 In July 1866 , Willamette University 's trustees formed a committee to explore the possibility of a legal department . At that time , legal education was traditionally taught as an apprenticeship in which those wishing to be lawyers would study under an existing attorney for several years before being allowed to pass the bar . Although the school did not begin a legal department in 1866 , Willamette did confer a Doctor of Laws degree on Matthew P. Deady , who later helped establish the University of Oregon School of Law , Oregon ’ s second law school . 
