Dedman School of Law

Coordinates: 32°50′47″N 96°47′10″W / 32.8464°N 96.7861°W / 32.8464; -96.7861

SMU Dedman School of Law
Motto Veritas Liberabit Vos
Motto in English
 The Truth Shall Set You Free
Type Private
Established 1925
Parent institution
 Southern Methodist University
Dean Jennifer M. Collins
Academic staff
 50
Students 900
Location Dallas, Texas, United States
Campus Urban
Website law.smu.edu

SMU Dedman School of Law, commonly referred to as SMU Law School or Dedman School of Law is a prominent professional graduate law school located in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in February 1925. SMU Law School is located on the picturesque campus of Southern Methodist University, renowned for its classic Collegiate Georgian architecture. The school was renamed Dedman School of Law in February 2001 in honor of its benefactors, the late Robert H. Dedman, Sr. and his wife, Nancy.

Academic profile

SMU Dedman School of Law offers Juris Doctor, Master of Laws, and Doctor of Juridical Science degrees.[1] 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.

The SMU Dedman School of Law was one of the more selective law schools in the United States in 2008.[2]

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.[3] Its collections include approximately 665,000 law-related volumes and equivalents, ranking the library among the top 20% of law libraries in the United States.[4] The subject area strengths of the Underwood Law Library’s collections are: taxation, securities, corporate law, labor law, air and space law, commercial and banking law, constitutional law, and law and medicine.[5]

Rankings

In 2016, SMU Dedman School of Law was ranked 45th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.[6]

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.[7] 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.[8]

Dedman School of Law holds top local and national rankings in job placement. All rankings based on statistics provided to the American Bar Association (ABA) by the 201 ABA accredited law schools for the class of 2014(unless noted otherwise).

#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.
#10 "Which Schools Produce the Most Super Lawyers?" – National Jurist, Fall 2015
#18 "Which Law Schools are Worth Getting Into? Best Law Schools for Employment" – Huffington Post, July 2014
#21 in the U.S. for "best law schools to make a connection and get a job" – Business Insider, 2015
#28 2016 "Go-To Law Schools" for sending the highest percentage of 2015 graduates to the largest 100 law firms – National Law Journal, March 2016
#29 Top 50 law schools with a methodology focusing primarily on employment data, large firm placement, federal clerkship placement and tuition/cost – Above the Law

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.[9] 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.[10]

Notable faculty

Notable alumni

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.