Law Students

Law school firsts: Texas A&M, St. Mary’s schools of law pay students’ memberships in SBOT’s Law Student Division
By:  Amy Starnes, Public Information Director, State Bar of Texas

As an investment in their students’ futures, Texas A&M School of Law in Fort Worth and St. Mary’s School of Law in San Antonio announced this fall that they are paying for their students to enroll in the State Bar of Texas Law Student Division.

Arturo Errisuriz, J.D., assistant dean of the office of career services at Texas A&M School of Law, said the decision was made as part of a larger effort to invest in the school’s students from the moment they enter law school.

“We want them to be part of the legal community and not wait until they pass the bar. I think often times the students wait until they get bar results,” Errisuriz said. “You need to enter the legal profession from day one and the State Bar is that.”

Dean of the St. Mary's University School of Law and the Charles E. Cantú Distinguished Professor of Law Stephen M. Sheppard, J.S.D., said the school is proud to make this effort on behalf of its students.

“The bar is the state's legal community and the source of extraordinary professional resources to its members, now to include all of St. Mary's law students. St. Mary's creates nuts-and-bolts lawyers dedicated to ethical leadership and service; the Texas Bar sustains them. It is a natural partnership," Sheppard said.

Texas Young Lawyers Association President C. Barrett Thomas said he was overjoyed at the schools’ commitment to their students’ futures.

“TYLA has a long tradition of helping law students transition into competent legal practitioners,” he said. “I think this decision shows that St. Mary's and Texas A&M are cognizant of the role TYLA plays in continuing to mentor, educate, and support young lawyers in the first years after law school. More importantly, I think it shows how committed the schools of law are to doing whatever it takes to give their students every advantage as they embark on their new legal careers."