Baylor Law School Explained

Baylor University School of Law
Parent:Baylor University
Students:448 (2009)[1]
Faculty:31 full-time (2009)
Head:Patricia Wilson (interim)
Established:
Ranking:46th (tie) (2024)[2]
Type:Private law school
City:Waco
State:Texas
Country:U.S.
Bar Pass Rate:91.61% (2023 first-time takers)
Religious Affiliation:Baptist General Convention of Texas

Baylor Law School is the oldest law school in Texas.[3] Baylor Law School is affiliated with Baylor University and located in Waco, Texas. The school has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1931 and has been a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 1938.[4] The program offers training in all facets of law, including theoretical analysis, practical application, legal writing, advocacy, professional responsibility, and negotiation and counseling skills.

History

Established in 1857, Baylor Law School was the first law school in Texas and the second law school west of the Mississippi River.[5] Law classes continued until 1883 when the school was discontinued. In 1920, the Board of Trustees reestablished the law school (called the Law Department at that time) under the direction of Dean Allen G. Flowers. The school was temporarily suspended from 1943 to 1946 as a result of World War II.

Bradley J.B. Toben has served as Dean of the Law School since 1991.[6] He is the longest serving dean in the nation among the 200 ABA accredited law schools.[7]

Academics

Admissions

For the classes entering in 2022, Baylor Law School accepted 23.8% of applicants and 17.57% of those accepted enrolled with the average enrollee having a 163 LSAT score and 3.72 undergraduate GPA.[8]

Class structure

The school operates on a quarter system[9] and has four graduating classes per year. Each matriculate class has a separate application pool and applicants are required to apply to the quarter in which they would like to begin.

A typical academic year consists of three quarters, with students choosing to take off the fourth quarter of the year to complete a clerkship or internship; however, students may elect to complete the program in only 27 months by attending every quarter. The school's curriculum focuses more on the positive state of the law than a normative one and on actual practice in the court system.

Degrees

In addition to the standard Juris Doctor degree, Baylor Law students can obtain a combined JD with either the Master of Business Administration (both traditional and with an emphasis in healthcare administration), the Master of Taxation, the Master of Public Policy and Administration, or the Master of Divinity degree.[10]

First-year program

First-year students are required to take the following courses and satisfactory completion is required before moving to upper-level courses. The required courses are:

Upper Class Required Courses

The following courses are mandatory upper-class courses for all student (Practice Court classes are shown separately):

Practice Court

The hallmark of the law school curriculum is its Practice Court program. Practice Court traces its roots to the original school; it was returned in 1922 shortly after the school was reinstituted. Though practice court is designed primarily for students who will practice law before Texas trial courts, it is mandatory for all students.

The program consists of three courses. Students should plan to be available to participate in course work from 1:00 PM onward each week day (1:20 PM for Practice Court 3) and should expect to work late into the evenings:

A student can, if desired, choose to concentrate in one of fifteen specialized areas of law:

Law review

Baylor Law Review
Abbreviation:Bayl. law rev.
Bluebook:Baylor L. Rev.
History:1948present
Frequency:3/year
Issn:0005-7274
Oclc:818986563
Website:https://www.baylor.edu/law/review/index.php?id=933862
Italic Title:no

The is the law school's official student-run law review.[11] The journal was founded in 1948[12] and is published three times per year (Fall, Winter and Spring).[13] Students may grade on to the Law Review at the end of their first year or later as upper-quarters, being selected through a write-on competition, or writing a note or comment for the journal that is selected for publication.[14]

Legal clinics

Students can gain experience by working Baylor Law's legal clinics.[15] Baylor Law currently has five legal clinics: Estate Planning, Immigration, Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship, Trial Advocacy, and the Veterans Clinic.[16] Over the past few years, more than 1,500 central Texans have been served by Baylor Law students, faculty, and volunteer attorneys.[17]

Baylor Law's Director of Clinical Programs, Josh Borderud, was selected in early 2020 to receive the prestigious Sandra Day O'Connor Award for Professional Service from the American Inns of Court.[18] The Sandra Day O'Connor Award for Professional Service is awarded each year to honor an American Inn of Court member in practice for ten or fewer years for excellence in public interest or pro bono activities.[19]

Bar examination passage

In 2023, the overall bar examination passage rate for the law school’s first-time examination takers was 91.61%. The Ultimate Bar Pass Rate, which the ABA defines as the passage rate for graduates who sat for bar examinations within two years of graduating, was 96.11% for the class of 2021.[20]

Employment

According to Baylor's official 2019 ABA-required disclosures, 93.7% of the Class of 2019 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.[21] Baylor's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 3.9%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2019 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.[22]

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Baylor for the 2022-23 academic year is $87,284.[23] The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $310,638.[24]

