Baylor Law School

Baylor Law School is the oldest law school in Texas (founded in 1857). 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.

The program offers training in all facets of law, including theoretical analysis, practical application, legal writing, advocacy, professional responsibility, and negotiation and counseling skills.

Baylor Law School ranks 3rd in the nation for trial advocacy according to the U.S. News & World Report.

History[edit | edit source]

Baylor originally established the law school in 1857; at that time it was the second law school established west of the Mississippi. 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 1943-1946 as a result of World War II.

Bradley J.B. Toben currently serves as Dean of the Law School.

Academics[edit | edit source]

Unlike the rest of Baylor's programs, the Baylor Law School operates on a quarter system; a student may begin classes in either February (spring quarter), May (summer quarter), or August (fall quarter). The Law School also has four graduating classes per year (coinciding with the end of each quarter including the winter quarter). Each matriculate class has a separate application pool, and applicants are required to apply to the quarter in which they would like to begin (if a student wants to be considered for admission in different quarters a separate application package is required for each).

Each year consists of three quarters, with students taking off the fourth quarter between years (or using it to make up any classes).

First-year students are required to take 13 mandatory courses (42 hours) with no electives. In addition to a one hour introductory class to law and the legal profession, the courses are in criminal law; civil procedure, criminal procedure; legislation, administrative power and procedure (LAPP); contracts (I and II); torts (I and II); property (I and II); and legal analysis, research and communication (LARC, I and II).

The second-year program consists of a mix of mandatory and elective courses. The five mandatory classes (which must be taken in the student's fourth and fifth quarters) are basic tax and accounting, constitutional law, remedies, business organization (I), and trust and estates (I). At this point students can choose to concentrate in one of seven areas (administrative practice, business litigation, business transactions, criminal practice, estate planning, intellectual property, and general civil litigation), though a concentration is not required for graduation.

The third-year program consists primarily of four mandatory "Practice Court" classes. The classes (taught at Baylor since 1922) are designed for law students who will practice law before the courts, but are mandatory for all law students. The first three classes (Professional Responsibility and Practice Court I and II) must be taken as a package (and students cannot be enrolled in any other courses during that period); Practice Court III must be taken immediately thereafter in the following quarter (and though students may take electives, any elective cannot be in a class scheduled after 2:15 PM).

In addition to the standard Juris Doctor degree, Baylor Law students can obtain a combined JD with either the Master of Business Administration, Master of Taxation, or Master of Public Policy and Administration degree.

For more information see the Baylor Law School catalog [1].

Notable alumni[edit | edit source]

• Roy Bass - Waco native and mayor of Lubbock from 1974-1978
• Beau Boulter - lobbyist; former U.S. representatives from Texas' 13th congressional district
• Bryan Hughes (1995) - Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from Wood County
• Colonel Leon Jaworski (1924) - Watergate Special Prosecutor; Senior Partner, Fulbright & Jaworski Houston, Texas; Served on the Warren Commission; President, American Bar Association (1971–1972); Chief of War Crimes detachment of the JAG Corps of the US Army (1944–1946); Treasurer and co-founder, Democrats for Reagan.
• Marion Price Daniel (1932) - United States Senator (1953—1957); Governor of Texas (1957—1963); Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives (1943–1945); Justice, Texas Supreme Court (1971–1978).
• Jack English Hightower (1951) - U.S. House of Representatives, (1975–1985)
• Tryon D. Lewis, J.D. - Member of the Texas House of Representatives from Odessa; former 161st State Judicial District judge
• Priscilla Owen, J.D. (1977) - Judge, U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (2005–Present); Former Texas Supreme Court Justice (1994–2005).
• Justice Rebecca Simmons- Justice, Fourth Court of Appeals, Texas
• Robert R. (Bob) Poage (1924) – U.S. House of Representatives, (1937–1978)
• Charles Wallace Barrow- Former Justice, Texas Supreme Court
• Phillip Benjamin Baldwin- Justice, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• Mark Wells White- Governor of Texas (1983–1987)
• Kirk Watson- Former mayor of Austin and current state senator
• James B. Adams- Texas legislator, and former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1978–79)
• William Sessions- Director of the FBI (1987–1993)
• Max Sandlin- Judge, U.S. Congressman (1997–2005)
• Louie Gohmert- U.S. Congressman (2005–present)
• Beau Boulter- U.S. Congressman (1985–1989)
• Jack M. Fields- U.S. Congressman (1981–1997)
• Thomas C. Mann- U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador (1955–1957) and US Ambassador to Mexico (1961–1963)
• Sam Blakely Hall Jr. – U.S. Congressman (1975–1985) and U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of Texas
• Graham Boynton Purcell Jr. – U.S. Congressman (1962–1973)
• Frank Wilson – U.S. Congressman (1947–1955)
• Sam R. Cummings –Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (1987–present)
• Sidney Fitzwater – Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (1986–present)
• Andrew Scott Hanen - Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (2002–present)
• Joe Kendall – Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (1992–2002)
• Ed Kinkeade – Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (2002–present)
• Walter Smith – Chief Judge, U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas (1984–present)
• Leonard Davis - Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas(2002–present)
• Chad Everingham - Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas (2006–present)
• Bob Bullock - Texas' 38th Lieutenant Governor and considered one of the most outstanding Texas political leaders of the 20th century.
• T. John Ward - Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas(1999–present)
• John Lee Hancock - Screenplay writer and director of The Rookie, The Alamo, and The Blind Side.
• Morris Harrell - Former President of the American Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas.
• Abner McCall - Former Justice, Texas Supreme Court
• Byron Tunnell - Former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
• Abelardo Valdez - Former U.S. Ambassador and Chief of Protocol for the White House
• Walter Umphrey - Counsel, Billion Dollar Tobacco Settlement
• Ed Blizzard - Prominent pharmaceutical injury attorney
• Kevin Reynolds - Former Texas lawyer and director of Fandango, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Waterworld.
• J.T. Rutherford - representative from Texas' 16th congressional district from 1955 to 1963; attended Baylor Law School from 1948 to 1950.
• Jean A. Stuntz - Historian

References[edit | edit source]

• ¹ Princeton Review
• ² Texas Board of Law Examiners

External links[edit | edit source]

• Baylor University web site
• Baylor School of Law web site

Notes[edit | edit source]

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