A New Law School for Dallas and North Texas.
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

Opening a public law school at the right time
in the right place

National, state, and local demographic studies clearly indicate a compelling need for a new, downtown Dallas public law school.

State statistics

  • Since 1980, Texas’ population has grown from 14.3 million to 22.5 million, but no additional legal education has been added. The last public law school in Texas opened in 1967.
  • In the past 25 years, only 524 new law school seats have been created in Texas, while the number of bachelor degrees is currently growing at a rate of 25,000 annually..
  • Houston has three law schools (two public, one private) with FY 2004 enrollment of 2,953. By comparison, the more populous DFW region’s law school enrollment was only 1,561 at its two private law schools..
  • Also in Houston, there were 11,186 baccalaureate degrees awarded in 2002, and there were 969 first-year law school seats available; its ratio of bachelor’s degrees to first year law school seats was 12:1. DFW’s ratio of bachelor degrees awarded to first-year law school seats was more than double, approximately 27:1.

National data

  • Dallas-Fort Worth—the ninth largest metropolitan region in the country—is the largest in the country without a public law school.
  • Economic activity and population density are prime factors driving the need for legal services. Although Texas ranks third in Gross State Product, it ranks ninth in the legal workforce necessary to remain competitive.
  • The DFW region has proportionally fewer lawyers than the national average, than the average of the 10 most populous states, and than the average of all other Texas metropolitan regions.
  • Did you know? It is important to note that fully 90% of Texas law school graduates remain in the state, the highest percentage in the nation. Also, more than 75% of Texas law school graduates have employment within nine months of graduating—and that includes time for taking the bar exam.

Local numbers

  • The DFW economy generates more than 1,400 new legal jobs annually.
  • North Texas area employers must recruit trained attorneys from other regions and states every year.
  • Dallas, itself, must import 30% of its attorneys from out-of-state law schools.

Get involved!

To find out about how you and/or your firm can support the public UNT College of Law, contact:

Jay Patterson, Co-Chair of the Founders Board
Proposed UNT College of Law
9854 Estate Lane
Dallas, Texas 75238-1963
(214) 533-6433
(214) 343-8303 fax
jayjanp@earthlink.net