Texas A&M University School of Law

Texas A&M University School of Law is an ABA-accredited law school located in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. The law school is a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) and offers the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree through its full-time[5] and part-time[6] programs. Students may also pursue a Master of Laws (LL.M.) or Master of Jurisprudence (M.Jur.) degree either online or in-residence.[7]

Texas A&M University
School of Law
Parent schoolTexas A&M University
Established1989
School typePublic university
Endowment$13.5 billion (University System and Foundations, 2019)[1]
DeanRobert B. Ahdieh[2]
LocationFort Worth, Texas, United States
Enrollment480 (2019)[3]
USNWR ranking60th (2021)[4]
Websitelaw.tamu.edu

History

Founded in 1989, the law school began as the Dallas/Fort Worth School of Law in Irving, Texas and then became the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in 1992. On June 26, 2012, Texas A&M University reached an agreement with Texas Wesleyan University under which it would take over ownership and operational control of the law school, to be renamed the Texas A&M University School of Law. The agreement became final on August 12, 2013, with Texas A&M purchasing the school and all its physical and licensing assets for $73 million.[8] After the sale, Texas A&M University declined to re-issue Texas A&M diplomas to law school alumni, stating that A&M lacked the necessary accreditation to do so.[9]

Academics

Texas A&M confers the Juris Doctor degree upon students who satisfactorily complete 90 credit hours and the experiential, rigorous writing, and pro bono requirements. Concentrations include Business Law; Criminal Law, Justice & Policy; Dispute Resolution; Estate Planning; Family Law; Intellectual Property; Workplace Law; Energy Law; Environmental Law; and Water Law.[10]

Since its acquisition by Texas A&M University, the law school has increased the size of the faculty by 30% while reducing the size of incoming classes, with an 8.4:1 student-faculty ratio in the 2016-17 academic year.[11] It also boosted the overall scholarship budget by 65%.[12]

Programs

Through the Advocacy Program, students may compete in Moot Court (appellate advocacy), Mock Trial (trial advocacy) and Alternative Dispute Resolution (negotiation, mediation and arbitration).[13]

The Texas A&M Law Fellowship is a student-run organization whose stated mission is to raise awareness of legal work in the public interest sector. It awards fellowships to students who work in public interest organizations during the summer with funds raised at the annual Law Fellowship Gala and Auction.[14]

The legal clinics offered at the law school include the Community Development Clinic, Criminal Defense Clinic, Entrepreneurship Law Clinic, Family Law and Veterans Clinic, Immigrant Rights Clinic, Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic, Low Income Tax Clinic, and Wills and Estates Clinic.[15] Students who are accepted into the clinic are supervised by practicing attorneys and a faculty supervisor.[16] In 2014, the United States Patent and Trademark Office approved a clinic at the law school after the school had shown a strong intellectual property program.[17] The school has expanded that program, doubling the faculty in 2015.[18]

The law school also hosts honor societies including the Elliott Inn of Phi Delta Phi[19] and the Order of the Coif.[20]

Admissions

Texas A&M Law was ranked among the most selective law schools in 2019, placing 37th nationally in a 24/7 Wall St. ranking based on overall acceptance rate, median LSAT, and median undergraduate GPA.[21] Texas A&M accepted 28.73% of applicants in 2019. The median LSAT score for the 2019 first-year class is 159, and the median GPA is 3.62.[22] Women make up 56% of the 2019 first-year class, ethnic minorities make up 31% of the class, and the average age is 24.[23]

Tuition

As part of the transition from a private to a public institution, in 2015 the law school announced that it would offer in-state tuition beginning in the 2016-17 academic year, resulting in a reduction in tuition and fees for Texas residents. It also guarantees a locked tuition rate to all students for up to four academic years.[12]

For the 2019-2020 academic year, full-time resident tuition and fees are $31,254.40; for non-residents, tuition and fees are $39,250.80.[24] For 2018-2019, 85% of Texas A&M law students received a grant or scholarship.[25]

Rankings

Texas A&M University is ranked 60th nationally in the 2021 edition of the U.S. News Rankings of Best Law Schools.[26] The school is also ranked 8th for its intellectual property law program[27] and 6th for its dispute resolution program for 2021.[28] The school's overall ranking has increased since 2015, when it was unranked.[29] U.S. News has previously ranked the law school 149th (2016)[30], 111th (2017)[31], 92nd (2018)[32], 80th (2019)[33], and 83rd (2020).[34]

Bar exam

In 2019, Texas A&M had an overall first-time bar exam pass rate of 90.32%. That performance was second best among Texas law schools behind University of Texas School of Law (93.29%), tied with Baylor Law School (90.32%), and ahead of SMU Dedman School of Law (86.51%), University of Houston Law Center (85.14%), Texas Tech University School of Law (82.09%), South Texas College of Law (76.63%), St. Mary's University School of Law (69.65%), UNT Dallas College of Law (69.48%), and Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law (55.77%).

