South Texas College of Law Houston
MottoJustitia et Veritas Praevaleant (Latin)
Established1923
School typePrivate law school
DeanMichael Barry
LocationHouston, Texas, United States
Enrollment975[1]
Faculty64 full-time[1]
USNWR ranking162nd out of 196 (2023)[2]
Bar pass rate80.89% (July 2022 first-time takers)[3]
Websitewww.stcl.edu
South Texas College of Law
The rear of South Texas College of Law, with the law library enclosed in glass

South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL or South Texas) is a private law school in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1923, it is accredited by the American Bar Association. South Texas College of Law Houston is the oldest law school in the city of Houston.[4] It was founded in 1923 when the YMCA made the decision to establish a law school with a focus on offering night classes for working professionals.

Rankings

U.S. News & World Report Rankings of Best Law Schools ranked South Texas College of Law overall 162nd, out of the 196 accredited law schools in the United States.

In 2023, its part-time program was ranked 57th in the country out of the 70 law schools considered.[5]

Programs

South Texas College of Law Houston was named the #1 law school of the decade in moot court competitions, holding the most national championships of any public or private law school in the U.S., by PreLaw Magazine.[6]

Trial advocacy program

The South Texas College of Law trial advocacy program consistently ranks in the top 10 of the nation.[7] South Texas College of Law Houston's moot court program was ranked 1st in the nation according to data compiled by the University of Houston Law Center’s Blakely Advocacy Institute in 2018 and has consistently ranked in the top 4 ever since.[8] The trial advocacy program at South Texas College of Law Houston was ranked 3rd in the country (tied with Stetson University and American University) for 2023 by U.S. News & World Report.[9] The South Texas College of Law Houston Alternate Dispute Resolution Program (ADR), where students compete in competitive mediations, negotiations, and as mediators, is also highly ranked.[10] In 2020, U.S. News & World Report ranked the South Texas College of Law Houston's dispute resolution program 31st in the nation.[11] Additionally, PreLaw Magazine named South Texas College of Law Houston as "Top Law School for ADR".[10]

South Texas College of Law Houston has won 133 national championships in advocacy.[12]

Bar passage and employment

Of the South Texas College of Law Houston graduates who took the Texas bar exam for the first time in July 2021, 80.89% passed, vs the overall passage rate of 80.47% for all other law schools of the State of Texas.[3]

According to South Texas College of Law Houston's official 2021 ABA-required disclosures, 66% of the class of 2021 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.[13]

Academics

South Texas College of Law Houston is also part of a consortium of four independent ABA- and AALS-accredited American law schools—California Western School of Law, New England School of Law, and William Mitchell College of Law.[4] The Consortium for Innovative Legal Education, combines resources designed to enhance and strengthen the educational mission of each school separately and all of them collectively. This partnership provides access to educational programs on a national and international basis.

Students at South Texas can study abroad in London, Ireland, Malta, the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Turkey, Chile, and Mexico.[14] In 2017, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg taught a course for South Texas College of Law Houston in Malta.[15] In previous years, Justice Antonin G. Scalia and Chief Justice John Roberts both taught in international study abroad programs.[15]

Admissions

For the class entering in 2022, South Texas accepted 44.34% of applicants, with 39.16% of those accepted enrolling, and the average enrollee had a 153 LSAT score and 3.30 undergraduate GPA.[16]

Publications

South Texas College of Law Houston publishes several student-edited journals of legal scholarship, including Corporate Counsel Review, Currents: Journal of International Economic Law, South Texas Law Review, Texas Journal of Business Law, and Hispanic Journal of Law and Policy

