Oklahoma City University - School of Law

While the Oklahoma City University School of Law recently lowered the 1L curve “from a C+ to a Bto match the University of Oklahoma and other law schools” in the region, it maintains rigorous academic standards and a “very strong legal research and writing program” that “is tough but so, so helpful.” The school has relocated to “a newly renovated and beautiful” building in the heart of Oklahoma City, which students say “is a vast improvement from the former location.” The move seems to have heightened the school’s focus on practical experience and creating connections between students, faculty and administrators. With “well-thought-out spaces that integrate technology” and “plenty of places for group work and solo study,” this “historic five-story ‘castle’” “[brings] everything together” under one roof, and “gives [students] the feeling of an open door policy.” Students feel like this harmony and integration is reflected in the curriculum as they have “never experienced school administration and faculty so integrated with student body.” One student explains that the “1L faculty seems to have a coordinated approach where overlapping topics are presented very close to the same time in different classes.”
OCU Law students are now only “a few blocks from both state and federal courthouses and several large law firms,” which “present phenomenal opportunities to get plenty of training.” Students are “able to walk to the county courthouse between classes to watch trials.” One student added that the new location “is great for networking; I meet Judges and attorneys on a daily basis.” Students also appreciate that the school “allows a generous number of credit hours to be satisfied with practical skills [courses].” In fact, most students agree that the “clinical and externship offerings and practical skills courses, like trial practice and pretrial litigation,” are among the school’s greatest strengths. Clinics like “the school’s American Indian Wills Clinic where” students learn “to draft estate planning devices for Native American clients,” help students learn “how to understand and conform to” a client’s wishes and “translate their oral concerns into artfully drafted legal documents.” These clinics help develop “skills that improve attorney-client relationships and performance in any legal office,” skills “that most attorneys do not begin to develop until [they are] actually in practice.” Students say that “getting this head start” makes them “more marketable and flexible in any work environment.”
Some students praise the school for trying “to accommodate even more working adults, moms with children, adults returning for career change, police officers and those with disabilities” by offering night classes. Though, this has caused friction with some traditional students who find “that the class scheduling is very difficult to work with” “because many classes are only offered at night” and “most electives were offered exclusively at night,” others enjoy that the schedule is flexible enough to “work with people who have commitments that keep them busy during the day.” But students universally applaud the professors of those classes as coming “from some of the most respected schools around the nation and [as being] highly regarded as experts in their specialized fields.”

Situated “in the heart of downtown Oklahoma City,” students enjoy a host of “local restaurants, [coffee] shops, and other fun places within just a few blocks of the school” as well as “a fantastic outdoor plaza with tables, so students can enjoy sitting outside to study on a pleasant day.” Students say “there is ample housing available” nearby, and the central location also “allows the students to be more active in the community that most will be serving when they graduate.” And the school encourages that involvement. One student explained that “the cost of attendance is high, but scholarships are readily available, as are school payments for internships/externships in areas that serve the public welfare.” Students also keep busy through school organizations and activities: “Club membership is high, and those clubs are active,” while “it is rare that a weekend goes by where there is not an event to go to.” And the school’s connections mean that there is never a shortage of “great guest speakers from the law community” or “connections in the workforce” that “help students gain internships and jobs.” A “diverse student body” paired with “passionate and committed” faculty and administrators creates a community where “professors know each student in the 1L class by name [on] the 1st day.”