Founded in 1883, The University of Texas School of Law is one of the oldest law schools in the nation. With an enrollment of fourteen hundred Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) degree candidates, the University of Texas School of Law is also one of the nation's largest law schools. In addition, the Law School offers a Master of Laws (LLM) program for graduates of foreign law schools, and another for American lawyers on doing business in Latin-America. Long recognized as one of the nation's leading law schools, it continues a rich tradition of educational excellence.
The University of Texas is a national school. The training received, and the courses offered, provide the necessary legal education for practice in any part of the United States. Legal positions with government, public service organizations, leading corporations, and law firms, throughout Texas, the nation, and the world, are available to its graduates. Graduates, including former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III, former U.S. Ambassador Robert S. Strauss, former Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Reynaldo Garza, U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Secretary of Energy Federico Peña, Mayor Ron Kirk of Dallas, Presidential Advisor Paul Begala, and cartoonist Sam Hurt, have realized distinguished careers outside the traditional practice of law. In 2006, more than 500 legal employer offices participated in on-campus interviews (OCI) and nationwide job fairs. More than 60% of out-of-state employers participated in Fall OCI. Approximately one quarter of the school's 19,000 living alumni practice law outside Texas.
Although a majority of our students are Texas residents, over one-third graduated from a college or university outside of Texas. In fact, more than 250 undergraduate institutions and 45 states plus Washington D.C. are represented in the student body. Aggressive recruiting efforts coupled with the dramatic increase in the number of highly competitive applicants have resulted in a diverse and academically distinguished student body.