School: School of Law

Robert L. Summers Jr.

Professor Emeritus of Law and Englehardt Research Fellow

Biography

Professor Summers served as the director of the law library for 22 years during which he oversaw the planning and construction of the award-winning Sarita Kenedy East Law Library and the significant expansion and modernization of its staff, services, automation and collection.

During this time, Professor Summers retired from military service as a Navy Captain (06) (Intelligence Corps) having completed 22 years of active and reserve service. His service included multiple tours in Vietnam and also a tour as the commanding officer of a Naval Investigative Service unit specializing in criminal investigations, counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence. This experience plus his advanced studies in national/homeland security as well as international relations and international ethics during armed conflict inform the broad array of specialized and inter-disciplinary courses which he teaches for the J.D., M.Jur. and LL.M programs.

Professor Summers was the director and later co-director of the law school’s LL.M. program for nearly twenty years, and he has also taught as an adjunct professor in the St. Mary’s International Relations master’s degree program as well as the Cyber Security master’s degree program for the School of Science, Engineering and Technology.

Highlights

  • As the former Law Library Director for 22 years, he oversaw the construction of the award-winning Sarita Kenedy East Law Library and the expansion of its staff, services, automation and collection.
  • Co-founder – St. Mary’s Center for Terrorism Law
  • Adjunct Faculty – University of Texas at Austin Graduate School
  • Adjunct Faculty – St. Mary’s University Graduate School (International Relations)
  • Adjunct Faculty – St. Mary’s University School of Science, Engineering and Technology (Cybersecurity Law)
  • Adjunct Faculty – University of Texas at San Antonio Graduate School (Cyber Law)
  • Captain (06), U.S. Naval Reserve, Intelligence Corps (Retired), Vietnam Veteran and Intelligence Specialist with command experience in the Naval Investigative Service: criminal investigations, counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence

Robert L. Summers Jr.

Professor Emeritus of Law and Englehardt Research Fellow

Contact Information

Education

  • Master of Defense & Strategic Studies (M.D.S.& S.), University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) (cand.)
  • Certificate of Homeland Security, Bush Graduate School Texas A&M University, 2018
  • Certificate of Advanced International Affairs, Bush Graduate School Texas A&M University, 2011
  • M.A. International Relations, St. Mary’s University, 2007
  • M.S.L.S., University of North Carolina, 1976
  • J.D., College of William and Mary, 1974
  • B.A., Williams College, 1967

Specialties and Courses

  • Public International Law
  • Admiralty and Maritime Law
  • International Criminal Law
  • International Environmental Law
  • Homeland Security Law and Policy
  • International White Collar Crime
  • International Human Rights Law
  • International Law of the Sea
  • Law of Armed Conflict & Just War
  • International Law of Cyber Warfare
  • National Security-Intelligence Law & Policy

Sigrid Vendrell-Polanco

Visiting Assistant Professor of Law

Biography

Sigrid Vendrell-Polanco, J.D., is a Visiting Assistant Professor at St. Mary’s University School of Law who specializes in Territorial Law, Criminal Law and Negotiations.

Vendrell-Polanco joined St. Mary’s University School of Law in August 2017 as a Law Success Instructor, later becoming Service Professor of Law. As a Visiting Professor of Law, Vendrell-Polanco’s legal scholarship focuses on territorial law, examining legal issues regarding the political status of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories. In her scholarship, she examines the constitutional history of American territorial expansion and the ramifications of the application of the U.S. Constitution in the territories, including citizenship and nationhood. Her forthcoming research will be published in the Brooklyn Law Review Journal in early Winter 2024.

Before transitioning to doctrinal faculty, Vendrell-Polanco taught courses as law faculty within the Law Success Program for over 6 years. She taught Legal Methods, Legal Communications, Analysis and Professionalism and Bar Preparation for Credit. Vendrell-Polanco also directed the supplemental bar preparation program (Raise the Bar) from 2018 to 2023, assisting graduates to prepare for the Texas Bar Exam.

