Willis Vickery was influential in the founding of Cleveland Law School and became dean upon Charles Bentley’s passing in 1914. He practiced law with his brother in Bellevue, Ohio, before moving to Cleveland in 1896, where he was associated with two local law firms. In 1909, he was elected to the bench of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas of the fourth subdivision of the third judicial district, and in 1918 he won a seat on the Ohio Court of Appeals, where he rendered decisions in many important cases that affected the welfare of the city of Cleveland. He remained on the court and served as dean until his death in 1932; his son Melville Willis Vickery became dean.