UNT Dallas College of Law is a new public law school that offers you an innovative legal education, in a dynamic Dallas location, at a tuition that delivers great value.
Our Mission
Our mission at UNT Dallas College of Law is to promote justice and advance human potential through the enterprise of legal education. At the heart of our mission are five key goals.
Access
Widen access to legal education for those who could be superb legal professionals but who lack realistic access to legal education given factors including cost, location, and the influence of current ranking formulas on admission and scholarships.
Preparation
Provide a legal education aimed at excellence in developing the full range of practice-related competencies, through:
- A curriculum mapped to practice-related competencies, drawing on the best insights of legal educators as well as on continuing input from legal practitioners.
- Instructional methods that reflect the best available practices, including frequent formative and summative assessment, experiential learning, collaborative learning, and engaged class design.
- Ongoing assessment as to the effectiveness of our legal education in developing practice-related competencies.
Value
Create opportunity for our students by:
- Keeping tuition and debt low, consistent with delivering an excellent legal education.
- Producing graduates with high value and ability in multiple segments of the market for legal services.
Innovation
Be a national leader in advancing understanding of best legal education practices, of professional formation, and of the relationship between legal education and the evolving practice and business of law.
Community
Be a valuable partner in dialogue and study with the legal profession and the Dallas-Fort Worth community.
Our Beginnings
UNT Dallas College of Law received legislative authorization in 2009, when the Texas legislature approved the College of Law and earmarked $5 million of the State’s 2011-2012 budget for the law school. In January 2012, the UNT System announced the appointment of the College of Law’s Founding Dean, the Honorable Royal Furgeson, U.S. District Judge in the Northern District of Texas, who began his appointment as Dean in June 2013 after retiring from the federal bench. In September 2012, the College of Law announced the appointment of Professor Ellen S. Pryor to serve as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. The College of Law initially operated as a unit within the UNT System, and then became a professional school within the University of North Texas at Dallas on September 1, 2015.
UNT Dallas College of Law received provisional accreditation from the American Bar Association (ABA) on June 3, 2017. Graduates of a provisionally approved law school are considered by the ABA to be graduates of an ABA-approved law school and are eligible to sit for most state bar exams, including in the state of Texas. Read more about accreditation.
In January 2017, UNT Dallas College of Law was named the 3rd Most Diverse Law School in America. In September 2017, the College of Law was named to Top 20 Most Innovative Law Schools in America.
Advocacy Program
Part of graduating excellent lawyers with practice-related competencies is graduating outstanding advocates. In order to accomplish this task, UNT Dallas College of Law has developed a curriculum steeped in advocacy—from its required advocacy and experiential courses to the ten skills segments that are woven into all second and third-year doctrinal courses.
These curricular requirements, however, are just the beginning. UNT Dallas College of Law offers a variety of extracurricular opportunities for its advocacy-hungry students to fine tune their skills, including:
- UNT Dallas College of Law Intramural Competitions
- The Annual First-Year Judge’s Gavel Motions Argument Competition
- The Annual Thompson & Knight Intramural Moot Court Competition
- UNT Dallas College of Law Intermural Moot Court Team
- UNT Dallas College of Law Intermural Mock Trial Team
- UNT Dallas College of Law & Texas A&M University School of Law Intermural ADR Competition
- The UNT Dallas College of Law Board of Advocates
Although our program is in its early years, we have already built a reputation as a school that produces outstanding advocates. Top local prosecutors together with partners from top national and local law firms coach our intramural teams and train our emerging lawyers.