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Find one that offers real-world experience
Founded in 1923, the city’s historic law school, South Texas College of
Law Houston, is still making history by offering students more opportunities to gain real—world experience and hone their legal interests — and legal skills — while they are still students.
Recent changes in the U.S. due to COVID-19 haven’t stopped the school from continuing to innovate and provide an exceptional legal education to students. The school is committed to the health and safety of the community, so fall classes will be offered in-person, online, and a combination of both formats. With increased cleaning, social distancing, and the addition of new classrooms to provide added space,
South Texas is ready to continue its nearly 100year-old mission to provide an outstanding legal education to a diverse body of students.
The law school has earned a reputation for producing “practiceready” graduates, giving them in-depth exposure to the skills needed to pursue various disciplines in the profession.
Alicia Cramer, assistant dean of Admissions and Student Organizations, explained that prospective employers often seek law school graduates who have the skills and knowledge to start contributing to their firms right away.
“Attorneys who come prepared with optimal skills in research, writing, strategizing, contract drafting, presenting, and more have an advantage,” she said. “That’s why we go above and beyond to make sure they have that experience.”
In fact, she said that judges often are able to recognize a South Texas Law graduate in their courtrooms.
“They are well-prepared and able to handle their cases,” she said. “They’re also confident in their skills, which carries them forward in their careers.”
Law firms, corporations, and government agencies recruit South Texas graduates because of their strong legal foundation layered with realworld, practical skills.
For example, South Texas advocacy students learn to litigate by getting into the courtroom and testing their skills of persuasion in front of jurors and the bench in competition tournaments — not just from books and lectures. This program is so successful that South Texas holds 133 national advocacy championships. That’s more than twice as many as any other U.S. law school.
Similarly, transactional practice students learn by drafting and revising contracts and other documents, while students in the Randall O. Sorrels Legal Clinics at South Texas Law gain real-world experience advocating on behalf of low-income clients with legal problems.
“With these opportunities, our students are able to apply their classroom learning to actual cases with real clients,” Cramer said. “This helps them practice and gain confidence in the field. At the same time, they are able to gain hands-on experience in their chosen legal specialty.”
Of the 900-plus students at South Texas College of Law Houston, about 24% are non-traditional, meaning they have full-time jobs and are taking classes on a parttime basis at night.
“Time is extremely important to these students,” Cramer said.
“They get a lot of value from learning these practical skills while still employed full time.”
For more information about South Texas College of Law Houston’s opportunities to earn a J.D., visit stcl.edu.