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Oklahoma City University School of Law

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Coordinates: 35°28′32″N 97°31′00″W / 35.4756°N 97.5166°W / 35.4756; -97.5166
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Oklahoma City University
School of Law
MottoVeritas Ecclesia Cognitio
(Truth, Church, Knowledge)
Established1907
School typePrivate
Endowment$ 80.5 million[1]
DeanDavid Holt
LocationOklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
Enrollment469[2]
Faculty33[2]
USNWR ranking150 (USNWR)[3]
Bar pass rate57.34%[4]
Websitelaw.okcu.edu
ABA profileOCU Law Profile

Oklahoma City University School of Law, also known as OCU Law, is the law school of Oklahoma City University. OCU Law is located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was founded in 1907. OCU Law was located in the Sarkeys Law Center on the southwest side of the Oklahoma City University campus until spring 2015, when it moved to a new campus near downtown Oklahoma City.

The Chickasaw Nation Law Library at OCU Law houses a collection of more than 300,000 volume and volume equivalents, and is open to the public. OCU Law has been accredited by the ABA since 1960 and has been a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 2003.[5][6]

The 2023-2024 edition of U.S. News & World Report's Best Law Schools ranked OCU Law as #150 (out of a total of 175 ranked, with 180-196 being "rank not published").[3] The 2022 edition of U.S. News & World Report's Best Law Schools listed OCU Law as a 4th Tier Law School ranked #147-193 among 204 ABA accredited schools.[7][8] In 2023, preLaw Magazine ranked OCU Law in the top 5 schools for Native American and in the top 50 most diverse law schools.[9] In 2023, the Princeton Review ranked OCU Law in the top 10 law schools Most Chosen by Older Students and included OCU Law on its list of Best Law Schools.

According to OCU Law's 2021 ABA-required disclosures, 91.5% of the Class of 2021 were employed nine months after graduation and 86% of the class was employed in bar passage required or J.D. advantage positions.[10]

History

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The law school has educated judges, political figures and founders of prestigious private law firms. Due to its long tradition of providing evening and part-time schedule options, the law school has also produced highly successful business leaders, particularly in the real estate, engineering, and oil and gas industries. The student body commonly includes medical doctors, university professors, military officers, and professionals from other fields. The School of Law is a member of the Association of American Law Schools and has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1960.

The current dean of Oklahoma City University School of Law is David Holt, who also serves as the Mayor of Oklahoma City and took over during the Fall of 2023. The previous Dean was Jim Roth, former member of Oklahoma Corporation Commission. His predecessor Dean Valerie Couch was a former federal U.S. Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, who succeeded Lawrence Hellman, who succeeded Rennard Strickland, a noted legal historian and former Dean of the University of Oregon School of Law, and the Honorable Robert Harlan Henry, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

List of Former Deans

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Name Term Notes No.
C.B. Ames 1907-1910 Judge[11] 1
Roger Stephens 1952-1957 2
John G. Hervey 1957-1968 3
Ted Foster 1968-1973 4
Richard E. Coulson 1974-1976 5
Edward Palmer 1977-1981 6
William Brian Martin 1982-1983 7
Stuart S. Strasner 1984-1991 8
Robert H. Henry 1991-1994 Tenth Circuit Judge 9
Rennard Strickland 1995-1997 10
Lawrence K. Hellman 1998-2011 11
Valerie K. Couch 2012-2017 First Female Dean 12
James A. Roth 2018-2023 13
David F. Holt 2023- 14

Publications at the Oklahoma City University School of Law

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Students of the Juris Doctor (JD) program are involved in preparing and publishing:

  • Oklahoma City University Law Review - The Law Review is published twice a year. It has been published for more than 40 years and includes articles from professors, practitioners, judges, and OCU Law students. The OCU Law Review provides the opportunity for students to write and edit scholarly articles while being exposed to viewpoints and commentaries written by authors from the United States, as well as internationally. Membership is highly selective and third-year members have the opportunity to serve on the Law Review’s Board of Editors. Service on the law review is an integral part of the educational experience for those students selected for it. In recent years, the law review has published symposia on topics of importance to Oklahoma practitioners. The OCU Law Review is ranked in the first tier of law journals according to the Global Jurist.[12]
  • Oklahoma Tribal Court Reports
  • Conference on Consumer Finance Quarterly Report

Academics

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The School of Law offers Juris Doctor programs for full-time and part-time students. In addition, Oklahoma City University School of Law offers students the ability to obtain a joint J.D./M.B.A., a joint J.D./M.A. in Nonprofit Organizations and Leadership and a J.D./M.P.A degree.

Programs

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Oklahoma Innocence Project

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The Oklahoma Innocence Project (OIP) at Oklahoma City University School of Law is the only Innocence Clinic in the state. Students in the Oklahoma Innocence Clinic work as part of the Innocence Project to identify and rectify wrongful convictions by conducting investigations and making recommendations regarding litigation. Students draft pleadings, motions, briefs, and appear in court to obtain post-conviction relief for the clinic’s clients. Students in the clinic participate in weekly meetings devoted to training and case assessment.

