The SMU Dedman School of Law (SMU Law) is the law school of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, United States. The school was founded in February 1925 as part of Southern Methodist University. It was renamed in February 2001 to honor benefactors Nancy Dedman and Robert H. Dedman Sr. One of 10 law schools in Texas, it was the only one in the city of Dallas until the University of North Texas at Dallas opened as a law school in 2014.
Contents
Admissions
Statistics
From 2020 to 2024, SMU law had an acceptance rate of about 34%. The median LSAT score was about 163, and the median GPA was around 3.80.
Academic profile
SMU Dedman School of Law offers Juris Doctor, Master of Laws, and Doctor of Juridical Science degrees. The school also offers two joint-degree programs: a combined law and economics degree with the SMU Department of Economics in Dedman College and a combined law and business degree with the Cox School of Business.
The class entering in fall 2019 had a median LSAT score of 161 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.7. These medians were calculated by the Law School Admission Council using data on enrolled students provided by the law school to the American Bar Association.
Students in the JD program are required to have 87 credit hours to graduate, including 31 hours of required coursework in the first year. After the first year, required coursework includes professional responsibility, two upper-level writing courses (including a faculty-supervised scholarly writing seminar), Constitutional Law II, and a practical skills course. In addition, all students are required to complete 30 hours of public service before graduating.
Programs and resources
Dedman Law is home to four independent law journals: The SMU Law Review, Journal of Air Law and Commerce, The International Lawyer, and the SMU Science & Technology Law Review.
Dedman Law offers several law clinics 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 in Oxford, England, multiple international programs, and the Underwood Law 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 666,498 law-related volumes and equivalents, ranking the library among the top 20% of all law libraries in the United States.
Rankings
In 2024, SMU Dedman School of Law was ranked No. 42 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 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
Paul Hardin III
A. Kenneth Pye
Dale Carpenter
Notable alumni
James A. Baker, Justice of the Texas Supreme Court
Keith Bergelt, former U.S. Diplomat and CEO of Open Invention Network
Jane J. Boyle is a district judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Dan Branch, former member Texas House of Representatives
Angela Braly, former president and chief executive officer for WellPoint (now Anthem)
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
Catherine Crier, Dallas County District Judge, investigative journalist
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, former associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court
Gerald J. Ford, noted Texas banker and businessman
David C. Godbey, federal judge
Rusty Hardin, an American attorney and head of the Houston law firm Rusty Hardin & Associates, P.C