Rankings

Notable alumni

References

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: Baylor University School of Law, ABA Law School Data . LSAC. 2009-08-12 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090710211657/http://officialguide.lsac.org/SearchResults/SchoolPage_PDFs/ABA_LawSchoolData/ABA6032.pdf . 10 July 2009.
  2. Web site: Baylor University. 2 May 2024 .
  3. Web site: Texas Accredited Law Schools – Law Schools. 2020-09-25. lawschool.uslegal.com. US Legal Inc. en-US.
  4. Web site: Accreditation. 2020-09-25. Law Baylor University. en-US.
  5. Web site: About. 2020-09-25. Law Baylor University. en-US.
  6. Web site: Brad Toben. 2020-09-25. Law School Faculty and Staff Baylor University. en-US.
  7. Web site: Brad Toben. 2020-09-25. Law School Faculty and Staff Baylor University. en-US.
  8. Web site: Baylor University - 2022 Standard 509 Information Report . abarequireddisclosures.org . . 10 March 2023.
  9. Web site: Quarter System. 2020-09-25. Law Baylor University. en-US.
  10. Web site: Quick Facts. 2020-09-25. Law Baylor University. en-US.
  11. Web site: About Baylor Law Review. Baylor University Law School Review. en-US.
  12. Web site: Baylor Law Review. HeinOnline.
  13. Web site: Subscriptions. Baylor University Law Review. en-US.
  14. Web site: Join Baylor Law Review. Baylor University Law Review. en-US.
  15. Web site: Legal Clinics. 2020-09-25. Law Baylor University. en-US.
  16. Web site: Legal Clinics. 2020-09-25. Law Baylor University. en-US.
  17. Web site: Legal Clinics. 2020-09-25. Law Baylor University. en-US.
  18. Web site: News. 2020-09-25. Law Baylor University. en-US.
  19. Web site: News. 2020-09-25. Law Baylor University. en-US.
  20. Web site: Baylor Law School - 2024 Bar Passage . abarequireddisclosures.org . American Bar Association . 18 March 2024.
  21. Web site: Baylor Law School Class of 2019 Summary Report.
  22. Web site: Baylor University. 2020-09-25. www.lstreports.com. en.
  23. Web site: Estimated Costs . 2022-10-29 . Law Baylor University . en-US.
  24. Web site: Baylor University, Finances. 2020-09-25. www.lstreports.com. en.
  25. Web site: Baylor Law School Overview . U.S. News.
  26. Web site: Best Trial Advocacy Programs. U.S. News.
  27. Web site: The 2016 ATL Top 50 Law School Rankings. 2020-09-25. Above the Law. en-US.
  28. Web site: Baylor University - 2020 Law School Profile. 2020-09-25. www.ilrg.com.
  29. Web site: Baylor University - 2020 Law School Profile. 2020-09-25. www.ilrg.com.
  30. Web site: Baylor University - 2020 Law School Profile. 2020-09-25. www.ilrg.com.
  31. Web site: Phillip Benjamin Baldwin. Federal Judicial Center. 1 January 2013.
  32. Web site: Charles Barrow. 27 June 2006. Baylor University Waco, Texas. 1 January 2013.
  33. Web site: Beau Boulter. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 1 January 2013.
  34. Web site: Bob Bullock. Texas State Historical Association.. 1 January 2013.
  35. Web site: Tim Curry. Justia. 1 January 2013.
  36. Web site: Leonard Davis. Federal Judicial Center. 1 January 2013.
  37. Web site: Jack Fields. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 1 January 2013.
  38. Web site: Sidney A. Fitzwater. Federal Judicial Center. 1 January 2013.
  39. Web site: Louie Gohmert. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 1 January 2013.
  40. Web site: Sam B. Hall. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 1 January 2013.
  41. News: 'The Blind Side' Director John Lee Hancock to Speak at Baylor Law Commencement May 1 . 4 November 2021 . Baylor University . 29 April 2010.
  42. Web site: Andrew S. Hanen. Federal Judicial Center. 1 January 2013.
  43. Web site: Vice Admiral John G. Hannink. United States Navy. 21 December 2018.
  44. News: Jim. Vertuno. Former AP reporter Robert Heard dies at age 84. Associated Press. 2014-04-23. 2014-05-12. 14 May 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140514102256/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/former-ap-reporter-robert-heard-dies-age-84. dead.
  45. Web site: Jack English Hightower. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 1 January 2013.
  46. Web site: Bryan Hughes. 30 November 2022.
  47. Web site: James Ed Kinkeade. 1 October 2018.
  48. Web site: Rep. Kleinschmidt, Tim (District 17). house.texas.gov. 25 February 2014.
  49. Web site: Tryon D. Lewis. Texas House of Representatives. 1 January 2013.
  50. Web site: District Judge Amos L. Mazzant, III | Eastern District of Texas | United States District Court.
  51. Web site: Priscilla Owen. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 1 January 2013.
  52. Web site: William R. Poage. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 1 January 2013.
  53. Web site: Purcell, Graham Boynton, Jr.. bioguide.congress.gov. 27 February 2013.
  54. Web site: Max Sandlin. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 1 January 2013.
  55. Web site: Baylor Law Mourns the Passing of Former FBI Director William S. Sessions, LL.B. '56 . Baylor University . Baylor University . 12 November 2021.
  56. News: Simmons to fill vacancy on 408th District Court . 12 November 2021 . San Antonio Business Journal . bizjournals.com . 7 April 2003.
  57. Web site: Byron M. Tunnell. Texas Politics. 1 January 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140512214449/http://www.laits.utexas.edu/txp_media/html/leg/speakers/43.html. 12 May 2014. dead.
  58. Web site: Kirk Watson. Project Vote Smart. 1 January 2013.
  59. Web site: John Eddie Williams Makes Significant Gift to New Baylor Football Stadium . 9 May 2012 . Baylor Media Communications.
  60. Web site: WILSON, Joseph Franklin - Biographical Information. bioguide.congress.gov. 2015-06-08.

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