Mary Spector

Mary Spector is a Professor of Law and the Associate Dean for Experiential Learning at SMU Dedman School of Law. She oversees all aspects of experiential learning including clinical, externship, legal research, writing and advocacy, trial advocacy, and BOA programs. Additionally, Professor Spector teaches Consumer Law and directs SMU’s Civil/Consumer Clinic where she supervises students representing low-income clients in state and federal courts. Her research interests combine theory and practice to protect the rights of consumers and tenants and to improve access to justice in the civil courts.

Professor Spector's research and her work with students have received funding from the American Bar Association’s Section on Litigation, the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas, the United Way, and the Texas and Dallas Bar Foundations. She served as an official observer to the Uniform Law Commission’s drafting committee on consumer debt collection and has served as an expert on consumer debt to the Department of Justice. She has provided testimony to the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and in public hearings and round tables hosted by the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Texas Legislature. In 2019, Professor Spector served as the Herbert Smith Freehills Visitor at the University of Cambridge (UK) Faculty of Law where she worked on a project exploring the role of clinical legal education to promote access to justice.

In June 2020, Professor Spector launched the SMU Dedman School of Law COVID-19 Legal Helpline, a collaborative community project with law students providing legal assistance to members of the community.  Supported by the United Way, among others, the Helpline received the State Bar of Texas 2021 W. Frank Newton Award in recognition of outstanding contributions increasing access to legal services for the poor.  In 2009, she was named a Bellow Scholar by the American Association of Law Schools Clinical Section for her study of consumer debt collection litigation and is a recipient of SMU’s Golden Mustang Award for contributions to teaching and student learning.

After receiving her B.A. from Simmons College and her J.D., cum laude, from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Professor Spector served as a law clerk to the late Honorable Jerry Buchmeyer, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas before joining the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld as an associate. Outside of the Law School, Professor Spector received the Dallas Bar Association Pro Bono Award and has served on a number of university, professional and community committees and boards.