Advancing tomorrow’s legal leaders
Dedman School of Law
Empowering excellence
Dedman Law empowers our law school community by providing a rich educational experience for its students, pro bono legal representation for underserved clients through its clinical program, and a robust resource for the legal and business sectors. Our alumni lead international law firms, serve as CEOs and general counsels to some of the nation’s largest corporations, and serve as judges and public servants across the globe. Our faculty members are award-winning professors and instructors, nationally recognized attorneys and legal scholars engaged in influential, cutting-edge research, committed to their students’ success.
Make an impact
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Fuel the future of Dedman Law
When you give to the SMU Fund for Dedman Law, you help support our most urgent priorities and our highest-impact initiatives. By joining other generous donors, you are investing in the future of legal education for our nation and world. Consider providing the unrestricted resources required to address current funding needs, including the Association for Public Interest Law (APIL), the Board of Advocates, and judicial and public interest externships.
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Empower student scholarships
Your support for scholarships strategically positions Dedman Law to effectively attract and compete for the best and brightest students. Whether you choose to make a current gift, establish an endowment or combine both for maximum impact, your giving helps us reduce the debt burdens many of our students face when starting their careers. With your help, we are seeing the results as more and more highly qualified and diverse students are choosing to study law at SMU.
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Spark learning from classroom to courtroom
Legal clinics expand and deepen the impact of Dedman Law in the Dallas community and beyond. Your support is essential to the success of 11 high-demand legal clinics that target specific legal areas, including civil, criminal, family, survivors of gender-based harms, patent, small business and trademark – and our newest clinic focused on the First Amend- ment. Our philosophy of legal education extends far beyond the classroom – we give our students real-world, practical experience through the clinics, our public service requirement, our robust legal externship programs and our award-winning moot court program.
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Enhance the learning experience
The classroom is the heart of the learning experience at SMU, and the most effective facilities enhance the instructional environment – where students develop the necessary skills to analyze difficult legal problems, advocate for their clients and commit to advancing the cause of justice. Built in 1924, Florence Hall no longer serves the instructional needs of a 21st-century student. Therefore, SMU is moving forward with plans to construct a new, digitally equipped classroom facility that will position Dedman Law to compete effectively with other top law schools in Texas, the United States and around the globe. This technologically empowered facility will serve as a signature feature of SMU’s main Dallas campus.
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100
corporate legal departmentshost Dedman Law students in the Corporate Counsel Externship Program
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3
academic centersDeason Criminal Justice Reform Center; Robert B. Rowling Center for Business Law and Leadership; Tsai Center for Law, Science and Innovation
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60
placements a yearin the Government and Public Interest Externship Program
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9
extern with judges in the Federal Judicial Externship Program
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2025
where, under the supervision of clinic directors, students serve as advocates for clients in many areas of the law
Create your legacy
As your current gifts support today’s greatest needs, creating an endowment or estate commitment makes a difference in perpetuity. Whether you are a graduate, parent or friend, your endowment gift establishes a permanent legacy in your area of strongest interest. Your giving helps offset the rising cost of higher education by providing a dependable source of income to meet student and faculty needs.
Create a named, endowed fund in memory or honor of a person or organization with a gift of $100,000 or more. With a similar gift, you can endow faculty positions, scholarships, fellowships and excellence funds. Just imagine what you could do. We look forward to talking with you about your philanthropic goals. Together, we can align your passions with Dedman Law’s most pressing needs to do the most good.
I am extremely grateful and appreciative for the kindness and generosity of the donors that make it possible for students like myself to have the opportunity to attend SMU Dedman School of Law. Without your support, I would not be able to attend SMU. I know that I am here because of the compassion of others.
— LaKeenya Colvin ’21, SMU Dedman School of Law, J.D.
As the premier private university in North Texas, SMU exists to shape future leaders who transform communities and organizations through ingenuity and thoughtful problem-solving. Building on our history of excellence, we have launched SMU Ignited: Boldly Shaping Tomorrow – our multiyear, $1.5 billion campaign to attract and support outstanding students and faculty, to explore new fields and cutting-edge technologies, and to positively impact Dallas and the world beyond. We invite you to join us and empower the bold, the curious and the creative to better their professions and their communities.
Blaze a new path
Clayton Ellis
Director of Development
Dedman School of Law
crellis@smu.edu or 214-768-4527