A plan for providing affordable and accessible public legal education to an underserved population in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and partnering with Dallas to revitalize the historic Main Street area.
Proposed timeline
- Spring 2009: Tuition Revenue Bonds Facility financing approved in conjunction with city commitment
- Spring 2009: Recruit founding dean
- Summer 2009: Initiate feasibility study with the T.H.E.C.B.
- Fall 2009: Begin building renovation, Complete ABA accreditation planning
- Fall 2009/Spring 2010: Recruit faculty for fall 2010 entering class
- Spring 2010: Enroll first students for fall 2010
- Fall 2010: Complete renovation of the Universities Center at Dallas
- Fall 2010: Complete installation of furniture and equipment
- Fall 2010: Begin classes at UNT College of Law
Old Municipal Building
A granite and limestone Beaux Arts building built in 1914, the proposed new law school building served as Dallas’ fourth City Hall until 1978. It then served as the Dallas Police Headquarters until 2005. For a brief moment, the entire world became aware of the building two days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It was in the basement of the Old Municipal Building that Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald, Kennedy’s accused assassin.
The University of North Texas System has requested that the Texas Legislature and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approve plans for the State's first new public law school in over 40 years. When the proposed UNT College of Law opens its doors to students in 2010, it will be the fruition of a goal that began as early as 1980—that’s when the UNT library initiated its law library collection. Nearly a quarter of a century later, in December 2004, Chancellor Lee F. Jackson, Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, Texas State Senator Royce West and State Representative Tony Goolsby announced plans for the UNT College of Law on the steps of the Old Dallas Municipal Building at Main and Harwood.
Since that announcement, UNT and the City of Dallas have developed concrete plans to bring the Dallas-Fort Worth area its first public law school, the first in Texas since 1967.
The University of North Texas College of Law will be:
- Opening a public law school at the right time in the right place
- Bringing affordable and accessible high-quality legal education to an underserved population
- Helping to revitalize downtown Dallas.
Quotes about the New Law School
“Access to a legal education is important to Dallas-Fort Worth area students who deserve the same opportunities that exist in Houston and other major metropolitan areas in the United States. The University of North Texas College of Law will give access to a diverse group of highly qualified students.” —Chancellor Lee F. Jackson
“Over the past fifty years other cities have expanded their higher educational services faster than the Dallas area, and our population growth rate has outpaced our institutional capacities. The UNT College of Law will be an important service to many fine students who are shut out of legal education now, and, along with the new UNT at Dallas campus, will bring quality education opportunities to the heart of the metropolitan area. —Royce West, Texas State Senator
“The UNT College of Law will be a cornerstone to our central business district and a major asset in our efforts to revitalize downtown Dallas.” —Former Dallas Mayor, Laura Miller
“I am greatly excited at the opportunities the public UNT College of Law will provide non-traditional students through affordable and accessible legal education. With the training received, the new graduates will be available to fill North Texas legal positions within government, public service organizations, law firms, and leading corporations outside the traditional practice of law. Without a doubt, the UNT College of Law will enable local students to enrich our legal profession.” —Rafael Anchia, Texas State Representative
“North Texas is blessed with a number of first-rate private law schools, but the closest public law schools are hundreds of miles away. The proposed UNT College of Law is thus of vital importance, in two key respects. First, it will offer a wide array of students—many without significant financial resources—an opportunity to attend law school and to do so close to home. Second, the Law School—and the dynamism that always accompanies an influx of graduate students and faculty—will breathe new life into a corner of downtown Dallas that has languished for decades.” —Randy D. Gordon, Professional Development Partner & Partner—Trial/Antitrust, Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP
“The site and the concept hold great potential for downtown Dallas and North Texas.” —Dan Branch, Texas State Representative
“I am thrilled about my alma mater bringing a public law school to downtown Dallas. It will bring affordable legal education to a diverse group of local residents who would otherwise be forced to move away—or even give up a law education, and it will also be a terrific mechanism for continuing to revitalize our downtown area!” —E. Cynthia Uduebor, Baker Botts Associate. BA (cum laude) UNT, 2000-J.D., Duke University School of Law, 2004