Follow the step by step process or choose what situation that best describes you:
The American Bar Association reports that there were 89,361 resident and active attorneys practicing in Texas in 2017. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor notes that in May 2017, two metropolitan areas in Texas were among the highest-paying metropolitan areas in the country for lawyers to work. They were the Houston-The Woodlands - Sugar Land area, where lawyers averaged a mean annual salary of $174,870; and the Dallas-Plano-Irving area, where lawyers averaged a mean yearly salary of $154,490. The average lawyer in Texas at that time was making $145,800 per year. Practice areas in a state as large as Texas are numerous and include 24 areas of certification (see Step 4 below) in addition to Native American law, alternative dispute resolution, public utilities, motor vehicles and intellectual property law. If your goal is to become a member of the Texas bar and practice in one of these or another specialty area, keep reading.
The Texas Board of Law Examiners does not mandate what your undergraduate education must consist of, but because they do require that you graduate from an American Bar Association-approved law school, it follows that you must obtain at least a bachelor’s degree prior to applying to law school.
Accreditation
In order to assure your acceptance into an ABA-accredited law school after graduation, make sure that the undergraduate institution you attend is accredited by a national or regional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Requirements and Standards
Requirements and standards for undergraduate education are not mandated by the ABA. They do, however, make some recommendations on the types of training, studies and experiences that will be most helpful to you later on.
ABA-approved law schools will be looking for prospective students who have good comprehension skills, analytical abilities, reasoning skills, and the ability to think deductively, inductively and by analogies. Coursework that could help you hone these skills include English, political science, philosophy, fine arts, foreign languages, world cultures, and human behavior.
Degree Options
Again, the ABA does not state specific majors from which pre-law students should choose. Extrapolating from the above information, however, one can deduce that good majors for pre-law students include philosophy, sociology, political science, psychology, and history.
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Pre- Law Advisor
Your undergraduate institution may keep a pre-law advisor on staff. If so, make sure to consult with this valuable resource, who can help guide you in the proper courses, majors and minors you should take to best prepare you for law school.
The Texas Board of Law Examiners requires that you graduate from an ABA-approved law school in order to become a bar member. The first step in this process is to pass the LSAT, or Law School Admission Test, as this test is necessary to be admitted into any ABA-approved law school. This standardized test lasts approximately a half day and is offered four times yearly worldwide.
You should be well prepared to take the LSAT if you chose courses wisely while in undergraduate school. However, practice cannot hurt, so the LSAT website provides free study materials, like sample or past LSAT test questions and answers, to assist you in preparing for the exam. Other options for preparation include applying to take a LSAT Prep Course or seminar (at a cost) found within Texas such as:
LSAT Exam Prep Courses in Texas:
Exam content
The LSAT is administered each year in November, January, March, June and July. It consists of five timed 35-minute sections of multiple-choice questions. Two of these sections are on logical reasoning, one is on reading comprehension, and one is on analytical reasoning. The final of the five sections is the experimental section that is not counted towards your score. However, you will not know which section is the experimental section when taking the test, so pretend that every section counts. The writing section is another addition to the LSAT. While this section is not scored, the ABA-approved law schools to which you apply will see it, so make sure to spend time writing a good essay with proper grammar and spelling.
The LSAT will last three and a half hours, and you will be given a fifteen-minute break between the third and fourth sections of the test. Wrong answers will not count against you, so answer every question, even if you are unsure of the answer. Your score will fall within the range of 120 to 180.
Application process
Apply online at the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) website to sit for the LSAT. Examination centers in Texas from which you may choose include:
Fees
When you register online to take the LSAT, you will pay a fee of $190. Instructions on how to do so will be given to you when you register online.
Receiving Your Score
You will receive your LSAT score about three weeks after the day of the exam, via email. It is based upon the number of questions that you answered correctly. Therefore, your LSAT score can only go up when you answer a question. Your LSAT score will become a part of your permanent record, and your most recent LSAT score report will include the past 12 times you took the LSAT. This score report is sent to the admissions offices of the law schools to which you apply. Law schools tend to review your LSAT score report for consistency among scores, so the fewer times you take the LSAT, the better your chances of gaining admission to the ABA-approved law school of your choice.