American Indian Law & Sovereignty Center

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The American Indian Law & Sovereignty Center is an academic law and policy center focusing on the complexities of American Indian law and tribal law. The Sovereignty Center provides services for tribal governments and stakeholders and offers direct legal services to individuals through the American Indian Wills Clinic.

Under the supervision of a faculty clinician, students in the Wills Clinic provide wills and estate planning services to American Indians owning trust or restricted property in Oklahoma. Clinic students are primarily responsible for all case-related work including fact gathering, developing legal theories, and initial document drafting. During the semester, students are expected to provide legal services for an average of 6 to 10 hours per week outside of class time. The classroom component complements students’ fieldwork.

The Collaborative: Law Clinic for Business and Innovation

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Students, under close faculty supervision, provide legal assistance in a variety of early-stage legal matters, including entity formation, contract drafting and review, intellectual property protection, and other transactional matters to business startups, entrepreneurs, and community nonprofit organizations to help them establish successful for profit and nonprofit enterprises. The clinic targets entrepreneurs and innovators located in the underserved Oklahoma City community who are not able to afford retained legal counsel. In the clinic seminar, students learn the substantive law and practical skills needed to effectively advise entrepreneurial clients. The clinic also looks closely at broader ethical considerations around power dynamics, advising businesses about adopting a business strategy that focuses on the three pillars of the environment, social, and governance (ESG), and having a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

Norick Municipal Law Research Clinic

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The Norick Municipal Law Research Clinic, in partnership with the City of Oklahoma City’s Municipal Counselor’s Office, provides students an opportunity to explore and research municipal law. Students are paired with attorney mentors and research issues handled by the office, including criminal justice, civil litigation, labor and employment, land use and economic development, trusts, utilities, elections, and finance. Students develop professional skills through live client meetings, in-depth research, and drafting formal research memoranda. The semester-long experience culminates with a client presentation where students present and discuss their research findings.

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A staggering 200 families face eviction in Oklahoma County every week. Many of these families have limited knowledge of their rights as tenants and many do not have access to an attorney before reaching Oklahoma County’s Forcible Entry and Detainer docket. OCU Law has received a generous grant from the Oklahoma Bar Foundation to create HELP.

HELP was created to provide pro bono legal assistance to those facing either lease disputes with a landlord or eviction by informing them about their procedural and substantive rights and detouring them from facing the consequences of eviction. The program is directed by attorney Richard M. Klinge. OCU Law students who have a community-driven work ethic are recruited to help these families while gaining experience with basic legal skills.

Externship program

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Oklahoma City University School of Law's prime location downtown leads to numerous opportunities for students to discover new and interesting aspects of the law through 80-plus externship sites. New sites are added regularly and each site has multiple placements. The School of Law offers five different externship focus areas: Corporate Counsel, Government Practice, Judicial, Litigation Practice and Native American.[13]

Employment

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[needs update] According to OCU Law's official 2021 ABA-required disclosures, 91.5% of the Class of 2021 was employed in some capacity.[14]

Costs

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[needs update] Tuition at Oklahoma City University School of Law is $1,065 per credit hour. Other expenses include: general fees, parking and security fee, Student Bar Association fee, Installment Plan Fee, Installment Finance Fee and a Finance Fee.[15]

Notable alumni and students

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Name Class Accomplishments
Hannah Diggs Atkins 1985 Secretary of State for the State of Oklahoma, Civil Rights Leader[16]
Deborah Barnes 1983 Judge, Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals 2008–Present
Michael D. Brown[17] 1981 Director and Administrator of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Jeff Cloud 1991 Elected commissioner of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission 2004–2011[18]
Brandon Creighton[19][20] 1998 Member of the Texas House of Representatives from his native Montgomery County in the Houston suburbs
Mickey Edwards[21] 1969 US Representative from Oklahoma's 5th district who served from 1973-1993. Also, an author, political commentator, and professor.
Enoch Kelly Haney[22] 1964 Principal Chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
Carol Hansen[23] 1974 Judge, Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals 1985–Present
Elizabeth A. Hayden[24] 1980 District Judge for Stearns County, Minnesota 1986–2009
David Holt[25] 2009 Oklahoma City Mayor 2018–Present and Dean of OCU Law, 2023-Present
Ernest Istook[26] 1976 US Representative from Oklahoma's 5th district who served from 1993–2006 and the Oklahoma Republican gubernatorial nominee in 2006
Yvonne Kauger[27] 1969 Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Oklahoma 1984–Present
Todd Lamb[28] 2005 Lt. Governor of Oklahoma 2011–Present
Richard Lerblance[29] 1979 Senator from District 7 of the Oklahoma State Senate 2003–Present
Johnston Murray 1946 14th Governor of the State of Oklahoma[30]
Marian P. Opala[31] 1953 Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Oklahoma 1978–2010
T. W. Shannon 2002 First African-American Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives (42nd Speaker)[32]
James R. Winchester[33] 1977 Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Oklahoma 2007–Present
Andrew Benton 1979 President, Pepperdine University 2000–2019
Bob Burke[34] 1979 Legal historian and author, former Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce
Barry Grissom 1981 U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas 2010–2016, founder of Kansas Civil Rights Symposium
Sandra Mitchell 1997 Deputy Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for UNRWA 2014–2020
Rick Rescorla 1975 Evacuated over 2,700 people from the World Trade Center's south tower on 9/11
Jim Roth 1994 Oklahoma Corporation Commission 2007–2009, Oklahoma County Commissioner 2002–2007, first openly LGBT person to hold a statewide elected office in Oklahoma, Dean of OCU Law 2018–2023
Carl Alexandre 1984 Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) 2013–present
Robert J. Troester[35] 1987 U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, 2022–present
Hannah Atkins 2000 Member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives 1968–1980; first African-American woman elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives
Vicki Behenna[36] 1984 District Attorney of Oklahoma County, former Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, and former Executive Director of the Oklahoma Innocence Project at OCU Law[37]
Ronald Lloyd Howland[38] 1964 U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (1978-2008), and the judge who presided over the arraignment, preliminary hearing and detention hearing for Timothy McVeigh[38]
Gary M. Purcell[39] 1975 U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (1992-2023), and longest active serving U.S. Magistrate Judge in the history of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit[39]
Kimberly E. West[40] 1983 U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, 2005-Present; 1990-1996, Judge of the Oklahoma Workers Compensation Court
Jason A. Robertson[41] 1997 U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, 2022-Present
Ronald C. Griffin[42] 1999 U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, 2018-Present
Joseph A. Cordova[43] 1992 U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, 2023-Present