Vendrell-Polanco graduated with honors from Texas A&M University with an undergraduate degree in International Studies and earned her law degree from California Western School of Law in 2014 with an Academic Excellence Award. Vendrell-Polanco has had a variety of professional experiences, including criminal defense in Southern California and representing low-income employees with numerous employment claims such as wage and hour violations, discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination claims.

During law school, Vendrell-Polanco worked at the California Western School of Law Library and worked with organizations such as California Innocence Project, Public Interest Law Foundation, Community Law Project Clinic, and clerked for the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of California Criminal Enterprise Section.

Honors and Awards

  • Pro Bono/Public Service Honors Society, California Western School of Law, 2015
  • Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity

Publications

Articles:

  • Puerto Rican Presidential Voting Rights: Why Precedent Should be Overturned, and Other Options for Suffrage, 89 Brook. L. Rev. (2024) (forthcoming).

Presentations

  • “Building Communities for the Bar Exam”, Tenth Annual Association of Academic Support Educators Conference, May 2022 Honors and Awards: Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity

Sigrid Vendrell-Polanco

Visiting Assistant Professor of Law

Contact Information

Education

  • J.D., California Western School of Law, 2014
  • B.A. with honors, Texas A&M University, 2011

License to Practice

  • California
  • Texas

Specialties and Courses

  • Criminal law
  • Employment law
  • Negotiations
  • Legal Research and Writing
  • Bar Exam Preparation

Jennifer Stevenson

Assistant Dean for International Programs | Professor of Practice of Law

Biography

After graduating from the University of Washington School of Law, Jennifer Stevenson, J.D., practiced at Perkins Coie LLP, a full-service, international law firm in Seattle, Washington, for nine years. Her practice focused on real estate transactions and estate planning.

She also served as a volunteer attorney for the Northwest Immigrants’ Rights Project, Volunteer Advocates for Immigrant Justice and the Holocaust Survivors Pension Project.

Stevenson then joined William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia. She taught Introduction to U.S. Law, Legal Writing and Research, Lawyering Skills and Advanced Lawyering Skills courses. She held various positions from 2011 to 2022, including Associate Dean, Graduate Programs, Director of the LL.M. program in the American Legal System, and Professor of Practice. She has taught and mentored hundreds of international students and scholars in the U.S. and abroad.

She is currently working on a three-year grant “Advancing Legal Reasoning and Writing in Moldova,” funded by the U.S. Department of State/INL

Stevenson is a frequent international traveler. She recently visited Armenia, Bulgaria, and Colombia.

Selected Publications and Lectures

  • Li, Q., Hou, J., Stevenson, J.S. and Liu, C., “An integrated approach can improve China’s food additives security,” Trends in Food Science & Technology, Volume 157, March 2025. Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2025.104904
  • Li, Q., Liu, C. and Stevenson, J.S., “Laws and green incentives: guiding China’s new biomass energy future,” Trends in Biotechnology (published online November 7, 2024). Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2024.10.009
  • Li, Q., Zhou, J. and Stevenson, J.S., “Assessing Legal Protection of Biometric Data in China: Gaps, Principles, and Policy Recommendations,” J. OF LEGAL MED., 42(3–4), pp. 123–141 (published online February 2024). Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2024.2307624
  • “Negotiating Across the Border: U.S. – Mexican Law School Collaboration,” Global Legal Skills Conference, Bari, Italy, June 5, 2024
  • “Negotiations — A Developing Alternative Legal Regime,” Kristu Jayanti College of Law, Bengaluru, India (remote), Jan. 6, 2024
  • “Professional Identity Formation and International Legal Education,” International Legal Personnel Training Conference (remote), Ningbo University School of Law, Ningbo, China, June 28, 2023

Jennifer Stevenson

Assistant Dean for International Programs | Professor of Practice of Law

Contact Information

Education

  • J.D., University of Washington, high honors, 2002
  • B.A., University of Washington, magna cum laude, 1995

License to Practice

  • Washington (inactive)

Specialties and Courses

  • Introduction to U.S. Law
  • Lawyering Skills and Advanced Lawyering Skills
  • Legal Writing and Research
  • Negotiations

Wendi Wilson

Assistant Professor of Practice of Law

Biography

Before joining St. Mary’s, Professor Wilson enjoyed a successful and rewarding career as an Assistant District Attorney for the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office. Serving over nineteen years as an ADA, she represented the State of Texas at all levels of proceedings in cases from arrest through sentencing, including jury trials, bond hearings, grand jury proceedings, pretrial motions, and sentencing hearings, involving all degrees of felony charges, such as drug possession, sexual assault, aggravated robbery, and capital murder. As a First Chair Felony Prosecutor, she also had the opportunity to train and mentor junior prosecutors, an aspect of the job she found especially enjoyable.

