After 12 years following its creation by the Texas legislature, the University of North Texas Dallas College of Law has been fully accredited by the American Bar Association, The Texas Lawbook has learned from multiple sources.
Those sources say that the school received notification late Friday that the Council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar had approved the school after a final presentation before the Council by school officials last Friday in San Diego.
The school had been operating since 2017 under provisional accreditation, the year of its first graduation. Created by legislation in 2000, it didn’t accept its first class until 2014.
UNTD president Bob Mong wouldn’t confirm the decision, which sources say will be formally announced on Monday, but he said last week’s meeting with the ABA had been encouraging in tone.
“It’s been a long, hard road to get to this moment. It involved a lot of work by a lot of good people,” Mong said.
“I just think this is so spectacular,” said Royal Furgeson, the retired federal judge who was UNT Law’s founding dean.
Furgeson said he saw several of his former students earlier today at the bench-bar meeting for the Northern District of Texas. “They are licensed and doing well,” he said, and that would not have happened but for UNTD.
“It is a very special day for all of us in the UNT family — with special thanks to Dean Felicia Epps— who finished the job) and especially for those students, who are now practicing lawyers. Overjoyed.”
UNTD Law was created as the first public law school in Dallas. The school’s curriculum emphasizes real-world legal experience, an approach that was considered novel and somewhat outside the more classical and theoretical law school experience. Because of that approach, the school had to overcome a measure of residual skepticism during the accreditation process.
Upon hearing the news Chief Justice Nathan Hecht of the Texas Supreme Court reaffirmed his endorsement of that approach.
“The final accreditation of UNT Dallas College of Law by national monitors is vindication of its vision and the effectiveness of its mission to provide a lower-cost legal education to so many students interested in public service and providing legal services to those of limited means. The Supreme Court of Texas has supported UNT Dallas from its beginnings. Now it’s a model for the country. Hurrah!”
As word of the accreditation spread, local lawyers said they were excited by the news.
Nicole Williams is managing partner at Thompson Coburn’s Dallas office. The firm has hired four graduates from the school and takes particular pleasure in the pending announcement, she said.
“This is a great accomplishment for a relatively new law school, and it is gratifying to see the ABA recognize the work put in by the administration, the professors, and the students. I have worked with so many talented students, and now talented lawyers, in my capacity as a moot court coach, adjunct professor, and employer. I encourage the whole Dallas legal community to continue to embrace this school and its students, as well as its emphasis on community support and diversity.”
Randy Block, a Dallas-based recruiter, said the accreditation will be a major boost for the school, but the effects may take time.
“Without accreditation, a law school’s grads are considerably less marketable,” Block said “I recall in the 1990s that Texas Wesleyan Law — now Texas A&M — had real trouble getting jobs for their grads when they were not yet accredited. Today, that law school is highly ranked and its grads are now competing for some top law firm jobs. UNTD will not (see) immediate positive results, but this will be a boon in time,” said Block.
Derek Lipscombe, manager counsel at Toyota Motors North American and past president of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter, added his congratulations to the school.
“This recognition by the ABA is so well-deserved, and reflects the hard work by the administration, the teachers and most importantly the students over the past years. To have another ABA-accredited law school in DFW will allow more students from the area to truly consider staying home and thus further raising the bar for the legal community,” Lipscombe said. “In addition, UNT-Dallas Law provides more opportunities for students to pursue careers in public service as public defenders, prosecutors and attorneys for pro-bono and other non-profits than any other law school in the state.”
Furgeson, who has forged yet another career in mediation, also reflected on the darker days of the process, particularly 2016, when the ABA had turned down the school for accreditation.
“We had several existential moments, especially early on with the ABA, when everything hung in the balance and when our very future was in doubt. Our students could have justifiably walked away,” Furgeson said. “If they had, it would have doomed us. But they didn’t, and that secured our destiny. They were brave, undaunted and fearless. I will never forget them, and I will always be grateful to them.”
Although the formal announcement will not be until Monday Ferguson seemed obliged to respond on behalf of those who will, no doubt, respond later.
“Full ABA accreditation for UNT Dallas College of Law means so much to so many. When I think about how hard the journey has been, I think about those who stood with us through some of our darkest days, especially when provisional accreditation hung in the balance: our state legislators, Senator Royce West and Representative Dan Branch; the Justices of the Texas Supreme Court; UNT Chancellor Emeritus Lee Jackson; UNT Dallas President Bob Mong; UNT Dallas Provost Betty Stewart; UNT Vice Chancellor Rosemary Haggett; UNT General Counsel Nancy Footer; and the Dallas bench and bar. Most of all, however, I think about our students, our faculty — especially our first Academic Dean Ellen Pryor — and our staff, who never faltered when bad news engulfed us.”
Note: This post has been updated to clarify the establishment of UNT Dallas College of Law by the Texas legislature, which occurred in 2009. An earlier version referred to the establishment of UNT Dallas itself. Moreover, the school was notified by email, not by telephone. The Lawbook regrets the error.
Brooks Igo, Mark Curriden and Osler McCarthy contributed to this report.