Information for Admitted Students
University of Houston Law Center

Full-Time Program – First Year

Note: The order of classes is subject to change. Brief course descriptions are available online for all the 1L classes listed above: law.uh.edu/admissions/admitted-students-first-year-classes.asp.

1L Mentor Groups

All first-year students are assigned to a mentor group with a professor and an upper-level student. The mentor groups are small and include students from the same 1L section. Groups meet periodically during the year to provide support during the transition into law school.

Mentors give advice on various topics such as adjusting to law school, preparing for final exams, getting involved in campus life, and selecting courses after the first year.

Part-Time Program – First Year

Student perspective – Michael Ryan

“I found the job that I had during the spring of my second year through the CDO’s job bank, Symplicity. It’s a great resource for students because of the connections the Law Center works diligently to foster with alumni all over the nation.”

— Michael Ryan ’15, Associate attorney, Labor and Employment, Foley & Lardner

Student perspective – Shannon Terry

“One of my favorite things about the University of Houston Law Center by far was the externship class. It allowed me to apply the law I learned in my first-year theoretical courses to real-world legal situations, and it took learning to a whole new level.”

— Shannon Terry ’18, Associate attorney, Business litigation, Hicks Davis Wynn

Academic Enrichment Program

Upperclass student tutors are assigned to each first-year section to assist students with course material and to augment study and test-taking skills. Tutors attend class sessions with the section and work with the professors to develop session materials. Tutorial sessions are open to all students and provide a beneficial supplement to classroom instruction and faculty office hours. This program, coupled with our dedicated, student-centered faculty, helps foster student success in the first year.

Upper Division Curriculum

Houston Law offers one of the largest course selections in the country. Access to our broad curriculum will prepare you for almost any legal discipline and allows concentrations in specific areas. In your second and third years of study, you have only three course requirements:

• Professional Responsibility
• Six credit hours of experiential learning courses (including simulation courses, law clinics, and field placements)
• The upper-level writing requirement

You may customize your remaining coursework with a range of elective courses, seminars, and clinical experiences. Some students enhance their studies through study abroad, a dual degree program, or by enrolling in approved classes from other graduate departments. At Houston Law, students have a great deal of flexibility in creating their educational path, and faculty, as well as academic advisors, are available to assist students in selecting courses best suited to their career goals.

The core of our curriculum is the traditional doctrinal courses that teach legal theory, critical analysis, and practical applications. Houston Law offers courses in a wide range of legal specialties, including two nationally-ranked programs— Health Law and Intellectual Property & Information Law.

Our courses are divided into the following areas:

• Blakely Advocacy Institute
• Business and Commercial Law
• Constitutional Law
• Criminal Law
• Employment and Labor Law
• Energy, Environmental, and Natural Resources Law
• Family Law
• Health Law
• Intellectual Property and Information Law
• International Law
• Law and Society/Interdisciplinary
• Practice Skills – Research and Writing
• Practice Skills – Clinics and Externships
• Procedure and Practice
• Real Property, Trusts, and Estates
• Taxation

law.uh.edu/academic

Student perspective – Cheuck Yee

“We all learn from each other, making each of us a stronger advocate. I truly believe that Houston and Houston Law are unique melting pots of backgrounds, education, and individual strengths that make our graduates especially suited for practice in today’s world. I chose to attend this law school because it has world-class professors with the ability to provide guidance for any field of law that you can imagine.”

— Cheuck Yee ’16, Assistant county attorney, Travis County Attorney's Office

Student perspective – Calvin McKnight

“I’ve had the chance to meet people from many different backgrounds and walks of life, and it has allowed for a more stimulating and enjoyable learning environment. In the part-time program especially, we come from all types of backgrounds and career paths. This allows us to bring our experiences into classroom discussions, and creates a great learning atmosphere built on substantive subject matters.”

— Calvin McKnight ’19, Associate attorney, M&A/corporate, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld

Job Bank

The CDO maintains an online, password-protected job bank, Symplicity®, that is available to all law students to view available positions, from part-time law clerks to internships to full-time attorney roles.

The CDO regularly meets with practitioners throughout Texas to highlight the talented and adept student body of Houston Law. Through these meetings, the CDO staff is able to appreciate market conditions, hiring preferences, and employer expectations, and they often return to campus with job opportunities for students.

New jobs are posted in the Symplicity® job bank daily, and range from firm positions to opportunities with nonprofit organizations, as well as everything in between. The Symplicity® system allows students to upload résumés, cover letters, and other necessary documents and contains resource materials for various practice areas. Symplicity® is available to all current students and alumni.

On-Campus Interview Program (OCI)

Every year, over 100 prospective employers recruit on Houston Law’s campus for summer and semester law clerks and post-graduate positions. OCI allows students the opportunity to interview with legal employers on campus and takes place in three stages: Session I, Session II, and Session III.

