LAW FACULTY AND ENGAGEMENT

Faculty: Engaging Students in the Study of Law

The faculty at the School of Law is a faculty consisting of accomplished practitioners and experienced teachers and scholars. There are 26 full-time faculty members, 14 of whom are women, and more than 20 judges and leaders in the legal community who serve as adjunct professors. Intellectually rigorous classes emphasize fundamental legal principles and policies, and the members of the faculty seek to foster lively classroom debate and challenging discussion. Most of the faculty are student-centered, maintain an open-door policy, and welcome the opportunity to work with and mentor students. Interaction with students continues beyond class work through faculty involvement in co-curricular activities, such as serving as Moot Court and Mock Trial team coaches and advising The University of Memphis Law Review and numerous student organizations, such as the Student Bar Association, the Public Action Law Society, and the Black Law Students Association.

Faculty members teach by example. Many work on national, state, and local professional committees and commissions and engage in other public service activities. Faculty members publish a variety of textbooks, articles, and other scholarly works, while maintaining their focus on teaching and preparing students for the practice of law.

For more information on the faculty, visit the law faculty section of our website here.

The Honor Council

All Students are governed by the Academic Regulations of the Law School. These regulations set forth requirements for good academic standing, exams, student conduct, and graduation.

The legal profession is a self-regulated profession, meaning judges and lawyers determine their own professional standards and enforce them. That tradition of self-regulation starts in the Law School with the Honor Code and Honor Council. The Honor Code is a code of professional and academic standards. The Honor Council enforces the Honor Code. The Honor Council is composed of 11 law students elected by the student body. The Honor Council investigates and prosecutes alleged violations of the Honor Code. All first-year law students will take an oath at Law School orientation to honor the values reflected in the Code.

Moot Court

The Law School's strong Moot Court program offers students a way to prepare for the challenges of life in the courtroom. Nationally recognized for outstanding work in oral and written advocacy, the Moot Court program has established a tradition of excellence. Law school teams have won national moot court and mock trial competitions.

First-year students begin their involvement in oral advocacy with participation in the Freshman Moot Court competition, an intra-school competition held each spring. Second- and third-year students can become members of the traveling teams (which represent the School in Moot Court, Mock Trial, and alternative dispute resolution competitions) and may participate in intra-school appellate and trial advocacy competitions run by the Moot Court Board.

The University of Memphis Law Review

The University of Memphis Law Review is a scholarly journal containing articles written by legal scholars, including law professors, judges, and practitioners, as well as selected student works. Like most law reviews, The University of Memphis Law Review is published quarterly, with one issue a symposium in a specialized area. The symposium brings leading scholars from across the nation to the Law School to make a presentation and publish a paper in the symposium issue.

The Law Review enjoys tremendous office space, occupying the entire south wing of the fourth floor. Students with a minimum grade point average of 2.50 have the opportunity to compete to join the Law Review during a Write-On Competition that occurs shortly after the first-year exams have been completed. Law Review members may then apply for positions on the editorial board in the spring of their second year.