Cumberland School of Law is an ABA accredited

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United Sta ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, United States. It was founded in 1847 at

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was founded in 1842. The campus's current historic buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842-1861 The university was founded by the Cumberland ...

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropolit ...

and is the 11th oldest law school in the United States and has more than 11,000 graduates. Its alumni include two United States Supreme Court Justices;

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

recipient

Cordell Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ...

, "the father of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

"; over 50 U.S. representatives; and numerous senators, governors, and judges. The school offers two degree programs: the 90-hour

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

(J.D.), and the

Master of Comparative Law A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

(M.C.L.), which is designed to educate foreign lawyers in the basic legal principles of the United States. The school also offers eight dual-degree programs and a Master of Laws (LL.M) program with concentrations in financial service regulatory compliance, health law and policy, higher education law and compliance, and legal project management. Cumberland Law School is unrelated to the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky, and is no longer a part of

in Lebanon, Tennessee.

History

This summary is based on ''From Maverick to Mainstream'', a review of Cumberland's history and the development of the American legal education system. Langum and Walthall summarize the history of Cumberland Law School as:

From its very local, Tennessee origins in 1847, Cumberland...emerged as a premier law school with a national status. It excelled in faculty, teaching methodology, and numbers of students. Following the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, Cumberland rebuilt itself and ultimately succeeded on a grand scale with its single-year curriculum.

Early years and founding

Cumberland School of Law was founded on July 29, 1847 in Lebanon,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. At the end of 1847, there were 15 law schools in the United States. Prior to the law school's official founding,

facilitated the study of law and admitted a diverse student body, evidenced by graduates such as

George W. Harkins George Washington Harkins (1810–October 23, 1861) was an attorney and prominent tribal chief, chief of the Choctaw tribe during Indian removal.Oklahoma Historical Society, Archives Division, Choctaw – Principal Chief, No. 19457 Elected as pri ...

, a

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

chief, who received a law degree from Cumberland and became a judge in 1834. George-W-Harkins

Antebellum years

Prior to the founding of the United States' first law schools, the primary means for a legal education was

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

. Establishing law schools was difficult in the early 19th century. Harvard was only able to reestablish its law school in 1829 and

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

in 1826. By 1859 Cumberland,

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, and the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

were the three largest law schools in the United States. A year later, 1860, only 21 university law schools existed in the country, and, in no school did the curriculum extend beyond two years. During the Antebellum years, Cumberland enjoyed success. Nathan Green Jr., son of then professor Nathan Green Sr., stated that Cumberland enjoyed "the highest degree of prosperity", with a beautiful campus, picturesque trees and fences, and fine architecture.Langum & Walthall, p.47 Cumberland's first graduate Paine Page Prim ultimately became chief justice of the

The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture ''Tennessee Encyclopedia'' is a reference book on the U.S. state of Tennessee that was published in book form in 1998 and has also been available online since 2002. Contents include history, geography, culture, and biography. The original print e ...

''
Tennesseeencyclopedia.net
Students were taught through reading treatises, approximately two hours worth of recitations each morning, and a mandatory moot court program. Caruthers considered the law a science and the Socratic Method a necessity. The cost was $50 a session and a $5 "contingent fee". After the Civil War, this treatise method, the legal formalism of the school's approach, and Nathan Green Jr.'s unwillingness to make changes, were all considered reasons for Cumberland's drift out of the mainstream.

Civil war

At the start of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, the campus split within a week; some students joined the northern army; many joined the southern. Nathan Green Jr.'s father, a law professor, went home, but in fear of arrest, Abraham Caruthers fled to

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

, where he died a year later. During the war, professors John Carter and Nathan Green Jr. fought as Confederate officers. Carter was killed, but Green survived. The campus did not. The trees were cut down and fences destroyed and burned. The Confederate Army burned the University buildings, apparently because a Confederate major was offended that Black Union soldiers had used them as barracks.