• Session I occurs two weeks before classes begin and is the largest stage with over 80 employers participating.
• Session II occurs in mid-October and is usually smaller, with 10–15 employers participating.
• Session III is in mid-January and is reserved for employers specifically seeking 1Ls for summer employment.

Government and Public Interest Table Talk (GPITT)

Culminating after a week-long series of career panels discussing the advantages and challenges of practicing in the public sector, GPITT gives students the opportunity to meet with public interest employers and discuss internship opportunities for the upcoming summer or academic year.

During the event, local nonprofit organizations and government agencies come to campus and set up tables to share information on their organizations and their hiring needs.

Small & Midsize Firm Open House

Geared specifically towards firms with 50 or fewer attorneys, this event brings local legal employers to campus to speak to Houston Law students about their practice, area of law, and potential employment opportunities.

The open house occurs after a week-long series of career panels discussing the realities of day-to-day life for attorneys who practice at small, midsize, and growing firms. It provides students the opportunity to meet informally with employers, hand out résumés for upcoming positions, and introduce themselves to a large number of prospective employers.

Passport to Success Professional Development Series

A mandatory program for 1Ls, the Passport to Success program was developed by the CDO to achieve its mission to equip students and graduates with the resources and skills to successfully identify, generate, and navigate professional opportunities.

The series consists of four mandatory learning sessions that are each designed to cover facets of new attorney professionalism most sought after by legal employers, as well as year-round advising and 30+ networking and recruiting events for all students.

Apprentice Program

The Houston Law Apprentice Program allows 2Ls and 3Ls to work at a small law firm (fewer than four attorneys) in the Houston area year-round. The goal is to provide a true “apprentice” experience to upper-level students by immersing them in the daily life of an attorney, allowing them to work side by side with employers in a small firm setting.

Firms participating in the Apprentice Program are encouraged to give their law clerks a meaningful opportunity to learn and be exposed to their practice and field of law. Students hired for this program are paid a competitive hourly wage, 50% of which is subsidized by Houston Law.

Student perspective – Laura Duncan

“I was intrigued by the idea of doing a federal judicial clerkship after graduation and expressed my interest to my career counselor. The clerkship program manager reached out to me later when a local judge was interested in receiving applications. I applied and, thankfully, I was offered the clerkship! The staff in the CDO truly has the best interest of their students in mind, and the email that they sent informing me of this opportunity is just one example of that. I’m grateful for this experience.”

— Laura Duncan ’14, Trial Attorney, Attorney General's Honor Program, U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division; Former Judicial Clerk, U.S. District Court Judge Gray Miller

Student perspective – Dillon Norton

“Houston Law is one of the top schools in the nation for networking. The numerous student organizations and our Career Development Office provide numerous opportunities to meet practitioners with a wide array of legal backgrounds. Since law students are busy people, these organizations frequently host practicing professionals during the lunch hour. Nearly four days a week, you can meet practicing attorneys without leaving school. This is one of our best kept secrets.”

— Dillon Norton ’16, Attorney/owner, D.B. Norton, PLLC

Summer Public Interest Fellowships

The purpose of these fellowships is to provide opportunities for work exposure in the public interest legal community, thereby instilling excitement about, and a commitment to, public service in our students. Through this program, fellows get the opportunity to build legal skills, hone their portfolio of accomplishments, and contribute to their community.

Houston Law has a long history of subsidizing summer work for local nonprofit employers. This highly competitive program was greatly expanded to allow Houston Law to quadruple the number of annual fellowships and add government employers as a placement option.

law.uh.edu/pil/summer.asp

Graduate Fellowships

The Houston Law Graduate Fellowship Program is designed to make it possible for recent graduates who are dedicated to careers in public service to pursue unpaid internships as they await their bar results. Since nonprofits and government agencies often do not hire prior to receiving bar results, this program allows graduates to bridge the gap between taking the bar exam and getting the results.

Houston Law provides up to $4,500 to selected graduates working with a government agency or a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Work schedules are flexible, but fellows are expected to work at least 30 hours per week for 10 weeks, generally beginning the last week in August and concluding the first week in November.

law.uh.edu/pil/graduate-fellowship-program/

Global Fellowships

The Houston Law Global Fellowship Program assists students pursuing international placements during the summer with government and nonprofit agencies. Although students have interned abroad in the past, this program helps to ensure a larger number of students have the funding to pursue international experience.

Our goal with this program is to allow students to broaden their horizons, build their skill set, and pursue careers across the globe.

law.uh.edu/pil/global-fellowship-program.asp

Alumni perspective – Judge Jeff Brown

“I always tell prospective law students to choose a law school with well-regarded faculty, a variety of well-run clinical programs, and a good record of placement in desirable legal markets. I believe that Houston Law not only meets, but exceeds, all of these criteria.”

— Jeff Brown ’95, Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas; Former Houston Law adjunct professor and moot court coach