SMU Dedman School of Law, commonly referred to as SMU Law School or Dedman School of Law is a law school located in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. It was founded in February 1925. SMU Law School is located on the campus of its parent institution,

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

. SMU’s Law School was renamed SMU Dedman School of Law in February 2001 in honor of its late benefactors,

Robert H. Dedman Sr. Robert H. Dedman Sr. (1926–2002) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known as the founder and past chairman of ClubCorp. Biography Early life Robert Dedman was born in poverty in Rison, Arkansas. His family house only ...

and his wife, Nancy Dedman. SMU Law School was the only law school in Dallas until

UNT The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

opened its law school in 2014, and it is one of ten law schools in Texas. The current dean of the law school is Jason P. Nance.

Academic profile

SMU Dedman School of Law offers Juris Doctor,

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

, and

Doctor of Juridical Science A Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD; ), or a Doctor of Science of Law (JSD; ), is a research doctorate in law equivalent to the more commonly awarded Doctor of Philosophy degree. Australia The S.J.D. is offered by the Australian National Univ ...

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 The Edwin L. Cox School of Business is an American business school, part of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. The SMU Cox School of Business is headquartered in four buildings on SMU's 210-acre main campus five miles north ...

The class that enrolled in the fall of 2019 has a median LSAT score of 161 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.7. LSAT/UGPA medians were calculated by the Law School Admission Council based on matriculant lists provided by the law school to the American Bar Association. Each JD student must complete 87 credit hours. Thirty-one of these hours comprise the mandatory first-year curriculum. After the first year, students must complete a course in professional responsibility, two upper-level writing courses (including an edited writing seminar in which an extensive scholarly, expository writing project is reviewed and critiqued by the professor), Constitutional Law II, and a practical skills course. All students are required to perform 30 hours of public service before graduating.

Programs and resources

Dedman Law is home to four independent

law journals A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also pr ...

: ''The SMU Law Review'', ''Journal of Air Law and Commerce'', ''

The International Lawyer ''The International Lawyer'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed law journal and the official publication of the American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of International Law and Practice. It was established in 1966 and has been based at Southern Met ...

'', and the ''SMU Science & Technology Law Review''. Dedman Law offers several

law clinic A legal clinic (also law clinic or law school clinic) is a legal aid or law school program providing services to various clients and often hands-on-legal experience to law school students. Clinics are usually directed by clinical professors. L ...

s for upper-division students. The law clinics include: the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Child Advocacy Clinic, Civil Clinic, Criminal Justice Clinic, Family Immigration Detention Clinic, Federal Taxpayers Clinic, First Amendment 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. Dedman Law offers a summer program at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Oxford, England Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

, numerous international programs, and Underwood Law Library. Underwood Library

Underwood Law Library

SMU’s Underwood Law Library is the largest private academic law library west of the Mississippi River . Its collections include approximately 662,465 law-related volumes and equivalents, ranking the library among the top 20% of all law libraries in the United States.

Rankings

In 2020, SMU Dedman School of Law was ranked No. 56 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

Employment

According to SMU's official 2018 ABA-required disclosures, 80% of the Class of 2018 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. SMU's

Law School Transparency Law School Transparency (LST) is a nonprofit consumer advocacy and education organization concerning the legal profession in the United States. LST was founded by Vanderbilt Law School graduates Kyle McEntee and Patrick Lynch. LST describes its ...

under-employment score is 10.8%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2018 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at SMU for the 2020-2021 academic year is $83,464. The average amount borrowed for law school by members of the 2014 graduating class was $124,617.38.

Notable faculty

Bryan Garner Bryan Andrew Garner (born 1958) is an American lawyer, lexicographer, and teacher who has written more than two dozen books about English usage and style such as ''Garner's Modern English Usage'' for a general audience, and others for legal profe ...

Paul Hardin III Paul Hardin III (June 11, 1931 – July 1, 2017) was an American academic administrator who spent 27 years as a leader in higher education. He was the chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1988 to 1995, president ...

* A. Kenneth Pye *

Dale Carpenter Dale Carpenter (born December 27, 1966) is an American legal commentator and Professor of Law at the SMU Dedman School of Law. He formerly served as the Earl R. Larson Professor of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law at the University of Minneso ...

Notable alumni

Keith Bergelt Keith Daniel Bergelt (born September 11, 1958) is an American corporate executive and former U.S. diplomat. He is CEO of Open Invention Network where he is responsible for coordinating the establishment and maintenance of a patent ‘‘no-f ...

, former U.S. Diplomat and CEO of

Open Invention Network Open Invention Network (OIN) is a company that acquires patents and licenses them royalty-free to its community members who, in turn, agree not to assert their own patents against Linux and Linux-related systems and applications. History The co ...

* Michael Boone, founder of

Haynes and Boone, LLP Haynes may refer to: People *Haynes (surname) Places In Australia: * Haynes, Western Australia In Canada: * Haynes, Alberta In the United Kingdom: *Haynes, Bedfordshire ** Haynes Church End In the United States: *Haynes, Arkansas * Haynes, Nort ...

* 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 (now Anthem) * Raleigh Brown, member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

; Texas State District Court judge in Abilene *

Jeff Cox Jeffrey Lindon Cox (born November 9, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball third base coach for the Chicago White Sox. He is currently a baserunning specialist for the Detroit Tigers. Previously, Cox was a second baseman for the Oakland Athle ...