Reconstruction

The law school began the slow process of rebuilding. In July 1866, Cumberland adopted the image of the phoenix, the mythological Egyptian bird that is reborn from its own ashes. The new motto was '' E Cineribus Resurgo'' or "I rise from the ashes." In September 1865 classes resumed with 11 students, which soon grew to 20. The 1865 class included a Confederate General and Union colonel, enemies only a few months earlier. Nathan Green Jr. kept the school together until Henry Cooper, a circuit judge, Andrew B. Martin, and

Robert L. Caruthers Robert Looney Caruthers (July 31, 1800 – October 2, 1882) was an American judge, politician, and professor. He helped establish Cumberland University in 1842, serving as the first president of its board of trustees, and was a cofounder of ...

, brother of deceased founder Abraham Caruthers, joined the faculty. Robert Caruthers had previously served as the state attorney general and had been elected Governor of Tennessee during the war in 1863, but was never inaugurated. In 1873 Robert Caruthers purchased Corona Hall from the Corona Institute for Women for $10,000, which he immediately donated to the University for use by the law school. The destruction of the campus and the devastation of war had impoverished the school, and it was almost 15 years before it saw students enter from outside the South, when a student from Illinois and a member of the Choctaw Nation enrolled at Cumberland. But there were few students from outside of the defeated Southern states, which Langum and Walthall claim underscored "how terribly the Civil War blighted Cumberland." Robert Caruthers persisted, despite the setbacks, and in 1878 Caruthers Hall was dedicated in his honor. This new school replaced Corona Hall, which had limitations. The new hall apparently had "excellent acoustics and hard seats" and is described as a:

splendid structure, built after the latest architectural style, is nearly one hundred feet from base to spire, and contains two recitation rooms for the Law Department, two Society Halls, a Library, and a chapel whose seating capacity is about seven hundred.

National shift in legal education

Despite the heroic efforts to keep the school alive, Cumberland was falling into the minority at the turn of the 20th century. It maintained a one-year curriculum when other schools moved toward longer terms, and it was entrenched with legal formalism, which had reached its peak in the 1870s and would soon be on the decline. In 1876, for instance,

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

began to encourage a three-year curriculum. Through 1919, Cumberland did not adapt to the shift in legal education. Historian Lewis L. Laska observed that:

Cumberland, which had once marked the high point of professional education, had become a captive of its own success. Unwilling to adopt modern techniques such as the
case method The case method is a teaching approach that uses decision-forcing cases to put students in the role of people who were faced with difficult decisions at some point in the past. It developed during the course of the twentieth-century from its origin ...
, or to expand and deepen its curriculum by opting for the three-year standard, Cumberland became the symbol of the democratic bar.Langum & Walthall, p.97

In 1903 Nathan Green Jr. became the first dean of the law school. For the prior 57 years the school did not have this position, which was becoming more and more popular among law schools. Cumberland first admitted women in 1901, and the library grew from 600 volumes in 1869 to 3000 in 1878. Today, the Lucille Stewart Beeson Law Library contains 300,000 volumes and microform volume equivalents. In 1915 Cumberland refurbished its halls with an $8000 grant from the U.S. government as reparation for federal occupancy during the Civil War. When

graduated from Cumberland, he commented on the diploma privilege, which granted the right to practice law without taking a bar exam, saying that

according to custom, we members of the graduating class, the moment we received our diplomas, took them to the courthouse, where a district judge awaited us. He swore us in as members of the bar. I was not 20 years old.

Cordell Hull is today honored at Cumberland with a

Moot Court Moot court is a co-curricular activity at many law schools. Participants take part in simulated court or arbitration proceedings, usually involving drafting memorials or memoranda and participating in oral argument. In most countries, the phrase " ...

room bearing his name. Cumberland eventually did adapt to the changing times, moving from

, to

in 1961. It is one of a few law schools in the United States to have been sold from one university to another (others include the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...

selling its law school to

Seattle University Seattle University (SeattleU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington. Seattle University is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate prog ...

and the Quinnipiac University School of Law, formerly part of the University of Bridgeport).

Planning

Cumberland School of Law Main Hall and Courtyard

In December 2005 Cumberland adopted a long-term plan for the school. One call of the plan is to gradually downsize the number of students in order to provide smaller classes and closer individual attention to students. In 1995 the entering class was 212 and by 2007 that number had been reduced to 159. Today the law school is known for its emphasis on trial advocacy and is building a biotechnology emphasis through its Biotechnology Center.