Average LSAT Scores for Law School Admissions in Texas
According to Law School Numbers, the average LSAT scores in 2017 of students accepted at some of the most popular law schools in Texas were:
Application process
You have passed the LSAT! Well done! Now you are ready to apply to American Bar Association-approved law schools, as the Texas Board of Law Examiners says that you must graduate from an ABA-approved law school to become a member of the Texas bar. Various schools require different services, but most ABA-approved schools require that you use the LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service (CAS) when you apply.
Credential Assembly Service
The LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service streamlines the application process, as they handle many of the details for you and apply electronically to the law schools you choose. You must pay the LSAT a fee of $195 for the CAS, and for that fee, the CAS will collect your transcripts, letters of recommendation, online evaluations, and create law school reports for the schools to which you choose to apply.
Let the LSAC’s CAS know who has agreed to provide letters of recommendation for you. Print forms on the LSAC’s website to give to each recommender, who must submit a form with his or her recommendation letter. You may also submit requests for online evaluations of your work through the LSAC’s CAS. They will contact your evaluators directly to request online evaluations.
Finally, the LSAC’s CAS will assemble all necessary documents and apply electronically to the law schools you choose.
Accreditation
The Texas Board of Law Examiners expects you to graduate from an ABA-accredited law school in the United States if you wish to gain bar admission in Texas. There are over 200 law schools in the U.S. that are ABA-accredited, and they are listed in the LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools. Ten of these schools are in Texas.
ABA-Accredited Law Schools in Texas
Course requirements
ABA Standard 303 requires approved law schools to include the following coursework in their curricula:
The ABA requires one year of law school to be at least 130 days long (over eight months). You must be in law school for at least 24 months to receive a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, but not more than 84 months. Credits necessary for a J.D. degree, under ABA rules, are 83 semester hours or 129-quarter hours.
Online Law Degrees
Degree Programs
The Texas Board of Law Examiners says that you must graduate from an ABA-approved law school with a J.D. degree in order to become a member of the bar. There are other degree options for law students in Texas, however, some of them incorporating dual majors for extra marketability as an attorney:
Filing Declaration of Intent
Once you are enrolled in an ABA-approved law school, file the Declaration of Intent to Study Law with the Texas Board of Law Examiners. You must complete the application and submit it and a filing fee of $190 electronically. You must then arrange for third parties to send the Texas Board of Law Examiners documentation as required. An FBI Fingerprint Check must also be performed This can all be arranged on the ATLAS electronic system of the Texas Board of Law Examiners website.
If you are at least 18 years old, have graduated from an ABA-approved law school with your J.D. degree, and are a U.S. citizen or legalized national/resident alien, you may now apply to take the Texas Bar Examination. It takes three days to complete, and is offered in late February/early March and late July/early August each year.
Preparation
Preparing for the Texas Bar Exam is vital to your success at passing it on the first try. The exam consists of four parts: Procedure/Evidence Exam (P&E), Multistate Performance Test (MPT), Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) and Texas Essay Exam. As the last two sections are administered by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBEX), study aids to help you pass these exams are found at the National Conference of Bar Examiners website. Additionally, the Texas Board of Law Examiners posts outlines of subject matter to be tested on the P&E and Texas Essay portions of the test at its website.
Bar exam preparation courses are also available throughout Texas, at a cost:
Exam content
Various subjects are covered in the three parts of the Texas Bar Exam. The Texas Essay Exam may ask you questions on any of the following topics:
The Procedure/Evidence Exam asks you 40 short-answer questions on Texas civil procedure and evidence as well as both Federal and Texas criminal procedure and evidence.
The Multistate Performance Test (MPT) provides you with a file of source documents and a library of cases, rules and statutes. Using these resources, you must perform assigned tasks such as writing briefs, memoranda, letters, contracts, and/or proposals.
The Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) portion of the exam consists of multiple-choice questions on any of the following subjects:
Application Process and Fees
When you are ready to apply to take the Texas Bar Exam, apply online through your ATLAS account. The fee for a Texas law student to take the exam is $300; out-of-state students pay $490, and attorneys licensed in another state who wish to take the Texas Bar Exam pay $1040.
Pass Rates
According to Texas Lawyer, the passing rate for first-time test takers on the July 2018 Texas Bar Exam was 77.87 percent. In July 2017, it was 80.95 percent.