Originally from Greenwood, Mississippi, Professor Wilson came to Texas after law school as a direct-commissioned officer into the U.S. Army JAG Corps. As a JAG officer stationed at Fort Sam Houston, she served as a legal assistance attorney, Trial Counsel (Army prosecutor), and a legal instructor at the Army Medical Department Center and School. It was during this time that she became acquainted with San Antonio and decided to make it her permanent home. After serving four years, she left the Army to join the District Attorney’s Office in San Antonio.

For the past two years, Professor Wilson has been pursuing a Master of Arts in English through the University of Texas at Tyler. Her current research involves an analysis of the criticism of the English laws of primogeniture and coverture in the fiction of Charlotte Bronte. She is looking forward to completing her studies and receiving her master’s degree in December of 2022.

In her spare time, Professor Wilson enjoys Pilates, reading, attending her son’s football and basketball games and her daughter’s dance performances, and hanging out with her three spoiled dogs.

Wendi Wilson

Assistant Professor of Practice of Law

Contact Information

Education

  • M.A., English, University of Texas at Tyler, degree expected Dec. 2022
  • J.D., Vanderbilt University School of Law, 1993
  • B.A., cum laude, English and Political Science, Tulane University, 1990

License to Practice

  • Texas
  • Mississippi

Specialties and Courses

  • Legal Writing
  • Research
  • Criminal law
  • Law in Literature
  • English Composition

John W. Teeter Jr.

Professor of Law

Biography

Teeter practiced commercial litigation in Honolulu and labor and employment law in Boston. His teaching experience includes working for Oklahoma City University School of Law in 1988 and St. Mary’s University since 1991. Teeter has published numerous articles on labor law and a series of essays on how Buddhist insights can enhance the study, practice and teaching of law.

Teeter has taught many different subjects at St. Mary’s and has lectured at the summer programs in Austria and China. He takes pride in being accessible to his students and in making a meaningful difference in their lives through his classes. Teeter has received a number of awards for pedagogical excellence.

Honors and Awards

  • Most Influential Professor at St. Mary’s in Texas Lawyer’s Survey of Law Schools (August 18, 2008 edition)
  • Phi Delta Phi Most Outstanding 1L Professor, 2003
  • Student Bar Association Professor of the Year, 2001
  • Student Bar Association Professor of the Year, 2000
  • Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1999
  • Phi Delta Phi Outstanding Faculty Member, 1993
  • Phi Beta Kappa, 1982
  • Recipient, St. Mary’s University Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Award