Institution

The law school emphasizes practical skills and integrity. The former dean, former

federal judge Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state/provincial/local level. United States A US federal judge is appointed by the US President and confirmed by the US Senate in accordance with Article 3 of ...

John L. Carroll John L. Carroll was dean of Cumberland School of Law in Homewood, Alabama from 2001 - 2013. Prior to his appointment as dean, Carroll served for 14 years in the position of Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Alabama. Carr ...

(class of '74) has stated that:

The prevailing philosophy is simple: Practical skill outweighs raw knowledge, and application transcends erudition. If the goal were to produce great law students, the tenets might be exactly the opposite. Our goal is to produce exceptional lawyers. That's why Cumberland’s curriculum emphasizes the core competencies of legal practice: research, writing and persuasion.

Curriculum

The first year required classes are: Civil Procedure,

Contracts A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

Property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

Torts A tort is a civil wrong that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with criminal wrongs that are punishable ...

Criminal Law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

, and

Evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...

. Students are divided into one of three sections, where the students remain together in their respective classes for the entire first year. First-year students are also enrolled in smaller sections for Lawyering and Legal Reasoning, a class that focuses on honing the students' ability to think and write like a lawyer. Second- and third-year courses allow students more choices and some degree of specialization. Cumberland offers a balance of traditional courses, such as Criminal Procedure, Family Law, and Basic Federal Income Tax, and practical courses, such as Basic and Advanced Trial Skills, Business Drafting, Real Estate Transactions, and Law Office Practice and Management. Students must also take Professional Responsibility and the

MPRE The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) is a 120-minute, 60-question, multiple-choice examination designed to measure the knowledge and understanding of established standards related to a lawyer's professional conduct. It i ...

, an exam that is required to practice in addition to the bar exam. Students are taught using the Socratic Method, typical of law school pedagogy.

Foreign programs

* Summer 2006 –

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wife ...

, England; * Summer 2006 –

Universidade Federal do Ceará The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

Fortaleza Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the t ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

; * Summer 2006 –

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada.

The Lucille Stewart Beeson Law Library

The library building is with 13 conference rooms, 474 study spaces, carrels equipped with electrical and data connections, and three computer labs. The collection consists of approximately 300,000 volumes and microform volume equivalents. The library also offers electronic and audiovisual resources. There are seven full-time librarians, eight full-time support staff members, and four part-time support staff members.

The Center for Biotechnology, Law, and Ethics

The Center for Biotechnology, Law and Ethics focus is on the research and study of the ethical and legal issues arising from the

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

industry, which is important to the City of Birmingham.Samford.edu
/ref> Each year the Center sponsors a major symposium which attracts nationally known experts. The 2007 Symposium, entitled "The United States Health-Care System: Access, Equity and Efficiency", focused on the issues of health care delivery in the United States, particularly to the poor, the problems that exist and potential solutions to those problems. The symposium brought together experts from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, the Saint Louis University School of Law and Texas A & M University and Cumberland. The keynote address, which was also the

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

Lecture, was presented by United States Congressman Artur Davis, a leader on issues relating to the delivery of health care services. Other research centers include the Center for Law & Church, and the Alabama Center for Law and

Civic Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things: General *Civics, the science of comparative government *Civic engagement, the connection one feels with their larger community *Civic center, a comm ...

Education

Admissions statistics

The Fall 2018 entering class consisted of 150 students with an average LSAT of 151 and average

GPA Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

of 3.23. The top 75th percentile of the class has an LSAT of 154 and 3.61 GPA. The median age is 24, and the group is 51% male and 49% female. The minority percentage is 17.4%, with 9.3% of those students identifying as African American.

Employment

According to Samford's official 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 57.8% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. Samford's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 30.5%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2013 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Samford for the 2013–2014 academic year is $56,492. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $214,268.

Organizations

Publications

# The ''

Cumberland Law Review The ''Cumberland Law Review'' is a law review published by the students at Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded in 1970, the ''Review'' publishes two issues a year, with each issue averaging between 150 and 200 pages. Each iss ...

