University of Tulsa, College of Law Academics
In addition to the J.D., the law school offers the LL.M. Students may take relevant courses in other programs and apply credit toward the J.D.; a maximum of 6 credits may be applied. The following joint degrees may be earned: J.D./M.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Arts in anthropology, history, psychology, and English), J.D./M.B.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration), J.D./M.S. (Juris Doctor/Master of Science in biological science, geosciences, and computer science), J.D./M.S.F. (Juris Doctor/Master of Finance), and J.D./M.TAX (Juris Doctor/ Master of Taxation).
The College of Law offers concentrations in environmental law, international law, Indian law, health law, lawyering skills, entrepreneurial law, and public policy and energy law. In addition, clinics include Immigrant Rights Project, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Legal Program, and the Social Enterprise and Economic Development (SEED) Law Project. At the University of Tulsa Boesche Legal Clinic, students represent needy clients in a variety of civil cases. All students are supervised by a faculty member, and credit is offered. Numerous seminars are offered and have a limited enrollment. Through the college’s Legal Internship Program, students may obtain practical experience gained under the supervision of practicing attorneys and the college. The Judicial Internships program offers students supervised educational experience in the Oklahoma District Court, Oklahoma Court of Appeals, U.S. District Court, U.S. Magistrate’s Office, and U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Externships and internships with certificates are offered in Health Law and Indian Law. Qualified students may pursue independent study in specific areas of the law under the supervision of law professors. Through the In-Residence Program, students meet and talk with scholars, alumni, practitioners, and judges in classes and lectures. Special lecture series include Legal Scholarship Symposium, Supreme Court Review, Buck Franklin Lecture, and the Hager Lecture. Summer institutes in law are offered in Ireland, Switzerland, China, and Argentina. Students also have the opportunity to study abroad in London for a semester. A first-year workshop focuses on study and exam skills and a third-year bar exam preparation program is available. Minority programs include Diversity Day Programs, Black Law Students Association, Hispanic Law Students Association, Native American Law Students Association, Alumni Diversity Committee, and College of Law Diversity Committee. Special interest groups include the Comparative and International Law Center, National Energy and Environmental Law, and Native American Law Center.
To earn the J.D., candidates must complete 88 total credits, of which 44 to 45 are for required courses. They must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0 in the required courses. The following first-year courses are required of all students: Civil Procedure I, Constitutional Law I, Contracts, Criminal Law and Administration, Legal Reasoning Analysis and Writing I and II, Legal Research, Property, and Torts. Required upper-level courses consist of Civil Procedure II, Constitutional Law II, electives, Evidence, Perspective and Transnational (2 courses), Professional Responsibility, Seminar (2 hours), and Skills (2 hours). The required orientation program for first-year students starts 1 week before the beginning of other courses.
In order to graduate, candidates must have a GPA of 2.0, have completed the upper-division writing requirement, and 5 hours enrichment.
The T>U> Law School won out over the Uinv. of Texas LAw School because we were homesick. The greatest failure I found while there was not letting students be aware of their class ranking. I found out only after graduating that I was 11th of a class of 252. This might have made a difference when I soke to a federal judge about working for him, but I had already decided to be a public defender, believing the indigent deserved better law students/graduates than they had been getting.The real trick to my success at T>U> came because I had attended the Iowa Writers Wrokshop for two years, graduating in a class of 15 with an M.F>A. David Morrell, the author of the Rambo sieries of novels and movies, taught Henry James there ad advised me to use my writing talent as an appellate lawyer, which I did. I had one case that modified the death sentences of 51 inmates to life without parole. I won about 80% of the 500 or more appeals I did before and after becoming Chief Public Defender. When I had to watch a client be executed, I retired. T.U. prepared me to be a public defender by stressing writing in undergraduate school and in law school. And with Morrell’s advice, I had a successful career that lasted much longer than the average for a public defender. TU also prepared me by having a real defense attorney and district attorney teach a criminal trial practice course and in making third year students work as interns in a firm. I worked as an intern in the P.D>’s Office and was hired. It was a great school, under-rated, inexpensive, and had great professors. It is much bigger now but still turns out people prepared to practice in the world of real law—not the academic law realm. I just wish they had told me my rank so I could have used it in getting a job. I would have loved being a federal clerk.