SMU Dedman School of Law, commonly referred to as SMU Law School or Dedman School of Law is a professional graduate law school located in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in February 1925. SMU Law School is located on the campus of its parent institution, Southern Methodist University
The school was renamed Dedman School of Law in February 2001 in honor of its benefactors, Robert H. Dedman Sr. and his wife, Nancy. SMU Dedman School of Law is consistently ranked among the top 30 law schools in America by the widely renowned legal publication “Above The Law†which focuses their case study and scholastic rankings on actual employment outcomes. Some of the Law School’s alumni include White House Counsel, Chairs of the House Judiciary Committee, Foreign Minister of India, Chief Justices of Indonesia and Thailand, and the Chief Legal Counsel of AT&T and Mark Cuban Companies.
SMU Dedman School of Law is one of ten law schools in Texas.
Academic profile
Hooding Ceremony, May 16th,2015 SMU Dedman School of law. Dallas, Texas - Congratulation to class of 2015.
SMU Dedman School of Law offers Juris Doctor, Master of Laws, and Doctor of Juridical Science degrees. The school offers two joint degree programs, a J.D./M.A. in Economics and a J.D./M.B.A. The J.D./M.A. in Economics is offered in connection with the SMU Department of Economics in Dedman College and the J.D./M.B.A. is offered in connection with the Cox School of Business.
For the 2016 graduate class, 91.1% passed the bar as first time exam takers compared to the state’s overall average of 77.6%. Dedman placed second in the state behind the University of Texas Law School and within the top 20 of all law schools in the U.S. in 2016. The July 2017 passage rate was 84.95% which was third in the state.
The SMU Dedman School of Law was one of the more selective law schools in the United States in 2008. As of late, the School’s acceptance rate ranges from 38.7% to 43.6%.
According to 2016 ABA disclosures, the Law School had 77.4% of all graduates employed in positions that required passing the bar. Over 82% of all graduates had jobs that either required passing the bar or were considered “J.D. advantaged, †the highest in Texas 8.9% of the 2016 graduating class were classified as underemployed by the ABA, which means that they are actively seeking employment.
Programs and resources
Dedman Law publishes five law journals: The SMU Law Review, The International Lawyer, Journal of Air Law and Commerce, Law and Business Review of the Americas, and the SMU Science & Technology Law Review. Dedman Law offers a summer program at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, numerous international programs, and Underwood Law Library. Dedman Law offers several law clinics for upper-division students: the Child Advocacy Clinic, Civil Clinic, Criminal Justice Clinic, Federal Taxpayers Clinic, Consumer Advocacy Project, Small Business Clinic & Trademark Clinic, Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crimes Against Women, Innocence Clinic, Patent Law Clinic, and Vansickle Family Law Clinic.
Underwood Law Library
SMU’s Underwood Law Library is the largest private academic law library west of the Mississippi River . Its collections include approximately 695,000 law-related volumes and equivalents, ranking the library among the top 20% of all law libraries in the United States.
Rankings
In 2016, SMU Dedman School of Law was ranked 45th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. In 2016, SMU Dedman School of Law was ranked 29th in the nation by Above The Law, which was slightly down from its 2015 spot at 22nd in the nation. The National Law Journal has ranked SMU Dedman School of Law 28th in “go-to†law schools. Business Insider ranked SMU Dedman School of Law 21st in Law schools that have the best alumni for networking and finding legal jobs and 32nd overall. SmartClass ranked Dedman between 24th and 37th in the nation from 2008 until today rising every year since the rankings inception. The school was ranked 8th in the nation for Tax Law and 3rd in the nation for real estate law by Law Street Media. SSRN ranked Dedman in the top 30 law schools utilizing a new methodology that assimilates bar passage rates, employment statistics, Professor access, and other actual performance metrics that accentuate output as opposed to input, such as LSAT scores or undergraduate GPA.
Employment
According to SMU's official 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 69.6% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. SMU's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 14.2%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2013 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.
Dedman School of Law in 2014 ranked #1 among Texas law schools’ placement for permanent, full-time jobs requiring bar passage and professional jobs where a JD is an advantage, that were not funded by the law school.
Costs
The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at SMU for the 2014-2015 academic year is $66,757. The average amount borrowed for law school by members of the 2014 graduating class was $124,617.38. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $259,552.
Notable faculty
- Bryan Garner
- Paul Hardin III
- A. Kenneth Pye
- Dale Carpenter
Notable alumni
- Keith Bergelt, former U.S. Diplomat and CEO of Open Invention Network
- Michael Boone, founder of Haynes and Boone, LLP
- Jane J. Boyle is a district judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- Angela Braly, former President and Chief Executive Officer for WellPoint, Inc (now Anthem Inc)
- Raleigh Brown - member of the Texas House of Representatives; Texas State District Court judge in Abilene
- Jeff Cox (Legal Law Masters in Taxation) - judge since 2005 of the Louisiana 26th Judicial District Court of Bossier and Webster parishes
- Floyd D. Culbertson, Jr. - mayor of Minden, Louisiana 1940-1942; lawyer in Texas and Oklahoma, 1952-1989
- Robert H. Dedman Jr. former CEO of ClubCorp
- Robert H. Dedman Sr. founder of private club network ClubCorp, Inc. and the law school’s co-benefactor
- Craig T. Enoch is a former associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court
- Gerald J. Ford noted Texas banker and businessman
- David C. Godbey - federal judge
- Rusty Hardin is an American attorney and head of the Houston law firm Rusty Hardin & Associates, P.C
- O.H. "Ike" Harris, Texas State Senator
- Nathan Hecht is the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court
- Todd Ames Hunter, Texas State Representative
- Ray Hutchison (B.A. '57, J.D. '59) - former Texas state representative
- Jerry Jones, Jr. , Chief Sales and Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President of the Dallas Cowboys
- S. M. Krishna, Minister of External Affairs of India
- Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. - Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri
- Barbara M.G. Lynn - Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- Robert B. Maloney - federal judge
- Bagir Manan - Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Indonesia
- Robert Mosbacher, Jr. is an American businessman, founder of BizCorps
- Harriet Miers White House Deputy Chief of Staff, White House Counsel for George W. Bush
- John Ratcliffe is an American politician who serves as the Congressman for Texas's 4th congressional district
- Trevor Rees-Jones founder and chairman of Chief Oil & Gas
- Joseph Guy Rollins, Jr. ('41) - Houston lawyer
- Robert Rowling founder of TRT Holdings, the holding company of Omni Hotels & Resorts and Gold's Gym
- Edward B. Rust, Jr. chairman and chief executive officer of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
- Rick Scott American businessman, politician and 45th Governor of Florida
- Kenneth Sheets (J.D. 2004) - Dallas attorney and Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 107 in Dallas County since 2011
- Lamar S. Smith is the U.S. Representative for Texas's 21st congressional district
- Helmut Sohmen chairman of BW Group and a former Hong Kong legislator
- William Steger - Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- Tsai Hong-tu is a Taiwanese businessman and banker
- James Baker Justice of the Texas Supreme Court
- Haechang Chung former Minister of Justice and Chief of Staff to the President of Korea
- David Godbey federal judge
- Nathan Hecht Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice
- Yukio Horigome Justice, Supreme Court of Japan
- James Latane Noel, Jr. Attorney General of Texas
- Gillian Triggs President of the Australian Human Rights Commission
- Bagir Manan Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Indonesia
- Paul Hart General Counsel for Mark Cuban
References
External links
- Official website