'', whose members are selected by write-in from the top 15% of the freshman class. # ''The American Journal of Trial Advocacy'', whose members are selected by write-in from the top 33% of the freshman class.

Selected student organizations

* Alabama Defense Lawyer's Association * The

American Constitution Society for Law and Policy The American Constitution Society (ACS) is a progressive legal organization. ACS was created as a counterweight to, and is modeled after, the Federalist Society, and is often described as its progressive counterpart. Founded in 2001 following t ...

Association of Trial Lawyers of America The American Association for Justice (AAJ), formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) is a nonprofit advocacy and lobbying organization for plaintiff's lawyers in the United States. Focused on opposing tort reform, the organiza ...

(ATLA) * Black Law Students Association *

Christian Legal Society Christian Legal Society (CLS) is a non-profit Christian headquartered in Virginia, United States. The organization consists of lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students. Its members are bound to follow the "commandment of Jesus" and to "se ...

Speakers Forum * Federalist Society * Henry Upson Sims Moot Court Board * Law, Science and Technology Society * Phi Alpha Delta * Student Bar Association * Trial Advocacy Board * Women in the Law In 2007, student teams from Cumberland won both the Criminal Justice Trial Competition held in Hamden, Connecticut and the Lone Star Classic Mock Trial Competition in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. In 2008, Cumberland placed first out of 256 other teams in the

American Association for Justice The American Association for Justice (AAJ), formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) is a nonprofit advocacy and lobbying organization for plaintiff's lawyers in the United States. Focused on opposing tort reform, the organiza ...

National Student Trial Advocacy Competition and in 2009 placed second, losing by one point. The same year, Cumberland made the finals of the ABA National Appellate Advocacy competition. It was one of four from 30 teams in its region that went to the national finals in Chicago. Cumberland won third best brief in the region. In 2009, a Cumberland team won the regional round of the National Trial Competition in Tallahassee, Florida, advancing to the national championship round in San Antonio. Cumberland was the only school in the competition to have both of its teams advance to the semi-final round. Cumberland also won the

Mock Trial Competition regional championship advancing to the national championship round in West Palm Beach, FL.

Student life

Cumberland offers numerous extracurricular activities. Housing for law students is not available on campus, but students typically rent apartments or buy houses in the surrounding community.

Rankings

In 2005, 2006 and 2007 the ''

Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...

'' included Cumberland in its "Best 170 Law Schools", ranking it in two top-10 lists for three years in a row. In 2009, US News ranked Cumberland's Trial Advocacy Program ninth in the nation. In 2007 Cumberland ranked sixth for faculty performance and accessibility and seventh for overall quality of life. '' U.S. News & World Report'' in its 2020 ranking places Cumberland at #146-192 in Best Law Schools.

Deans

Notable alumni

* John David Roy Atchison (1954–2007), Assistant US Attorney and children's sports coach, committed suicide in prison after being charged with soliciting sex from a 5-year-old girl *

Brady E. Mendheim Jr. Brady Eutaw Mendheim Jr. (born July 26, 1968) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama. Biography Mendheim earned his Bachelor of Arts from Auburn University and his Juris Doctor from Cumberland ...

, Supreme Court of Alabama Associate Justice. *

John H. Smithwick John Harris Smithwick (July 17, 1872 – December 2, 1948) was an American lawyer and politician who served four terms as a U.S. Representative from Florida from 1919 to 1927. Biography Smithwick was born near Orange, Georgia and attended ...

, Democratic congressman from Florida (1919-1927) *

Randall Woodfin Randall Woodfin (born May 29, 1981) is an American lawyer and politician who is the 34th and current mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, after winning the October 3, 2017, runoff against incumbent William A. Bell. He previously served as president of ...

, Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama (2017–present) * Doug Jones, United States Senator from Alabama (2018-2021) *

T.J. Johnston Thomas William "T. J." Johnston Jr. (born 1956) is an American lawyer and bishop of the Anglican Church in North America. As the first Episcopal priest whose orders were transferred to the Anglican Church of Rwanda in the 1990s, Johnston was a key ...