Publications

Articles in a Periodical

Shorter Works in Collections

  • Book Review, Sam Roberts, The Brother: The Untold Story of Atomic Spy David Greenglass (2001), 13 Bimonthly Review of Law Books 6 (Sept.-Oct. 2002).
  • Book Review, Lawrence Schiller, Into the Mirror: The Life of Master Spy Robert P. Hanssen (2002), 13 Bimonthly Review of Law Books 7 (Sept.-Oct. 2002).
  • Book Review, Tammy Bruce, The New Thought Police: Inside the Left’s Assault on Free Speech and Free Minds (2001), 13 Bimonthly Review of Law Books 15 (July-Aug. 2002).
  • Book Review, Thomas H. Koenig and Michael L. Rustad, In Defense of Tort Law (2001), 13 Bimonthly Review of Law Books 24 (March-April 2002).
  • Book Review, John Grisham, The Brethren (2000), 11 Bimonthly Review of Law Books 14 (May-June 2000).
  • Book Review, Alan M. Dershowitz, Just Revenge (1999), 11 Bimonthly Review of Law Books 9 (Jan.-Feb. 2000).
  • Book Review, Derrick Bell, Afrolantica Legacies (1998), 10 Bimonthly Review of Law Books 2 (Jan.-Feb. 1999).
  • Book Review, Dominick Dunne, Another City, Not My Own (1997), 9 Bimonthly Review of Law Books 13 ( March-April 1998).
  • Book Review, Vincent R. Johnson and Alan Gunn, Studies in American Tort Law (1994), 6 Bimonthly Review of Law Books 12 (July-Aug. 1995).
  • Book Review, Richard A. Epstein, Cases and Materials on Torts (6th ed. 1995), 6 Bimonthly Review of Law Books 13 (July-Aug. 1995).
  • Book Review,  Richard A. Epstein, Cases and Materials on Torts (5th ed.1990), 1 Bimonthly Review of Law Books 1 (Sept.-Oct. 1990).

John W. Teeter Jr.

Professor of Law

Contact Information

Education

  • J.D., magna cum laude, Harvard University, 1985
  • B.A., University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, 1982

License to Practice

  • Massachusetts
  • Hawaii

Specialties and Courses

  • Administrative Law
  • Criminal Law
  • Labor Law
  • Torts

Robin Thorner

Assistant Dean for Career Strategy

Biography

Thorner brings to the Office of Career Strategy 15 years of public interest experience, much of that in leadership positions. Prior to joining St. Mary’s Law, Thorner was a supervising attorney at Disability Rights Texas (formerly Advocacy Inc.), for which she represented individuals with mental health needs and intellectual and developmental disabilities. Previously, she was first a staff attorney and, later, a managing attorney at University Legal Services, the protection and advocacy program for individuals with disabilities in Washington, D.C. While there, she supervised and coordinated the office’s mental health advocacy, which included individual and systemic litigation.

After graduating from New York University School of Law, Thorner clerked for the Hon. Deborah Hankinson on the Texas Supreme Court and was an Equal Justice Works Fellow at South Brooklyn Legal Services, where she represented children with special needs with an emphasis on special education, disability discrimination and SSI advocacy.

In addition to overseeing the Office of Career Strategy, Thorner serves as the law school’s Director of Professional Identity Formation.

Robin Thorner

Assistant Dean for Career Strategy

Contact Information

Education

  • J.D., New York University School of Law, 1999
  • B.A., magna cum laude, Yale University, 1995

License to Practice

  • Texas

Awards

  • President’s Award for Excellence, St. Mary’s University, 2022

Specialties and Courses

  • Professional Identity Formation
  • Mental Health and the Law
  • Client Interviewing
  • Special Education Law

Grace Walle

Law Chaplain

Biography

A Marianist Sister, Walle provides personal and spiritual counseling, and offers assistance to law students and their families whenever the need arises.

She offers a number of programs designed to assist men and women in their transition through law school. She also sponsors Law Partners, a support network for the spouses of law students.

Walle was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1951. In 1972, she entered the Marianist Sisters in San Antonio in 1972.

While her background was in education, she became involved in directing retreats at the Marianist Sisters Retreat House, which was later bought by St. Mary’s University to house The St. Mary’s Center for Legal and Social Justice. She ministered for two years at St. John Neumann parish in San Antonio. She began working in University Ministry at St. Mary’s University in 1982. Her responsibilities included retreat ministry and leadership development.

As campus minister for the School of Law, Walle has developed a nationally recognized program. She has been described as having her own “world wide web” based on the years of working with law students and the legal community. One student described her as “searching through her Rolodex to provide just the right connection for a career connection or linking law students to community service projects.”