  • South Texas Law Review is a student-edited quarterly legal journal published at the South Texas College of Law Houston. It was established in 1954. The review publishes scholarly works as well as comments and case notes. South Texas Law Review has published articles written by five Justices from the Supreme Court of the United States: Arthur Goldberg, William J. Brennan, Jr., William Rehnquist, John Paul Stevens, and Clarence Thomas. South Texas Law Review has published over 40 symposium issues on a wide range of topics. Since 1994, the review and the law school have hosted an annual ethics symposium during the fall semester. The symposia include a conference where scholars present papers on the year's topic. The papers are published by the review in a subsequent volume.
  • Currents (ISSN 1534-388X) is the official journal of international economic law at South Texas College of Law Houston. Debuting in the winter of 1991 and featuring an article by Senator Lloyd Bentsen,[17] Currents is published twice annually by the law student members and editors, who receive academic credit for writing projects and staff participation. Currents focuses on international trade law in its broadest sense, addressing the legal effects and structure of international trade agreements as well as the legal aspects of international business transactions, including the sale of goods and services, licensing, investment, and dispute resolutions. Individual past editions have focused on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) marketplace, the European Union, maritime law, emerging markets and international finance, and oil and gas transactions in Latin America.

Costs

Total cost of tuition is $35,550 for 2020, for both in-state and out-of-state students.[18] South Texas College of Law continues to be the 6th least expensive law school in Texas out of a total of 10.[19] The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at South Texas for the 2017–2018 academic year was $56,000.[20]

Community resources

South Texas sponsors the "Direct Representation Clinics", which provide legal representation to low-income residents of Harris County, Texas, in the areas of family law, probate, estate planning, and guardianship cases.[21] South Texas is also the first Texas law school to provide $400 each month toward student-loan indebtedness for its alumni working for nonprofit legal-aid organizations that provide services to the poor.[22]

Attempt to merge with Texas A&M University

In 1998, South Texas College of Law Houston (at that time, called South Texas College of Law) tried to merge with Texas A&M University under a private/public partnership. Under the proposal, the law school would have remained a private school, but would have been branded as the Texas A&M Law Center and would have awarded law degrees under the A&M seal.[23] The deal went sour after a lengthy legal fight with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the governing body of the state's public institutions. The courts ruled that the schools had failed to obtain the board's approval before entering into the agreement.[24] The University of Houston and other institutions voiced concern about the partnership.[25] In 2013, Texas A&M University entered into a similar arrangement with the Texas Wesleyan School of Law in Fort Worth, Texas, thereby creating the Texas A&M University School of Law.[26]

Litigation over name change

Until mid-2016, the law school was called "South Texas College of Law". On June 22, 2016, the day on which South Texas College of Law announced a name change to "Houston College of Law", the University of Houston (which has its college of law within the University of Houston Law Center) announced that the University was "concerned about the significant confusion this creates in the marketplace and will take any and all appropriate legal actions to protect the interests of our institution, our brand, and our standing in the communities we serve."[27] The University of Houston System filed a lawsuit on June 27, 2016, in the United States District Court in Houston.[28][29] On October 14, 2016, the U.S. District Court issued a preliminary injunction requiring that South Texas College of law stop using the name "Houston College of Law," pending further developments in the case.[30]

On November 7, 2016, the dean of the law school announced that the name would be changed to "South Texas College of Law Houston".[31]

