marijuana law, his research interests include legal writing, legal research, judicial decision-making, and predictive legal analysis.

Before joining Michigan Law in 2001, Osbeck was a partner in the Denver office of a large law firm. He litigated sophisticated commercial cases for a number of years, first in Washington, DC, and later in Denver, and he has extensive trial and appellate experience before a number of state and federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

While attending Johns Hopkins, he received a University Fellowship, the top departmental award. In law school, he received certificates of merit for legal writing and political philosophy.

Relat­ed Information

Areas of Interest

Education
  • Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan, AB, with high distinction
  • Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­si­ty, MA, phi­los­o­phy 
  • Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan, JD, cum laude, Michi­gan Jour­nal of Law Reform, note editor 

    • Recent Courses

    Clerkships

    • Michigan Supreme Court, Justice Charles L. Levin
    Fea­tured Scholarship

    Marijuana Law in a Nutshell

    Marijuana Law in a Nutshell

    Impeccable Research: A Concise Guide to Mastering Legal Research Skills

    • Legal Writing and Research

    Cases and Materials on Marijuana Law

    • Criminal Law
    See All Scholarship
    Activ­i­ties
    March 2022

    Pre­sent­ed ​“What Role Does the Legal Mem­o­ran­dum (Prop­er­ly) Play in Pre­dict­ing Legal Out­comes, and Why Does it Mat­ter for Legal Writ­ing Pro­fes­sors?” at the Rocky Moun­tain Legal Writ­ing Con­fer­ence, San­dra Day O’Connor Col­lege of Law, Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty, Phoenix, Arizona.

    July 2021

    Pre­sent­ed ​“How Shift­ing Social Nar­ra­tives Have Dri­ven Changes in Mar­i­jua­na Law Over the Past 150 Years,” at the 8th Bien­ni­al Applied Sto­ry­telling Con­fer­ence, held at the Mer­cer Uni­ver­si­ty School of Law, Macon, Geor­gia, (vir­tu­al presentation).

    March 2021

    Pre­sent­ed ​“Cannabis Law in the Unit­ed States: Past, Present & Future,” at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan School of Phar­ma­cy, (vir­tu­al presentation).

    Feb­ru­ary 2021

    Pre­sent­ed ​“A Short His­to­ry of Mar­i­jua­na Reg­u­la­tion in the Unit­ed States” at the KJEAN­RL Issues in Mar­i­jua­na Law Sym­po­sium, held at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ken­tucky Col­lege of Law, Lex­ing­ton, Ken­tucky, (vir­tu­al presentation).

    March 2020

    Pre­sent­ed, ​“Cur­rent Issues in Mar­i­jua­na Law” at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan School of Pharmacy.

    July 2019
    Pre­sent­ed ​“What Role (if any) Does Sto­ry­telling Play in a Pre­dic­tive Legal Analy­sis?” at the Sev­enth Bien­ni­al Sto­ry­telling Con­fer­ence, Uni­ver­si­ty of Col­orado Law School, Boulder.
    April 2019
    Served on an expert pan­el about mar­i­jua­na law and pol­i­cy at the sec­ond annu­al Michi­gan Cannabis Lead­ers Sum­mit, Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan Ross School of Business.
    Jan­u­ary 2019
    Pre­sent­ed ​“The His­to­ry of Mar­i­jua­na Pro­hi­bi­tion in the Unit­ed States” at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan School of Pharmacy.
    June 2018
    Pre­sent­ed ​“Out­come Pre­dic­tion in the Prac­tice of Law” at the 2018 Inter­na­tion­al Sym­po­sium on Fore­cast­ing, Uni­ver­si­ty of Col­orado, Boulder.
    March 2018
    Pre­sent­ed ​“Student/​Faculty Social Inter­ac­tions as a Com­po­nent of Stu­dent Well­ness” at the Rocky Moun­tain Legal Writ­ing Con­fer­ence, Uni­ver­si­ty of Den­ver Sturm School of Law, Denver.
    April 2017
    Co-pre­sen­t­ed ​“Some Ideas for Effec­tive­ly Incor­po­rat­ing Trans­ac­tion­al Draft­ing into the 1L Legal Writ­ing Class” at the South­east Region­al Legal Writ­ing Con­fer­ence, Stet­son Uni­ver­si­ty School of Law, Gulf­port, Florida.
    March 2017
    Pre­sent­ed ​“Teach­ing Trans­ac­tion­al Draft­ing in the 1L Legal Writ­ing Class” at the Rocky Moun­tain Legal Writ­ing Con­fer­ence, Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty San­dra Day O’Conner School of Law, Phoenix.
    Mem­ber
    Schol­ar­ship Devel­op­ment & Out­reach Com­mit­tee, Legal Writ­ing Insti­tute (LWI).​