Honors and Awards

  • Marianist Heritage Award 2014
  • Alice Franzke Feminist Award 2013
  • Hispanic Law Alumni Award 2012
  • CCMA Dean Cantu/President Cotrell National Outstanding University Administrator Award
  • Yellow Rose of Texas Educating for a Lifetime Award 2010
  • San Antonio Bar Foundation Peacemaker’s Award 2011
  • CCMA National Educating for Justice Award 2006
  • San Antonio Young Lawyers Liberty Bell Award 2005-2006
  • Mexican American Bar Association Award 2003
  • St Mary’s Law School St. Thomas More Award 2002
  • St Mary’s University Santa Maria Justice Award presented by Center for Legal and Social Justice 2001
  • Catholic Campus Ministry Association National Campus Minister Award (CCMA) 2000
  • Campus Ministry

Campus Ministry offers

  • Catholic services each day, including Sundays, in a chapel on campus
  • Sacramental preparation
  • Opportunities to gather as a community for prayer, retreats and Mass
  • Programs to provide service to needy in San Antonio

Grace Walle

Law Chaplain

Contact Information

Education

  • D.M., McCormick Theological Seminary, 1997
  • M.P.M., Boston College, 1990
  • B.A., St. Mary’s University, 1978

Anthony Alcoser, J.D.

Executive Director of Development

Biography

Alcoser has been contributing to higher education in a development role for more than eight years. Prior to joining the St. Mary’s University School of Law, he served as a development officer at both The University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas A&M University-San Antonio.

From 2009 to 2015, he was instrumental in securing resources to attract the number of students necessary to allow the newly formed Texas A&M University-San Antonio to reach “stand-alone” status. In his most recent post, he played an integral role in supporting various functions of the UTSA College of Business to include the nationally ranked Cyber Defense program.

In addition to higher education development, Alcoser has been an active member of the greater San Antonio community serving as past treasurer to the City Council-appointed San Antonio Housing Trust, past treasurer for NowCast SA, and past president of the Harlandale ISD Board of Trustees.

He is an active member of the Rey Feo Consejo Education Foundation, member of the San Antonio ISD Gifted and Talented advisory committee and current vice president of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s Central Texas Alumni Chapter.

Anthony Alcoser, J.D.

Executive Director of Development

Contact Information

Education

  • J.D., St. Mary’s University
  • M.S., Texas A&M University-San Antonio
  • B.A., The University of Texas at San Antonio

Gregory Zlotnick

Clinical Professor of Law | Staff Attorney

Biography

Greg Zlotnick serves as at Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor and Supervising Attorney for the Housing Rights Project at the Center for Legal and Social Justice at St. Mary’s University School of Law.  There, he teaches in the Consumer Protection Clinic and oversees student and staff efforts to provide eviction defense and housing stability to San Antonio-area residents.  This includes the operations of the St. Mary’s Housing Hotline; representation in eviction hearings and appeals; and the delivery of public education presentations and materials.  In the classroom, Greg also teaches a course on public interest lawyering.

Prior to his appointment as a visiting clinical faculty member, Greg served as the director and supervisor of Pro Bono Programs at the St. Mary’s University School of Law’s Center for Legal and Social Justice from August 2014-September 2022.  

In that role, Greg facilitated the implementation of the community service graduation requirement for JD students at St. Mary’s Law. Through the development of multiple community-centered collaborations, the Pro Bono Program connected law student volunteers with opportunities to meet the law-related needs of the San Antonio community. In 2020, Greg received the Pro Bono Coordinator Award from the State Bar of Texas. 

Beyond St. Mary’s Law, Greg is a board member of the Andy Mireles Charitable Foundation, the San Antonio Legal Services Association, and the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless. 

As a pro bono attorney, Greg has served as clemency counsel with the ABA’s Death Penalty Representation Project and has volunteered with the State Bar of Texas’s Texas Legal Answers website. 

Prior to joining St. Mary’s, Greg worked in private practice in San Antonio. Prior to moving to San Antonio, Greg was a trial attorney and law clerk with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Fort Worth. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from Georgetown University.

Honors and Awards

  • Pro Bono Coordinator Award, State Bar of Texas, 2020

Publications

Articles in a Periodical

  • Picking the Lock: A Proposal for a Standard Fee Waiver for Texas Identifying Documents, 22 The Scholar: St. Mary’s Law Review on Minority Issues 345-381 (2020).
  • “Halt any proceedings in county that would lead to evictions,” San Antonio Express-News, July 6, 2020.
  • “Juan Castillo worthy of clemency by Texas board.” San Antonio Express-News, May 9, 2018.
  • “Marian Reflection,” Justice Jottings, January 2018 (remarks prepared for Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass, December 12, 2017).
  • “One Day, All Americans . . .”: Considering a TFA-Style Lawyer Corps, 23 GEO. J. LEGAL ETHICS 971 (2010).

