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Hey guys, I'm new to the board and am wondering if I can get some feedback/advice from many of you who are lawyers and/or attended SMU Law. My top choices for law school are Baylor and SMU. I have spent a lot of time visiting and trying to learn about both schools, life as a law student, etc.

I attended Baylor undergrad, and know that Baylor is unique with its "marine corps of law schools" mentality, PC, the quarter system, etc. Basically I've heard that it's pretty intense and centered toward practical litigation training. For what it's worth, I would imagine myself more as transactional in the future than a litigator.

Any of you out there have any advice about SMU Law and its comparisons to Baylor? I'll be making a final decision in the next couple of weeks and would appreciate your thoughts, comments, or insight of any sort.

Thanks...

Both are good schools, but I'd pick SMU. SMU has a better reputation, particularly if you want to work in the DFW area or anywhere outside of Texas. Baylor's strength is in its advocacy programs. SMU has strong advocacy programs and also has strengths on the transactional side of things. I think SMU Law's national reputation will only improve in the future, which means the value of your degree will improve. Good luck.

Baylor used to be known for its bar exam prep. If it still is, that's a plus for it. But you'd have to spend three more years in Waco.

If I was deciding between those two, I would choose SMU. I didn't go to either law school, but you find more SMU lawyers in Dallas than Baylor. And a very important consideration is where you want to practice. If you want to work in Dallas, the best place to go to school is SMU for law school. Not that you can't get a good job in Dallas by going to a different law school (I did), but SMU would be a better choice.

Funny you should mention Baylor. I talked a couple of days ago with a friend who just graduated from the UT law school, and she's getting prepared to take the Texas Bar Exam. She was talking about percentages of graduates who pass the Bar at various schools. I asked her if it was true that Baylor had a very high rate of passing the Bar. She said that's true. However, she added this: "The general perception within the legal world is that while Baylor is a very good law school, they teach students to prepare for the Bar, while the law schools at UT and SMU teach students to work as lawyers."

I don't know how true this is, but that's the perception she said she has heard at various firms around the state. (For the record, she graduated from SMU with a double major and a GPA of nearly 4.0, and got in to all three law schools -- she chose UT because she has family in Austin.)

In my experience, law school is like any other school, it only demonstrates that you have ability to learn in a certain academic area. You learn to practice law like you learn any new job, through mentoring and hands on experience. That's how it was for me, anyway, so I think the whole "it prepares you to work as a lawyer" thing is a bit overrated.

Having said that, though, it didn't hurt that I graduated from SMU law with decent grades in getting the job in the first place...

All of this advice is sound. I'd say go to SMU because of your interest in transactional law. As you've been told, Baylor is litigation heavy. Also, the opportunities for SMU law graduates in Dallas are excellent. Throw in the Waco versus Dallas comparison and it begins to be a no brainer. By the way, I went out of state for law school but have worked here since graduation.

To avoid any missteps in reaching your decision, you need to take a poll on ponyfans.com --- the results (if followed) will offer you the best chance for success in your law career and in life.

OF COURSE you should come to SMU.

At that other place, you have to live (if you can call it that) in Waco.
At SMU, you can (and will!) go to all SMU games.
Case closed.

Bergermeister wrote:To avoid any missteps in reaching your decision, you need to take a poll on ponyfans.com --- the results (if followed) will offer you the best chance for success in your law career and in life.

New candidate for best post ever.

BTW, I assume you've been accepted to both schools. Just curious, what's the tuition comparison between them these days?

You'll have to deal with enough judges in your life after you pass the bar. Why go to a school where the mascot is called Judge? Seems a little prophetic to me.

Congratulations on your acceptance to the SMU Dedman School of Law!

This thread looks like a good place to drop this question someone asked me today. Maybe it's not SMU related...maybe SMU law related. What would you folks (esp attorneys) classify the populace of Dallas with regards to conservative/liberal as it relates to the jury pool and judges. Consider on the one hand a liberal leaning Rio Grande Valley (home to one of the first and biggest Vioxx verdicts) versus, say, Salt Lake City. Too broad a topic? Too widespread an area to classify? That's what my answer was.

Dallas County jurors are pretty conservative, but not near as much as Collin County. A plaintiff can still win the right case in Dallas County, but it had better be a strong case.

And nothing compares to the Valley. You guys have your own brand of law down there.

I can not believe that anyone is equivocating this question.

Yes, you should go to SMU Dedman School of Law.
No, you should not go to Baylor Law School.

That answer will never change, regardless of how good one school is over the other. The first choice for us (SMU alums) should be SMU (notwithstanding a scholarship vs. no scholarship).

This is not a choice between Harvard vs. Yale; it is SMU vs. everybody else.