Texas Tech School of Law introduces brain training for first-year law students

Texas Tech's School of Law has started a program with first-year law students to help maximize their brains' performance, minimize stress and improve productivity.

The Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas-Dallas and the Tech School of Law announced their collaboration in a high-performance brain training program called SMART - Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training.

About 180 first-year law students will learn nine cognitive strategies to allow them to maximize performance with methods proven effective by more than 30 years of neuroscience research.

The School of Law is the first law school partner with the center.

SMART has helped more than 40,000 people throughout the nation, ranging in age from middle-school students to senior citizens.

According to a news release from Tech, Darby Dickerson, law school dean, hopes to provide Tech law students with a skill set that will help them to succeed in law school, their careers and their lives.

Chad West, an Army veteran who earned his law degree from Tech in 2006, completed the SMART program and contacted Dickerson to encourage her to implement it with her students.

In the news release, West said SMART revolutionized his law practice, teaching him how to stay focused and hone in on legal issues.