Student Affairs

Orientation and Counseling

The Law School is firmly committed to the "open door" policy in faculty-student relations. From the first academic contact during orientation until graduation, the faculty is available for consultation with respect to the course of study, problems of general scholarship, and other matters relating to the student's progress in school. With a low student-faculty ratio, each student has abundant opportunities for extensive personal contact with the faculty.

Professional Enrichment

Legal educators agree that student development is greatly aided by professional experiences outside the classroom and by frequent and varied contacts with those actively practicing law.

Advanced students may become adjunct members of the Lubbock County Bar Association. All students are encouraged to attend meetings of the association and various continuing legal education programs in which the Law School takes an active part. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh District of Texas sits in the courtroom of the Law School once each semester. The United States Tax Court holds sessions here each year. In addition, various state agencies have held hearings in the school. Students are welcome to observe these proceedings and also to visit any of the courts in Lubbockfederal, state, county, and municipal.

Board of Barristers

The Board of Barristers is a student organization responsible for promoting and administering numerous programs designed to develop a wide range of lawyering skills--courtroom advocacy, brief writing, client interviewing and counseling, and negotiation. Among the board's responsibilities are administering interschool and interscholastic moot court, mock trial negotiations, and client counseling competitions; presenting skills clinics and workshops; preparing and administering the first year advocacy seminars; presenting mock trial demonstrations to various school groups; judging high school mock trial competitions; and providing support for the trial advocacy classes. Members of the board are selected from advanced students who have demonstrated competence in advocacy, counseling, and related activities and who are interested in assisting other students in improving their skills.

The Board of Barristers Association includes members of all former boards of the Texas Tech Law School. Through the association, the present board keeps former members informed of the status of interschool competition teams and interschool oral advocacy activities.

In addition, the board assists in selecting members of the interschool teams that compete across the country.

Several prestigious Texas firms have contributed generously to the support of the competitions and teams:

Tom Hall 1982 (Ft. Worth)Spring Moot Court
Jackson & Walker (Dallas)Fall Moot Court
Kemp, Smith, Duncan & Hammond (El Paso)Fall Mock Trial
Brian Loncar 1987 (Dallas)Negotiation
Mehaffy & Weber (Beaumont)First Year Mock Trial
Mounce & Galatzan (El Paso)First Year Moot Court
Scott, Hulse, Marshall, Feuille, Finger & Thurmond (El Paso)Spring Mock Trial

Asian-American Law Students Association

The Asian-American Law Students Association (AALSA) promotes the professional needs and goals of Asian-American law students. The organization serves as a support group and instills in the Asian-American law student a greater awareness of the needs in the Asian community. AALSA is open to all law students.

Black Law Students Association

The Black Law Students Association (BLSA)open to all law school studentsattempts to focus on the many aspects of being an African American law student. The organization tries to recruit African Americans and help them adjust to law school and life in West Texas.

By being a viable working organization on campus, BLSA hopes to expand and enhance the student body's knowledge of African Americans.

Christian Legal Society

The Christian Legal Society (CLS) promotes spiritual growth and fellowship among Christian law students and provides a Christian foundation for the practice of law. Activities to further these objectives include Bible studies, faculty led seminars, meetings with prominent Christian lawyers and judges, and social events. Any student who desires to contribute to the goals of CLS is eligible for membership.

Criminal Trial Lawyers Association

The Criminal Trial Lawyers Association (CTLA) promotes the interests of students who intend to practice in the field of criminal law. Its purposes include the encouragement of professional growth of students to develop the prosecution and defense skills of the membership, to assist members in joining other state and national associations devoted to criminal defense and prosecution, and to provide the opportunity to network with professionals in the practice of criminal prosecution and defense at both the federal and state levels.

Environmental Law Society

This organization provides informational programs in the areas of environmental and natural resource law, and to afford opportunities for students to regularly meet and discuss issues in these areas. An environmental law job seminar is held annually to inform students of opportunities to practice in the area. National and state meetings may be attended by members to increase their knowledge of environmental law and meet students in Environmental Law Societies from Texas and around the United States. All students at Texas Tech are eligible for membership.