References

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  1. ^ Law School Almanac - 2008 Endowments retrieved on 6-6-2009.
  2. ^ a b 2014 Standard 509 Information Report - Oklahoma City University
  3. ^ a b U.S. News & World Report, Best Law Schools 2023-2024, Oklahoma City University School of Law
  4. ^ "Bar Exam Statistics | the Oklahoma Board of Bar Examiners (OKBBE)".
  5. ^ LSAC profile, ABA "OCU Law". LSAC.org . retrieved on 2-8-2010
  6. ^ AALS member schools "Listing AALS member schools". AALS. retrieved 2-8-2010
  7. ^ 3,4 rankings Top Law Schools retrieved on 1-20-2009.
  8. ^ "Oklahoma City University". usnews.com. U.S. News & World Report L.P. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Rankings - Nationaljurist". 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  10. ^ "Employment Summary for 2014 graduates" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-01-13.
  11. ^ OCU Law, History, https://law.okcu.edu/about/history/
  12. ^ Journal Rankings "Ranking the law journals" . Global Jurist. retrieved on 2-4-2010.
  13. ^ "Externship Placement Sites - Oklahoma City University School of Law". Law.okcu.edu. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
  14. ^ "Standard 509 Consumer Data". Oklahoma City University School of Law. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  15. ^ "Tuition & Fees - Oklahoma City University School of Law". Law.okcu.edu. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
  16. ^ "Hannah Diggs Atkins Collection Papers, 1950 to 1992". Archived from the original on March 24, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  17. ^ "Michael D. Brown". Notable Names Data Base. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  18. ^ "Jeff Cloud". Archived from the original on December 9, 2006. Retrieved February 9, 2007.
  19. ^ "Brandon Creighton's Biography". votesmart.org. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  20. ^ "Brandon Creighton". loopnet.com. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  21. ^ "Mickey Edwards". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  22. ^ "Enoch Kelly Haney". Oklahoma Arts Conference. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  23. ^ "Carol Hansen". 2010 Oklahoma Bar Association. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  24. ^ "Elizabeth A. Hayden". Minnesota Judicial Branch. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  25. ^ "David Holt". oklahoma state legislature. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  26. ^ "Ernest Istook". Notable Names Data Base. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  27. ^ "Yvonne Kauger". The Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  28. ^ "Todd Lamb". © 2013 The State of Oklahoma. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  29. ^ "Richard Lerblance". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  30. ^ "Johnston Murray". National Governors Association. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  31. ^ "Marian P. Opala". The Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  32. ^ McNutt, Michael. "T.W. Shannon of Lawton officially takes Oklahoma House speakers post," The Oklahoman, January 9, 2013 (accessed March 21, 2013).
  33. ^ "James R. Winchester". The Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  34. ^ Bob Burke
  35. ^ Robert J. Troester
  36. ^ Vicki Behenna
  37. ^ "Alum Named OKIP Director". LAW Magazine, Going the Distance (Summer 2016). Oklahoma City University School of Law: 14–15.
  38. ^ a b "Obituaries, Ronald Lloyd Howland". The Oklahoman.
  39. ^ a b Brian D. King (2023-11-13). "Judge Gary Purcell dies at 72, is remembered by colleagues". The Norman Transcript.
  40. ^ Kimberly E. West
  41. ^ Jason A. Robertson
  42. ^ Ronald C. Griffin
  43. ^ Joseph A. Cordova
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35°28′32″N 97°31′00″W / 35.4756°N 97.5166°W / 35.4756; -97.5166

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