The Texas A&M School of Law Residency Externship Program in Public Policy is pleased to announce the 2020-2021 Class of law students who will be representing the school in Austin, Texas and Washington, D.C. Program director Lisa Rich says that this year’s class represents the continued commitment to public service that has been a hallmark of the law school’s student body and the participants in the program. 
 
 The 2020-2021 Class includes: 
 
Austin, Texas: 
Lorraine Garcia, Class of 2021 
Lillian Goebel, Class of 2022 
 
Washington, D.C.: 
Ramah Jaradat, Class of 2021 
Bailey Read, Class of 2021 
Sannika Reddy, Class of 2021 
Sierra Sotelo, Class of 2021 
Justin Wolf, Class of 2021 
 
According to Rich, these highly-talented students are prepared to take on their policy placements with the support of Texas A&M School of Law’s innovative policymaking curriculum, which includes perquisites in administrative law, legislation and statutory interpretation, policy drafting and a unique winter term boot camp course designed to prepare students for the ethical and political environment they will engage in during the spring semester. 
 
The program is supported by two adjuncts--Tom Krampitz in Fort Worth and Austin and Kerry Kinirons in Washington, D.C. They guide students through a policy-based seminar and bring in the biggest names in local, state and federal policymaking to engage students in a small class setting on current issues. 
 
For more information and to follow this group of students, click here.

Deans at the 10 Texas law school deans, including Texas A&M Law's Bobby Ahdieh, issued a joint statement condemning racism and remembering George Floyd and so many others.

Texas A&M University School of Law mourns the passing of Judge Joe Spurlock II, senior professor of law and director of the Asian Judicial Institute. Judge Spurlock – a colleague, friend and legal legend – became a founding faculty member of the law school when its long-term success was considered wishful thinking by many. By the time he joined the faculty, Judge Spurlock had already spent years in private practice and served as an assistant criminal district attorney, a member of the Texas Legislature, a trial court judge and an appellate justice. 

The below message was sent by Dean Bobby Ahdieh to the Texas A&M Law student body on May 31, 2020 – six days after the horrifying and unnecessary death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Texas A&M School of Law is home to 10 legal clinics that provide students with the opportunity to apply their skills to work on behalf of actual clients. Clinical work at Texas A&M Law provides hands-on experiences in a variety of practice areas, including family law, veterans law, immigration law, tax disputes, intellectual property and others. Clinic clients include entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations, government entities and individuals.  In recent months, the clinic programs have been growing exponentially in terms of case notoriety, student growth, grants and social media presence.

Members of Texas A&M Law's J.D. class of 2020 have their degrees and are studying for the bar exam; but, with the arrival of COVID-19, bar takers are adjusting to a new normal. In addition to a July exam, the Texas Supreme Court ordered a September date to accommodate social distancing requirements. The Court was mindful that any delay in licensure could have consequences for law school grads regarding careers and livelihoods. The order allows unlicensed law school grads to practice under supervision.

After 34 years of dedicating her life to the discipline of law, Texas A&M School of Law professor Lynne Rambo taught her last class as a full-time faculty member this spring semester, after 24 years in the classroom.

Rambo is regarded by many of her former students as one of the most influential and effective professors they had during their time in law school.

On her last day of class during the coronavirus pandemic, Professor Rambo remarked, “I have to say, it was a little sad for me that I couldn't be there in person with my wonderful students, but on the spectrum of distresses right now, that certainly pales.”

The Texas A&M Immigrant Rights Clinic filed a petition in federal court in May demanding that ICE immediately release 11 medically-vulnerable immigrants from the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. There are at least 45 detained individuals who tested positive for COVID-19. Professor Fatma Marouf, Adjunct Professor Sehla Ashai and students Teresa Reyes Flores, Marisela Gonzales, Mario Guerra, Maria Jose Rosales Lagos and Emily Malden, joined forces with RAICES and the civil rights firm Loevy & Loevy in bringing the case forward.

Meet the Texas A&M Law students supporting the cause.

Texas A&M Law professor Gabriel Eckstein received notice that his blog, International Water Law Project Blog, was selected to be in the Legal Blawgs Web Archive. The collection, described by the Library of Congress, is a selective collection of sites associated with American Bar Association approved law schools, research institutes, think tanks and other expertise-based organizations. It is composed of digital content--journal-style entries, articles and essays, discussions and comments on emerging legal issues, national and international.