Federalist Society

The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies consists of legal practitioners and law students interested in the current state of the legal order. It is founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be. The society seeks both to promote an awareness of these principles and to further their application through its activities.

The society works to reorder priorities within the legal system to place a premium on individual liberty and the rule of law. The society strives to encourage serious consideration of constitutional issues and the legal order by promoting scholarly debate. Organization activities stress the pervasive influence of constitutional issues and their effect on everyday events. It is not the viewpoint that is emphasized, but the concept of free and open debate between different perspectives concerning important issues. Only by realizing the importance of the Constitution and the ideals it represents can citizens guarantee the Constitution's continued success as the foundation of our republican government.

Fraternities

The Law School has active chapters of three professional legal fraternitiesDelta Theta Phi, Phi Alpha Delta, and Phi Delta Phi. Activities of the fraternities consist of professional development, school and community related services, and various social functions.

International Law Society

The International Law Society (ILS) provides information to law students in practical areas of international law and transactions and promotes awareness in the Law School community of this increasingly important area of practice. In recent years, Texas has seen a dramatic increase in international transactions thereby creating new opportunities for Texas attorneys. ILS concentrates on the areas of law and practice common in Texas that are international in scope. Such areas include banking, real estate, taxation, trade and investment with Mexico and Latin America, oil and gas, export-import, intellectual property, high-tech industry, and arbitration and litigation. Through guest speakers, an ILS library, and various informational sources, ILS assists students in identifying potential areas of international legal practice. ILS has also proposed school participation in Jessup International Moot Court and course work in international business transactions.

Law Review

The Law Review is a professional legal journal managed and edited by second- and third-year law students. The Law Review publishes both student-written notes and comments on various areas of the law and articles by professors, judges, and practicing attorneys. Membership in the Law Review is a recognition of superior academic achievement and a unique educational opportunity.

The top-ranked first-year students are invited to join the Law Review. In addition, two write-on competitions allow all students an opportunity to be selected to the Law Review. An elected editorial board governs the organization's operations. The presiding third-year editorial board elects the editorial board for the following year from among the second-year members.

The principal responsibility of Law Review members is to produce two publishable articles on a current legal problem. Their work is done under the supervisi on of the student editorial board, with the assistance of a faculty sponsor. The editorial board members supervise the second-year work and select and edit the professional articles.

Legal Computer Society

The Legal Computer Society (LCS) was established to operate and maintain the Lawline computer bulletin board system, to promote the awareness and use of computers in the legal profession, and to educate members in how the emergence of computers in society affects the law.

Legal Research Board

The Legal Research Board (LRB) is a student organization that offers practicing attorneys services similar to those of a briefing staff. The board methodically researches requested legal topics and then compiles the information in a memorandum of law. Board membership includes only select second and third year students proficient in research and writing. This service is a valuable research tool for the practitioner, but is also an educational experience to the legal training of Texas Tech law students.

Mexican American Law Students Association

The Mexican American Law Students Association (MALSA) is a new organization that was formed to better serve the needs and goals of Mexican American law students at Texas Tech. MALSA objectives include recruiting and retaining Mexican Americans, student support, job placement, and involvement in community projects.

MALSA participates in the following activities: Mexican American Speaker Series, employment forum, recruitment trips, accepted students phone banking week, forming an alumni directory, elementary school mentoring program, and various social events.

Minority Law Students Association

The Minority Law Students Association (MLSA) encourages minority students to pursue a legal career and promotes the interests of minority students already enrolled. MLSA schedules speakers who represent minority interests, cooperates with community organizations on projects relating to minority groups, works with the Admissions Committee to encourage minority student applications to Law School, and provides social events for its members.

Omega Lambda Phi

Omega Lambda Phi is an organization of older law students. Target audiences are professionals returning to school for a legal education, students who are also parents, and older students in general. The group's goal is to support students who have experienced more in life than four years of college and who consequently have broader interests than traditional students.