The overall pass rate for the July 2018 bar exam was 64.69 percent. For July 2017, it was 71.78 percent.
Of the Texas law schools, Baylor Law School had the highest pass rate for first-time test takers of the July 2018 bar exam, at 92.71 percent. University of Texas School of Law was second at 91.9 percent.
Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE)
In addition to passing the Texas Bar Exam, you must also pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) of the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBEX) with a scaled score of at least 85. This exam may be taken while you are still in law school. Register at the link to take this exam.
Licensing and Admission to the Bar
When you receive your General Instructions for the Texas Bar Exam, you will be given a General Release date for scores. Your scores will be sent to you via postal mail. Also at the time you receive the General Instructions, a time, date and place for the swearing-in ceremony, should you pass, will be listed. You are not officially a member of the Texas Bar until the swearing-in ceremony is completed.
Congratulations on your recent admission to the Texas Bar! You might want to refer to the New Lawyers section of the Texas Bar website. Many topics of interest are covered here, from compliance issues to law practice management. Information on the Texas Young Lawyers Association is also provided. This professional group can help you with support, assistance and networking opportunities.
Where do you plan to work as you are starting out in Texas law? You could start out on your own in a solo practice, or join an in-house firm. Famous attorney and law firm names heard across Texas include Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Field in Dallas; Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston; Vinson & Elkins in Houston; Brown McCarroll in Austin; and Cantey & Hanger in Fort Worth.
The headquarters of many major corporations are also located in Texas, and these types of companies regularly require legal help. There are 54 Fortune 500 companies with corporate headquarters in Texas. Some of them include ExxonMobil in Irving, ConocoPhillips in Houston, AT&T in Dallas, Valero Energy in San Antonio, FMC in Houston, and Whole Foods in Austin.
The Texas Labor Market Information Tracer projects a 15.4 percent increase in the number of jobs available for lawyers across Texas from 2016 through 2026.
Legal specialty certification
According to the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, currently more than 100,000 attorneys are licensed to practice in the state of Texas, but only 7200 of them are specialty certified in one of 24 areas of law. The Supreme Court of Texas established the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in 1974. It is the only governing board with the authority to certify Texas attorneys in legal specialty areas. Certification involves filing an application, completing necessary continuing education, and passing an examination. Areas in which practicing attorneys may become certified include:
Requirements for maintaining license
As a newly licensed attorney in Texas, you have two years to complete Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE). Once you have been licensed for two years, you must complete MCLE every year. MCLE that must be completed includes 15 hours, three of which must be in legal ethics or legal professional responsibility. You must report your MCLE hours annually to the Texas Bar.
Court Systems in Texas
The Texas Judicial Branch is a complex one, with five layers of courts, overlapping jurisdictions, and a bifurcated appellate system at the top level.
The Justice of the Peace Courts,otherwise known as the Justice Courts, are the lowest level of the Texas judiciary. They exist in each county, with 820 Justice of the Peace Courts across the state. These courts have in Class C misdemeanor criminal cases (less serious minor offenses), as well as minor civil matters and small claims cases. They may issue search or arrest warrants, and may serve as the coroner in counties if no medical examiner exists.
Municipal Courts are on the next judicial level. They handle crimes relating to public safety and quality of life. They may be found in more than 900 cities and towns across Texas.
Next come the County Courts, with appellate jurisdiction over Justice of the Peace and municipal court cases. There are 233 courts in 87 counties in Texas.
District Courts are the state trial courts of general jurisdiction in Texas. They have exclusive jurisdiction on felony cases, title to land cases, and cases involving election contesting. They may share jurisdiction with county courts over civil matters and family law matters. Each county must be served by at least one district court.
Texas has 14 Courts of Appeals, with intermediate appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases (except death penalty cases, which are appealed directly to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals). The 14 Courts of Appeals include:
Texas has only the second bifurcated appellate system at the highest level in the United States (Oklahoma being the only other state with a similar system). This system is comprised of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and Texas Supreme Court.
Elective membership organizations
Think about becoming a member of a professional membership organization for Texas lawyers such as:
Texas Resources
General Resources
Law Exams
Lawyer Career Specialties
Texas Statistics: |
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TX Active Lawyers | 78,844 |
Average Annual Wage | $131,320 |
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