University of North Texas Law School Settles on a Location

The University of North Texas and the City of Dallas have selected a location for the proposed University of North Texas College of Law. On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council agreed to spend over $16 million renovating the old Dallas City Hall to make it the home of the “first pubic law school in North Texas.” Built in 1914, the building served as the Dallas City Hall until 1978. It is in the parking lot of this building that Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963.

While the City of Dallas and the University of North Texas prepare to open the doors of the new law school in 2010, the proposal for the new law school has yet to receive legislative approval. In April 2007, the Texas Senate approved Senate Bill 105 authorizing the creation of the school, but the measure has yet to be approved by the House. A similar measure died in the House in 2005.

The announcement comes just days after the Associated Press reported on the growth of new law schools outpacing the number of jobs available to law students. A debate hosted by Robert Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams between Dean Chemerinsky (of Duke, who heading to the new UC Irvine) and Dean Guernsey (of Albany) on the issue of whether the nation has too many law schools can be found here.