Media Highlights

Gregory Zlotnick

Clinical Professor of Law |
Staff Attorney

Contact Information

Education

  • J.D., cum laude, Georgetown University Law Center, 2011
  • B.A., magna cum laude, Georgetown University, 2008

License to Practice

  • Texas

Specialties and Courses

  • Public Interest Lawyering
Learn How To Apply
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J.D. Program

J.D. Program at St. Mary’s University School of Law

The Doctor of Jurisprudence degree (J.D.) is required to practice law in most states. The J.D. degree is offered by American Bar Association (ABA) accredited schools like St. Mary’s School of Law, as well as some non-ABA-accredited institutions and some institutions in Canada.

To pursue a J.D. program, you must first have (or be nearing completion of) a bachelor’s degree and take the LSAT. Learn more about the J.D. application process.

After obtaining a J.D. degree, you’ll need to be admitted to the Bar of the state where you want to practice law. Each state sets its own rules for bar admission, but generally this includes a bar exam and a character evaluation. You can find out more about the requirements to practice law in the state of Texas at the Texas Board of Law Examiners website.

Meet the J.D. Admissions Team

The St. Mary’s Law J.D. Admissions Team understands you’ll have many questions about the J.D. admissions process and campus life. You can request more information about the law school, or contact us directly at lawadmissions@stmarytx.edu.

Catherine Casiano

Assistant Dean for Admissions
ccasiano@stmarytx.edu

Eddie Chavez

Director of Admissions and Recruitment
echavez10@stmarytx.edu

Catherine Mery

Director of Student Enrollment
cmery@stmarytx.edu

Johanna Fickel

Assistant Director of J.D. Admissions
jfickel@stmarytx.edu

Nia Walker

Administrative Assistant for Office of Admissions
Nwalker7@stmarytx.edu

Join Us for a Virtual or On-Campus Event

Join our information sessions covering the admissions process specific to the J.D. program at St. Mary’s Law. Check back on this page for future dates and times as they become available.

Event

Date

Location

General Virtual Information Session
This is an opportunity to engage via Zoom with the admissions team at St. Mary’s Law. Attendees will be able to ask questions regarding our programs and the admissions process.

Thursday, May 8
4 p.m. CST


Register here



General Virtual Information Session
This is an opportunity to engage via Zoom with the admissions team at St. Mary’s Law. Attendees will be able to ask questions regarding our programs and the admissions process.

Thursday, May 22
4 p.m. CST


Register here



General Virtual Information Session
This is an opportunity to engage via Zoom with the admissions team at St. Mary’s Law. Attendees will be able to ask questions regarding our programs and the admissions process.

Thursday, June 12
4 p.m. CST


Register here



Learn More

Find St. Mary’s J.D. Admissions Near You

EventDateLocation
LSAC Digital Law School ForumThursday, Feb. 6, 2025lsac.org

J.D. Program Options

St. Mary’s offers several ways to earn a J.D.:

Academic Requirements

Applicants may apply to either the full-time day program or a part-time evening program, but not to both. Admissions and graduation standards are the same for both J.D. programs.

All programs and offices, including the Clinical Program, are available to full-time daytime students as well as part-time evening students.

A candidate for the J.D. program must earn a minimum of 90 credit hours in order to graduate, or 91 credits hours for students who entered prior to Fall 2018. Students who entered law school in the Fall of 2019 or later must have a cumulative GPA of 2.3 or higher to graduate. For students who entered prior to that time, a cumulative GPA of 2.0 is required to remain in good academic standing. Other curricular and academic requirements will apply. Those requirements are set forth in the St. Mary’s School of Law Student Handbook. Faculty may add additional requirements at any time.

St. Mary’s Law Student Handbook
Course Descriptions
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