Top Law Schools

I am a current 1L at a top 20 law school. I want to transfer to preferably SMU or Texas Tech if I cannot get into SMU (for a host of personal and family reasons). I got into both SMU and Texas Tech when I initially applied for admission. I have no clue what the admissions process is for transfer applicants. Does anyone know how well I have to do in my first year to get in as a transfer to a lesser ranked school? Should transferring from a top 20 to SMU or Tech be relatively easy or difficult? Any advice would be appreciated as I've heard it is rather difficult to transfer. Thanks in advance.

Difficult to tell. I've known people who transferred down, but I don't know what their grades were like. You won't need top grades to transfer down, but you can't scrape the bottom, either. If you have a compelling reason to make the transfer (sounds like you do), then you likely will be able to transfer. Just do as well as you can with 1L grades. You'll have a better idea after grades come back. Your LSAT and GPA and prior acceptances won't make a big difference anymore, I'm guessing. But schools like to accept transfer students because they generate a lot of revenue (they don't get scholarships).

If you can hang out an extra year wherever you are, you could very likely be a visiting student at Tech or SMU (with compelling personal reasons) during your third year (and your current school would be the degree-granting institution).

Do you mind saying which school you are currently at? Just curious

I'm at Emory, planning on transferring