Of all 2017 Texas A&M law graduates who took the bar, 89.47% ultimately passed the bar exam within two years of graduation. That performance was fifth best among Texas law schools behind Baylor Law School (97.06%), University of Texas School of Law (96.78%), SMU Dedman School of Law (94.61%), and Texas Tech University School of Law (92.55%), while ahead of University of Houston Law Center (88.50%), UNT Dallas College of Law (87.18%), South Texas College of Law (85.50%), St. Mary's University School of Law (83.90%), and Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law (79.69%).[35]

Employment

Class of 2018:

Out of 138 total graduates of the Class of 2018, 82.61% (or 114 graduates) obtained full-time, long-term employment for which bar passage was required or for which a J.D. was an advantage within 10 months of graduation. 65.94% (or 91 graduates) were employed in long-term, full-time, bar passage required jobs excluding solo practice. 11.59% (or 16 graduates) were unemployed and seeking work, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short term, or part-time job within 10 months of graduation.

Class of 2017:

Out of 183 total graduates of the Class of 2017, 74.32% (or 136 graduates) obtained full-time, long-term employment for which bar passage was required or for which a J.D. was an advantage within 10 months of graduation. 63.93% (or 117 graduates) were employed in long-term, full-time, bar passage required jobs excluding solo practice. 16.39% (or 30 graduates) were unemployed and seeking work, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short term, or part-time job within 10 months of graduation.[36]

Scholarly publications
  • Texas A&M Law Review[37]
  • Texas A&M Journal of Property Law[37]
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References
  1. "U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Endowment Market Value and Change* in Endowment Market Value from FY2016 to FY2017". Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  2. "Texas A&M University School of Law Appoints New Dean". law.tamu.edu. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  3. "Texas A&M University - 2019 - Standard 509 Information Report" (PDF). Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  4. "Texas A&M University". U.S. News & World Report – Best Law Schools. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  5. "Our J.D. Program". www.law.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  6. "Our Part-Time Program". www.law.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  7. "LL.M & M.Jur. Programs at Texas A&M Law". www.law.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  8. Monica S. Nagy, Regent gives $1 million to Texas A&M School of Law, Star-Telegram (Fort Worth), Apr. 2, 2014 (last visited on July 8, 2015); Reeve Hamilton, A&M's Law School Acquisition Differs From Original Plan, Tex. Trib., Aug. 13, 2013 (last visited July 8, 2015).
  9. "Provost Watson's Statement on School of Law" (PDF). 2014-08-11. Archived from the original on 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2017-10-16.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  10. "Concentrations". www.law.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  11. "Texas A&M - Investing in Your Future". law.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
  12. "Texas A&M University Lowers and Locks Tuition for Law School". law.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
  13. "Advocacy Program". www.law.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  14. "Public Interest Law Fellowship". law.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
  15. "Centers, Clinics & Programs". law.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
  16. Law Clinic, Texas A&M University, n.d. (last visited July 8, 2015).
  17. Student Lawyers Get in on the Intellectual Property Boom, Wall St. J., Aug. 5, 2014 (last visited July 8, 2015).
  18. Dennis Crouch, Texas A&M University School of Law, PatentlyO.com, Apr. 10, 2015.
  19. "Inn and Hall Locations - The International Legal Honor Society of Phi Delta Phi". www.phideltaphi.org. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  20. "TaxProf Blog: Order Of The Coif Admits Texas A&M Law School As Its 87th Member". taxprof.typepad.com. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  21. "50 Hardest Law Schools to Get Into – 24/7 Wall St". Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  22. "Texas A&M University - 2019 - Standard 509 Information Report" (PDF). Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  23. "Class Profile". Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  24. "Tuition". law.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
  25. "Texas A&M University - 2019 - Standard 509 Information Report" (PDF). Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  26. "Texas A&M University - Best Law School - US News". U.S. News. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
  27. "Best Intellectual Property Law Programs". Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  28. "Best Dispute Resolution Programs". Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  29. "How Texas A&M became a top-100 law school in four years". star-telegram. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  30. "TaxProf Blog: 2016 U.S. News Peer Reputation Rankings (v. Overall Rankings)". taxprof.typepad.com. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  31. "TaxProf Blog: 2017 U.S. News Peer Reputation Rankings (v. Overall Rankings)". taxprof.typepad.com. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  32. "TaxProf Blog: 2018 U.S. News Law School Peer Reputation Rankings (And Overall Rankings)". taxprof.typepad.com. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  33. "TaxProf Blog: 2019 U.S. News Law School Peer Reputation Rankings (And Overall Rankings)". taxprof.typepad.com. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  34. "TaxProf Blog: 2020 U.S. News Law School Peer Reputation Rankings (And Overall Rankings)". taxprof.typepad.com. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  35. "Statistics". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  36. "Employment Statistics". law.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  37. "Law Journals". www.law.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
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