The group attempts to meet the special social needs of older students, provide enhanced job search opportunities, and deal with problems of child care, divorce, single parenting, financial obligations, and housing.

Student Academic Support Services

Student Academic Support Services (SASS) is a student organization focusing on helping first year students adjust to law school. SASS sponsors "how to" programs on topics such as taking exams, handling stress, class preparation, summer jobs, and class scheduling. Both professors and students speak at the "how to" programs (held during the fall and spring) and offer their tips and advice on how to succeed in law school.

SASS also sponsors a mentor program that matches first year students with second and third year students. The program provides "first years" with friends who can guide them through the challenging first year of law school.

Texas Aggie Bar Association

The Texas Aggie Bar Association was founded in 1996 on two principles: to aid the administration in recruiting graduates of Texas A&M University to the Texas Tech School of Law and to bring together former students of Texas A&M who are currently enrolled at Texas Tech School of Law for the purposes of assistance and fellowship.

We also carry out the traditions of Texas A&M University by joining with the local alumni organization to help bring events such as Aggie Muster to Lubbock. The organization is active in various community services, and all students are encouraged to participate.

The Texas Bank Lawyer

The Texas Bank Lawyer (TBL) is an organization comprised of students with an interest in commercial law and banking. The organization works with the Texas Association of Bank Counsel to publish their newsletter, The Texas Bank Lawyer.

Through TBL's weekly meetings, the student is exposed to discussions of current cases and developments in banking law. Students also contribute written materials for publication in the monthly newsletter and provide a service to bank attorneys statewide by reading recent court cases and preparing concise overviews of the opinions.

Texas Tech Student Bar Association

The Texas Tech Student Bar Association (SBA) was organized to promote the objectives of the legal profession and the law student's transition into the profession. Its membership encompasses the entire student body and its elected officers act as the law school student government. All students are eligible to participate in SBA activities and to attend the regular meetings of officers. Officers are selected by school-wide election at various points throughout the academic year and serve as the voice of the SBA in all official matters.

The SBA engages in a variety of activities designed to enhance the educational and social experience of law students. The association sponsors speakers who discuss issues important to the law student and listen and act upon the concerns of law students and administration. It serves as a vital link of communication between administration, faculty, and the student body. It provides a variety of services, including a nonprofit bookstore and funding of student organizations. Dues-paying members also receive special privileges such as the ability to cash personal checks and sell textbooks in the SBA bookstore and discounts to various law school functions. All students are encouraged to participate and have a direct voice in theirexperience at Texas Tech School of Law.

Texas Tech University Law Partners

All persons involved in the lives of law students are encouraged to join TTU Law Partners. The organization offers a variety of social and service activities for the "partners" and gives the students a chance to break away from the books. TTU Law Partners work not only to provide support for their students, but also to support the entire student population and provide general assistance to the Law School. Most importantly, the organization provides its members with the opportunity to meet other people with similar concerns such as housing, child care, and employment needs, as well as learning how to deal with the pressures of living with a law student.

Volunteer Law Students Association

VLSA works in conjunction with West Texas Legal Services to provide legal assistance to indigent members of the Lubbock community. Students participate in trimonthly pro bono clinics where they are provided with the unique opportunity to interview clients and examine pending legal disputes. Students may also work under the supervision of volunteer attorneys in the preparation of cases for trial or settlement.

Although students receive no academic credit or monetary compensation, the program maintains wide student support and involvement.

Women in Law

Women in Law (WIL) encourages women to participate fully in the legal profession. Its speaker series is designed to benefit all students, and membership is open to both men and women.

Women in Law serves as the forum for discussing issues affecting women in Law School and in their law careers. Members may attend seminars at the state and local levels.


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Page Maintained by: Cheryl Hedlund

Page Administrator: Gale Richardson

LAST UPDATE: 7-1-97

Jan 21, 2020