(Legal Law Masters in Taxation), judge since 2005 of the Louisiana 26th Judicial District Court of Bossier and Webster parishes *

Catherine Crier Catherine Jean Crier is an American journalist and author of ''A Deadly Game'' and ''The Case Against Lawyers''. She was the youngest elected state judge in Texas history at age thirty and served as a Texas State District Judge for the 162nd Di ...

, Dallas County District Judge, investigative journalist * Robert H. Dedman Jr., former CEO of

ClubCorp ClubCorp is a privately held American corporation based in Dallas and is the largest owner and operator of private golf and country clubs in the country. It owns or operates more than 200 golf and country clubs and business, sports and alumni ...

, founder of private club network

, Inc. and the law school’s co-benefactor * Craig T. Enoch, former associate justice of the

Texas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...

Gerald J. Ford Gerald J. Ford (born 1944) is an American attorney and businessman.

, noted Texas banker and businessman * David C. Godbey, federal judge *

Rusty Hardin Russell "Rusty" Hardin, Jr. (born October 6, 1941) is an American attorney and head of the Houston law firm Rusty Hardin & Associates, P.C. which he established in 1996. Early life Hardin attended a private military academy in Chattanooga, Tenne ...

, an American attorney and head of the Houston law firm Rusty Hardin & Associates, P.C * O. H. "Ike" Harris,

Texas State Senator The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximate ...

Nathan Hecht Nathan Lincoln Hecht (born August 15, 1949) is the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. A Republican from Dallas, Hecht was first elected to the Supreme Court in 1988 and was reelected to six-year terms in 1994, 2000 and 2006. He secured ...

, Chief Justice of the

* 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 The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

S. M. Krishna Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna (born 1 May 1932) is an Indian politician who served as Minister of External Affairs of India from 2009 to October 2012. He was the 16th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 and the 19th Governor of Mahara ...

, Minister of External Affairs of India and Former Chief Minister of Karnataka * Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr., Justice,

Supreme Court of Missouri The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to gi ...

* Barbara M. Lynn, Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas *

Robert B. Maloney Robert B. Maloney (born January 31, 1933) is an inactive senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Education and career Born in Dallas, Maloney received a Bachelor of Business Ad ...

, federal judge *

Bagir Manan Bagir Manan (born 6 October 1941) is an Indonesian jurist who served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Indonesia from 2001 to 2008. and chairman of the between 2010 and 2016. and 2013–2016. He is a professor of constitutional law at Pad ...

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* Robert Mosbacher Jr., an American businessman, founder of BizCorps *

Harriet Miers Harriet Ellan Miers (born August 10, 1945) is an American lawyer who served as White House Counsel to President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party since 1988, she previously served as White House Staff Secretary f ...

, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, White House Counsel for

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

* John Ratcliffe, American politician who is the 6th Director of National Intelligence and served as the Congressman for

Texas's 4th congressional district Texas's 4th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in an area of Northeast Texas, that includes some counties along the Red River northeast of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, as well as some outer eastern sub ...

from 2015 to 2020. * Trevor Rees-Jones, founder and chairman of Chief Oil & Gas * Robert Rowling, founder of TRT Holdings, the holding company of

Omni Hotels & Resorts Omni Hotels & Resorts is an American privately held, international luxury hotel company based in Dallas, Texas. The company was founded in 1958 as Dunfey Hotels, and operates 50 properties in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, totaling over ...

and

Gold's Gym Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an American chain of international co-ed fitness centers (commonly referred to as gyms) originally started by Joe Gold in Venice Beach, California. Each gym offers a variety of cardio and strength training equi ...

* Edward B. Rust Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company * Rick Scott, American businessman, politician and

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

United States senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. He served as 45th

Governor of Florida A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

from 2011 to 2019. * 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, the former

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for

Texas's 21st congressional district Texas's 21st congressional district of the United States House of Representatives serves the area north of San Antonio and a significant portion of Austin in the state of Texas. Towns entirely or partially in this district include Boerne, Fre ...

Helmut Sohmen Helmut Sohmen (born 10 December 1939 in Linz, Austria) is an Austrian lawyer and businessman in Hong Kong. He was chairman of BW Group and a former Hong Kong legislator. He was formerly managing director of Dragon Air. In 2010 he was on th ...

, chairman of

BW Group BW Group is a maritime company involved in shipping, floating gas infrastructure and deep-water oil & gas production. The company has over 350 vessels managed by an international team of over 7000 staff worldwide. The group was founded by Sir Yu ...

and a former Hong Kong legislator * William Steger, Judge,

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (in case citations, E.D. Tex.) is a federal court in the Fifth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to ...

* Tsai Hong-tu, a Taiwanese businessman and banker * Lamar White, investigative journalist known for his work on racism and political corruption in the Deep South * James A. Baker, Justice of the Texas Supreme Court * David Godbey, federal judge *

,Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice *

Yukio Horigome is a member of the Supreme Court of Japan.Justices of the Supreme Court
." ''

James Latane Noel Jr., Attorney General of Texas *

Gillian Triggs Gillian Doreen Triggs (born 30 October 1945) is an Australian academic specialising in public international law. In 2019, she was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nati ...

, President of the Australian Human Rights Commission *

, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Indonesia *

Paul Hart Paul Anthony Hart (born 4 May 1953) is an English football manager, coach, and former professional player who made 567 appearances in the Football League as a defender. The son of Johnny Hart, who played for and managed Manchester City, ...

, General Counsel for Mark Cuban

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dedman School Of Law Law, Dedman School of Law schools in Texas Educational institutions established in 1925 1925 establishments in Texas