The 10 Texas law schools are taking steps to address concerns about coronavirus and to ensure students’ safety. Most law schools have extended spring break for students and a majority will be moving to online-only classes following the return from break.

Baylor Law School
Baylor will implement remote course instruction for some classes on March 16 with most classes to be remotely from March 23 to April 6. On-campus course instruction is set to resume April 6.

Baylor will continue to provide up-to-date information at Baylor.edu/coronavirus.

SMU Dedman School of Law
Law students will be moved to online instruction starting March 23 until April 5 with normal operations set to resume on April 6.

Updates will be posted at blog.smu.edu.

South Texas College of Law Houston
South Texas College of Law Houston will remain open and classes are expected to resume as usual after spring break.

The university will continue to post updates at southtexascollege.edu/coronavirus.

St. Mary’s University School of Law
Spring break has been extended for one week with classes to resume on March 23. The university is advising faculty to prepare for online instruction if necessary.

St. Mary’s will continue to provide updates at stmarytx.edu/emergency/.

Texas A&M University School of Law
The university has canceled all classes from March 16 to March 20 with online classes scheduled to begin on March 23. On-campus classes are expected to resume on April 28.

Texas A&M will provide updates at tamu.edu/coronavirus/index.html.

Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law
Following spring break (ending March 23), classes will resume online indefinitely.

The latest information will be posted on the university’s Office of Marketing & Communications webpage.

Texas Tech University School of Law
The university has suspended all academic classes through March 27 with on-campus classes resuming March 30 with online instruction being implemented wherever possible.

The dean or a designee will provide additional instruction for faculty and students during the transition. Updates will be posted at ttuhsc.edu/coronavirus.

University of Houston Law Center
The Law Center will continue classes remotely through online or alternative format from March 23 to April 4. All students are being asked to stay home.

The latest updates will be posted at uh.edu/covid19.

University of North Texas School of Law
In-person classes for the week of March 16 to March 22 have been canceled. Instruction will resume March 23 and students will be emailed on March 19 with information about the format of each class.

The university is providing the latest updates at healthalerts.unt.edu.

University of Texas School of Law
The university closed for operations and canceled classes on March 13 after two presumptive cases of COVID-19 were detected in the Austin-Travis County area. Spring break has been extended until March 30.

Additional information will be posted at utexas.edu/coronavirus.

Bar association responses
Bars across Texas are taking precautions as COVID-19 continues to spread, cancelling or postponing events where in-person meeting is not necessary.

The Austin Bar Association

  • The bar will close its office the week of March 16. Staff will work remotely and still check voicemails. The best way to reach staff is by email.
  • The bar will be monitoring the situation to determine whether to extend the closure into the next week and beyond.
  • Austin Bar and Austin Young Lawyers Association committees are encouraged to consider conducting meetings remotely.
  • Austin Bar sections are encouraged to assess each situation and keep health and safety issues in mind when planning and conducting programs.
  • The 4thFriday CLE scheduled for March 26, “The Coronavirus Fallout: Advising Your Clients on Key Force Majeure and Insurance Coverage Issues” will be videotaped without an audience and made available online to members. CLE credit is available.
  • You are not allowed to attend an event or enter the Austin Bar offices if you have been to a location rated Level 2 or 3 on the Centers for Disease Control list within the last 14 days, have been exposed within the last 14 days to someone who has been in one of these locations within the last 14 days, or exposed to a person known to have had Coronavirus within the last 14 days.

Level 3:

      • China
      • Iran
      • Italy
      • South Korea

Level 2

      • Japan

The Houston Bar Association

  • The HBA office remains open and operating at full capacity. HBA will notify members of any changes.
  • The HBA is following health and safety protocols throughout the main office in Heritage Plaza and the offices of ancillary organizations, including the Houston Volunteer Lawyers, Houston Lawyer Referral Service, and Dispute Resolution Center.
  • HBA committee meetings scheduled for March that cannot be conducted by teleconference or videoconference are canceled; committees are encouraged to consider conducting meetings remotely, unless it’s necessary and safe to meet in person. Contact bonnies@hba.orgfor more info.
  • HBA section meetings scheduled for March that cannot be conducted by teleconference or videoconference are canceled; sections are encouraged to assess each situation and keep health and safety issues in mind when planning and conducting programs.
  • The HBA is monitoring local, state, and federal agencies and courts and will post daily updates on the website and calendar.
  • The HBA is following State Bar directives on visitors entering the office. Those who are not allowed inside the HBA office fall into one of three categories: 1. Visited within the last 14 days countries for which the CDC has issues a level 2 or 3 travel health notice; 2. Traveled internationally within the past 14 days and during that period have experienced symptoms associated with COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath); and those who have been exposed to or diagnosed with COVIDS-19 and are not yet cleared as non-contagious by state or local public health authorities.
  • Veterans legal clinics scheduled at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, as well as VA Outpatient Clinics are canceled.
  • HVL clinic at the Spring Branch Family Development Center on March 14 is canceled, as are Friday and Saturday VA clinics, Asian Clinics at the Chinese Community Center and VN Teamwork, and the Memorial Assistance Ministries clinic on March 25.
  • For a list of Harris County civil district courts’ jury trial cancellations, visit hbaorg.

Dallas Bar Association

  • The Belo Mansion is closed effective March 13 at 7 a.m. through March 31.
  • Bar meetings at the Belo Mansion and CLE Clinic sites will be postponed or canceled.
  • The DBA will assess the need to remain closed past March 31.
  • Communication with members will be conducted via website, email, and social media.
  • Online CLE platform remains available at dallasbar.org
  • All Dallas Volunteer Attorneys Program veterans clinics are cancelled.

San Antonio Bar Association

  • The San Antonio Bar office is open and operating at full capacity; members will be notified of any changes to this status.
  • SABA is suspending all in-person CLE, social gatherings, and meetings scheduled March 14 – April 15 until further notice. Registered attendees will receive emails of the cancellation/postponement.
  • SABA committees are requested to postpone or hold conference calls/virtual meetings. Email ashleyb@sabar.orgfor assistance using the SABA online meeting account.
  • SABA sections are requested to present virtual CLE seminars and to cancel/postpone in-person CLE and luncheon meetings. Email ashleyb@sabar.orgfor assistance. Use the SABA online meeting account to set up CLE presenter and attendee access.
  • SABA will mail courthouse access badges to attorneys using the address on file.

For additional information, go to sanantoniobar.org or contact SABA at info@sabar.org