, environmental lawyer and Anglican bishop

Government

United States government

Executive branch

=Cabinet members and cabinet-level officers

= *

(D) –

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

under

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

recipient, 11 terms as

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

, chairman of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

, co-initiated the

Judicial branch

=Supreme Court

= *

Howell Edmunds Jackson Howell Edmunds Jackson (April 8, 1832 – August 8, 1895) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1893 until his death in 1895. His brief tenure on the Su ...

Horace Harmon Lurton Horace Harmon Lurton (February 26, 1844 – July 12, 1914) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and previously was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and of t ...

– United States Supreme Court Justice, Tennessee Supreme Court, justice

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of K ...

, dean of

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

law department

=Court of Appeals

= *

Joel Fredrick Dubina Joel Fredrick Dubina (born October 26, 1947) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the Unite ...

– Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, former federal Magistrate Judge and District Judge. *

William H. Pryor Jr. William Holcombe Pryor Jr. (born April 26, 1962) is an American lawyer serving as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is a former commissioner of the United States Sentencing Commission. Previously, ...

– judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, former Alabama Attorney General, adjunct professor

=U.S. District Court

= * James V. Allred - United States District Judge ( United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas) *

Karon O. Bowdre Karon Lynn Owen Bowdre (born April 25, 1955) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Early life and education Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Bowdre graduated from Samford Un ...

– United States District Judge (

United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama (in case citations, N.D. Ala.) is a federal court in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims again ...

) *

Harry E. Claiborne Harry Eugene Claiborne (July 2, 1917 – January 19, 2004) was a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada from 1978 until his Impeachment in the United States, impe ...

– United States District Judge ( United States District Court for the District of Nevada), impeached *

Max O. Cogburn Jr. Max Oliver Cogburn Jr. (born April 21, 1951) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Early life and education Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cogburn earned a Bachelor o ...

– United States District Judge (

United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (in case citations, W.D.N.C.) is a federal district court which covers the western third of North Carolina. Appeals from the Western District of North Carolina are take ...

) *

James I. Cohn James Ivan Cohn (born December 23, 1948) is a Senior status, senior United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Early life and education Cohn was born in 194 ...

– United States District Judge (

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (in case citations, S.D. Fla. or S.D. Fl.) is the federal United States district court with territorial jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida.. Appeals ...

)

=Other federal courts

= *

– former United States Magistrate judge and dean of Cumberland School of Law, Legal Director of the

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...

Legislative branch

=Senators

= *

Henry Cooper (U.S. Senator) Henry Cooper (August 22, 1827February 4, 1884) was a Tennessee attorney, judge, and politician who served one term in the United States Senate, 1871–1877. During his career, Cooper had various political affiliations, including Whig, Know ...

(D) – United States Senator from Tennessee. *

Thomas P. Gore Thomas Pryor Gore (December 10, 1870March 16, 1949) was an American politician who served as one of the first two United States senators from Oklahoma, from 1907 to 1921 and again from 1931 to 1937. He first entered politics as an activist for ...

- U.S. Senator (D) from Oklahoma *

Carl Hatch Carl Atwood Hatch (November 27, 1889 – September 15, 1963) was a United States senator from New Mexico and later was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. Education and career Hatch w ...

(D) – U.S. Senator from New Mexico, author of the Hatch Act of 1939 * Doug Jones (D) - U.S. Senator from Alabama *

William F. Kirby William Fosgate Kirby (November 16, 1867July 26, 1934) was a Democratic Party politician from Arkansas who represented the state in the U.S. Senate from 1916 to 1921. Kirby was born in Miller County, Arkansas, near Texarkana, on November 16, ...