Notable alumni

References

  1. 1 2 "ABA Required Disclosures — ABA Standard 509 – South Texas College of Law Houston" (PDF). Retrieved Jul 4, 2020.
  2. ↑ "South Texas College of Law Houston". U.S. News & World Report – Best Law Schools. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  3. 1 2 "JULY 2022 EXAMINATION STATISTICS". Texas Board of Law Examiners. 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  4. 1 2 "History – South Texas College of Law Houston". Retrieved Jul 4, 2020.
  5. ↑ "South Texas College of Law Houston - Best Law Schools - US News". U.S. News & World Report. 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  6. ↑ "South Texas College of Law Houston | the National Jurist". www.nationaljurist.com. Retrieved Jul 4, 2020.
  7. ↑ Boniface, Russell. "South Texas College of Law Houston maintains winning advocacy program". Southeast Texas Record. Retrieved Jul 4, 2020.
  8. ↑ https://www.baylor.edu/law/news.php? action=story&story=201421
  9. ↑ "Best Trial Advocacy Programs - Top Law Schools - US News Rankings". U.S. News & World Report. 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  10. 1 2 "STCL Houston Named a Top Law School for ADR and International Law by preLaw Magazine – South Texas College of Law Houston". Retrieved Jul 4, 2020.
  11. ↑ "TaxProf Blog: 2020 U.S. News Dispute Resolution Rankings". taxprof.typepad.com. Retrieved Jul 4, 2020.
  12. ↑ "South Texas College of Law Houston Wins Unrivaled 133rd National Advocacy Championship – South Texas College of Law Houston". Retrieved Jul 4, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Employment Summary for 2021 Graduates" (PDF). South Texas College of Law Houston. April 30, 2020. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Study Abroad – South Texas College of Law Houston". Retrieved Jul 4, 2020.
  15. 1 2 "Law Students Enjoy Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity to Learn from US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg – South Texas College of Law Houston". Retrieved Jul 4, 2020.
  16. ↑ "2022 Standard 509 Information Report - South Texas College of Law Houston". abarequireddisclosures.org. American Bar Association. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  17. ↑ Bentsen, L., "Review of U.S.-Mexico Environmental Issues," Currents: Int'l Trade L.J. (Winter 1991 Archived 2007-08-14 at the Wayback Machine) at 5.
  18. ↑ "Cost of Attendance – South Texas College of Law Houston". Retrieved Jul 4, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Law School Rankings by Tuition". www.ilrg.com. Retrieved Jul 4, 2020.
  20. ↑ "South Texas College of Law Houston, Finances". www.lstreports.com. Archived from the original on 2018-05-27. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  21. ↑ "Resources – South Texas College of Law Houston". pathways.stcl.edu. Retrieved Jul 4, 2020.
  22. ↑ "South Texas College of Law | Overview | Plexuss.com". plexuss.com. Retrieved Jul 4, 2020.
  23. ↑ "A&M lands a law school after many false starts". 19 August 2013. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  24. ↑ cmaadmin (2007-07-13). "Texas A&M Affiliation With Law School Denied". Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  25. ↑ "South Texas School now A&M Law Center". archive.thedailycougar.com. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  26. ↑ "Texas A&M plans to buy Texas Wesleyan's law school in Fort Worth". Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  27. ↑ Wermund, Benjamin (2016-06-22). "South Texas College of Law changes name to Houston College of Law". Chron. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  28. ↑ Wermund, Benjamin (2016-06-27). "UH files suit over Houston law school name change". Chron. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  29. ↑ Complaint, docket entry 1, June 27, 2016, The Board of Regents of the University of Houston System on behalf of the University of Houston System and its Member Institutions; The University of Houston System; and The Board of Regents of the University of Houston System, Plaintiffs v. South Texas College of Law, Defendant, case no. 16-cv-01839, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
  30. ↑ Chronicle, Gabrielle Banks, Houston (2016-10-14). "Federal judge to law school: Hold off on name change for now". Chron. Retrieved 2022-06-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. ↑ Chronicle, Gabrielle Banks, Houston (2016-11-07). "Another new name announced for Houston law school". Chron. Retrieved 2022-06-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. ↑ "Briscoe R. Cain, III". The Cain Law Firm. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  33. ↑ "CASEY, Robert Randolph, (1915–1986)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  34. ↑ "John Culberson". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  35. ↑ "Justice John Phillip Devine". Official Supreme Court of Texas Webpage. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  36. ↑ " Mission: The moon (rocks), Joseph Gutheinz is the finder of lost lunar relics " By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, The Daily Tidings, February 13, 2012.
  37. ↑ "Moon Rock Hunter". Bryan Times.
  38. ↑ "Eva Guzman". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  39. ↑ "Paul John Hilbert [9430]". cemetery.tspb.texas.gov.
  40. ↑ "Joan Huffman's Biography". votesmart.org. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  41. ↑ Crair, Ben (4 April 2011). "Pat Lykos: Texas' Capital Punishment Avenger". The Daily Beast. US News. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  42. ↑ "South Texas College of Law Alumni Association". South Texas College of Law/Houston. Archived from the original on October 3, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  43. ↑ "Airline pioneer Harding Lawrence dies". University of Houston–Downtown. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  44. ↑ "Judges – District Judge Reed O'Connor". United States District Court. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  45. ↑ Bryce, Robert (1998-11-20). "Madalyn Murray O'Hair timeline". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
  46. ↑ "Robert Talton". taltonforchiefjustice.com. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2014.

29°45′10″N 95°21′53″W / 29.7529°N 95.3648°W / 29.7529; -95.3648

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