About the University of Houston Law Center

The Law Center has been cited as one of the “best values” in legal education today.  We are the leading law school in the nation’s fifth-largest legal market, and our curriculum is among the broadest offered in the Southwest.  

Fast Facts

The Law Center was established in 1947 and enrolls more than 1,000 students in its degree programs. We offer J.D., LL.M. and “concurrent” degrees that allow students to obtain two degrees in less time than individual programs would require.

We are currently ranked No. 55 (tied with three other Tier 1 schools) among the nearly 200 law schools in the United States, and we are one of only eight public law schools that offer multiple nationally ranked specialty programs.

As the cost of all graduate education continues to climb, the Law Center is distinguished by relatively modest tuition – especially for in-state students.

The Law Center is truly a “global” school and is well-connected with the international legal and education communities. The international activities of our faculty include visiting professorships, publications in foreign journals, and participation in international symposia and conferences. Click here for more information on our Global Achievements.

We have an outstanding faculty assisted by a large and experienced group of adjunct professors. Since 2004, our faculty have written nearly 80 books and published nearly 200 articles in leading law journals and other publications.

The Law Center has more than 13,000 alumni, and about 56% of them live in the greater Houston area.

More than 700 Law Center alumni belong to our Order of the Coif chapter, an honorary scholastic society that recognizes high achievement among law school graduates. Click here to learn more about the Order of the Coif.

Our O’Quinn Law Library includes more than 435,000 volumes, and meets legal information needs with an extensive collection of electronic and traditional resources.

Eight special programs and institutes add depth to our curriculum. The list includes:

• Blakely Advocacy Institute *
• Center for Children, Law & Policy
• Center for Consumer Law
• Criminal Justice Institute
• Center for Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Law
• Health Law & Policy Institute *
• Institute for Higher Education Law & Governance
• Institute for Intellectual Property & Information Law *
  *nationally ranked by US News & World Report

The Law Center offers seven combined and concurrent degree programs. The programs and their affiliated institutions include:

• J.D./M.D. (Baylor College of Medicine)
• J.D./M.B.A. (University of Houston)
• J.D./M.A. in History (University of Houston)
• J.D./M.S.W. (University of Houston)
• J.D./M.P.H. (University of Texas School of Public Health)
• J.D./Ph.D. in Medical Humanities (University of Texas Medical Branch)
• J.D./Ph.D. in Criminal Justice (Sam Houston State University)

Our upper-division students can participate in a number of clinical programs under the supervision of clinical faculty, thereby earning invaluable skills while serving audiences that require assistance. Available options include:

• Civil Clinic
• Civil Practice Clinic
• Criminal Practice Clinic
• Consumer Law Clinic
• Domestic Violence Clinic
• Immigration Clinic
• Juvenile Defense Clinic
• Mediation Clinic
• Transactional Clinic

Accreditation

The Law Center operates with the approval of the American Bar Association and the Supreme Court of Texas, is a member of the Association of American Law Schools, and has a chapter of the Order of the Coif, the national legal scholastic honor society.