(D) – U.S. Senator from Arkansas, associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, Attorney General for Arkansas, author of ''Kirby’s Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas'' * Joshua B. Lee (D) – U.S. Senator and Representative from Oklahoma * Bert H. Miller (D) – U.S. Senator from Idaho and Idaho Attorney General * Tom Stewart (politician), Tom Stewart (D) – U.S. Senator from Tennessee, chief prosecutor during the Scopes Trial

=U.S. Representatives

= # Thomas G. Abernethy (D)-

from Mississippi (1943–1973) # Robert Aderholt (R)-

from Alabama (1997– ) # Clifford Allen (D) –

from Tennessee # Richard Merrill Atkinson (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Maecenas Eason Benton (D) – U.S. Representative from Missouri. Father of famed artist Thomas Hart Benton (painter), Thomas Hart Benton # Joseph Edgar Brown (R) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Foster V. Brown (R) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee, father of Joseph Edgar Brown # Omar Burleson (D) – U.S. Representative from Texas # Robert R. Butler (R) – U.S. Representative from Oregon # Adam M. Byrd (D) – U.S. Representative from Mississippi # William Parker Caldwell (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee, Tennessee State Senator # Samuel Caruthers (W) – U.S. Representative from Missouri # Frank Chelf (D) – U.S. Representative from Kentucky # Judson C. Clements (D) – U.S. Representative from Georgia # Wynne F. Clouse (R) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee #William B. Craig (D) – U.S. Representative from Alabama # Jere Cooper (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # John Duncan Sr. (R) – 12 term U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Harold Earthman (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Benjamin A. Enloe (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Joe L. Evins (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Lewis P. Featherstone (D) – U.S. Representative from Arkansas # Aaron L. Ford (D) – U.S. Representative from Mississippi # William Voris Gregory (D) – U.S. Representative from Kentucky # Edward Isaac Golladay (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Isaac Goodnight (D) – U.S. Representative from Kentucky # Oren Harris (D) – U.S. Representative from Arkansas # Robert H. Hatton (O) – U.S. Congressman, Confederate States Army, Confederate brigadier general, Opposition party member, killed during the Battle of Fair Oaks # Goldsmith W. Hewitt (D) – U.S. Representative from Alabama # Wilson S. Hill (D) – U.S. Representative from Missouri # George Huddleston (D) – U.S. Representative from Alabama and father of George Huddleston Jr. #

(D) – also a United States Supreme Court Justice, brother of General William Hicks Jackson # Evan Jenkins (politician), Evan Jenkins (R) – U.S. Representative from West Virgini

# Abraham Kazen (D) – U.S. Representative from Texas # Wade H. Kitchens (D) – U.S. Representative from Arkansas # John C. Kyle (D) – U.S. Representative from Mississippi # John Ridley Mitchell – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Tom J. Murray (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Wright Patman (D) – U.S. Representative from Texas # Herron C. Pearson (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Andrew Price (politician), Andrew Price (D) – U.S. Representative from Louisiana # Haywood Yancey Riddle (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Martha Roby (R) – U.S. Representative from Alabama # Dennis A. Ross (R) – U.S. Representative from Florida # Thetus W. Sims (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # James Edward Ruffin (D) – U.S. Representative from Missouri # Thomas U. Sisson (D) – U.S. Representative from Mississippi #

(D) – U.S. Representative from Florida # Charles Swindall (R) – U.S. Representative from Oklahoma # John May Taylor (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Anthony F. Tauriello (D) – U.S. Representative for New York # J. Will Taylor (R) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Zachary Taylor (Tennessee politician), Zachary Taylor (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee # Richard Warner (politician), Richard Warner (D) – U.S. Representative from Tennessee

Military

* George Doherty Johnson – Confederate brigadier general, United States Civil Service Commissioner, superintendent of The Citadel (military college)

Miscellaneous United States government

* Mauricio J. Tamargo – 14th Chairman of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission

State government

=Governors

= * James V. Allred (D) – 2 term Governor of Texas * Albert Brewer – Governor of Alabama, Distinguished Professor of Law and Government * Gordon Browning (D) – Governor of Tennessee, U.S. Representative from Tennessee *

– Governor of Tennessee, Tennessee Attorney General * Sidney J. Catts (P) – Governor of Florida (22nd), Prohibition party candidate * LeRoy Collins (D) – Governor of Florida * Charlie Crist (R) – Governor of Florida, Former Florida Attorney General * Edward H. East (W) – Secretary of State for Tennessee and Acting Governor of Tennessee in 1865 * William J. Holloway (D) – Governor of Oklahoma

