South Texas College of Law Houston offers a comprehensive Juris Doctor (JD) program focused on practical legal education, preparing students for the Texas Bar Exam and diverse legal careers. The curriculum emphasizes hands-on learning through clinics, externships, and moot court competitions.
- Constitutional Law: Explores the U.S. Constitution, federalism, separation of powers, and individual rights, including landmark Supreme Court cases and contemporary issues like free speech and equal protection.
- Contracts: Covers formation, performance, breach, and remedies in contract law, with analysis of common law principles, UCC Article 2, and modern doctrines like promissory estoppel.
- Torts: Examines intentional torts, negligence, strict liability, and damages, including defenses and policy considerations in areas like products liability and medical malpractice.
- Criminal Law: Studies elements of crimes, mens rea, actus reus, defenses such as insanity and self-defense, and the criminal justice process from investigation to sentencing.
- Property: Addresses real and personal property rights, estates in land, landlord-tenant law, conveyancing, and intellectual property basics.
- Civil Procedure: Details jurisdiction, venue, pleadings, discovery, motions, trials, and appeals under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Texas rules.
- Evidence: Focuses on relevancy, hearsay exceptions, character evidence, privileges, and expert testimony admissibility.
- Professional Responsibility: Reviews ethical rules for lawyers, including confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and competence under the ABA Model Rules and Texas Disciplinary Rules.
- Business Associations: Covers agency, partnerships, corporations, LLCs, securities regulation, and fiduciary duties.
- Family Law: Discusses marriage, divorce, child custody, support, adoption, and domestic violence protections.
- International Law: Introduces treaties, customary international law, human rights, and trade agreements.
- Environmental Law: Examines statutes like the Clean Air Act, NEPA, and climate change litigation.
- Intellectual Property: Surveys patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.
- Taxation: Basics of federal income tax, deductions, credits, and business taxes.
- Immigration Law: Covers visas, deportation, asylum, and citizenship processes.
The program also includes electives in areas like health law, energy law, and cybersecurity law, reflecting Houston's economic landscape. Upper-level courses build on foundations with seminars on negotiation, mediation, and trial advocacy. Clinics provide real-world experience in criminal defense, immigration, and consumer law. The curriculum totals 90 credit hours over three years, with part-time options available. Faculty, many practicing attorneys, integrate Texas-specific law throughout. Graduates achieve high bar passage rates, with opportunities for joint degrees in business or healthcare administration.