=State Attorneys General

= * Charles Graddick (R)- Former Attorney General of Alabama, candidate for Governor during the famous 1986 race * Crawford Martin (D) – Texas State Senator, Texas Secretary of State, Attorney General of Texas, and mayor of Hillsboro, Texas * Joseph Turner Patterson (D) - Former Attorney General of Mississippi

=State judges, politicians and others

= * Oscar Adams – the first African-American Alabama Supreme Court justice and the first African American elected to statewide office in Alabama (including the Reconstruction era of the United States, Reconstruction era), taught classes in appellate and trial advocacy. * John Amari – Circuit judge in Birmingham; former member of both houses of the Alabama State Legislature * Roger Bedford Jr. (D) – seven term Alabama State Senator * John F. Cosgrove (D) – Florida legislator and first mayor of Cutler Bay, Florida * Ryan DeGraffenried (D) – Alabama State Senator, President Pro Tempore of state Senate, Acting Lieutenant Governor of Alabama * Read Fletcher (D) – Arkansas House of Representatives * Grafton Green – associate justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, presided over the appeal of John T. Scopes * Ralph Haben (D) – Former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives * Van Hilleary (R) – Tennessee politician and lobbyist * James Edwin Horton – Judge who presided over the retrial of the Scottsboro Boys who set aside the jury's conviction and sentence of death and was then removed by the Alabama Supreme Court. He is remembered by a plaque on the courthouse. * Jeff Hoover (R) – Kentucky House of Representatives * Carolyn Hugley (D) – Minority Whip, Georgia House of Representatives * Douglas S. Jackson (D) – State Senator from Tennessee, executive director of the Renaissance Center * Napoleon B. Johnson (D) - Justice, Oklahoma State Supreme Court * Zeb Little (D) – Majority Leader and Floor Leader of the Alabama Senate * Joe McInnes Director of Ala Dept of Transportation, Exec VP of Blount Inc * Horace Elmo Nichols – Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia from 1975–1980 * Charles H. O'Brien (D) – Tennessee State Senator, Tennessee State Supreme Court * William Y. Pemberton – Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court * DuBose Porter (D) – Minority Leader, Georgia House of Representatives * Paine Page Prim – chief justice of the

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. Hilley wrote ''Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader'' (Zondervan/HarperCollins), which reached The New York Times Best Seller list during the final two weeks of the 2008 Presidential Election campaign. * Mike Papantonio – head of mass tort department at Levin, Papantonio in Pensacola, Florida, one of America's 15 most successful plaintiff's firms; host of the radio show Ring of Fire (radio program); a Methodist and featured on the documentary Jesus Camp. * Mike Stewart (novelist), Mike Stewart – American writer * John Strohm (musician), John Strohm – entertainment lawyer and former member of the Blake Babies and The Lemonheads Hull-Cordell-LOC.jpg,

– ''Nobel Peace Prize, U.S. Secretary of State, Father of the U.N.'' Justice Howell Jackson2.jpg, Howell Jackson – ''Supreme Court Justice'','' Justice for U.S. Sixth Circuit'', ''U.S. Senator'', ''U.S. Representative'' George Doherty Johnson.jpg, George Doherty Johnson – Civil War general and superintendent of The Citadel (military college) Carl Atwood Hatch.jpg,

(D) – U.S. Senator from New Mexico, author of the Hatch Act of 1939, Hatch Acts of 1939 and 1940 Cumberland School of Law - Carroll.JPG, Judge

, former dean of Cumberland, addressing Cumberland's 2006 graduation ceremony Thomas G. Abernethy cph.3c32239u.jpg, Thomas G. Abernethy (D)-

from Mississippi Robert Aderholt official photo (cropped).jpg, Robert Aderholt (R)-

from Alabama (1997– ) William Parker Caldwell - Brady-Handy.jpg, William Parker Caldwell – American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the Tennessee's 9th congressional district, 9th congressional district of

GWHewitt.jpg, Goldsmith W. Hewitt (D) – U.S. Representative from Alabama Evan Jenkins official congressional photo.jpg, Evan Jenkins (politician), Evan Jenkins (R) - U.S. Representative from West Virginia

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cumberland School Of Law Law schools in Alabama Cumberland University Samford University Educational institutions established in 1847 1847 establishments in Tennessee