Welcome to Samford University's
Cumberland School of Law one of the
oldest and most historic law schools in
the country I'm Corky Strickland I've
been a professor at Cumberland for the
last 26 years I'm now honored and
excited to serve as the Dean of the Law
school as it enters this next phase of
its history Cumberland school of law was
established in 1847 using a unique
instructional method based on intensive
trial practice and Moot Court
Cumberland's first law professor Abraham
Carruthers indeed at that time
Cumberland's only law professor said this
in his inaugural address Cumberland is
to be a place where the law is to be
studied practically so studied I mean as
to prepare the student for practice the
Cumberland graduate will be prepared to
enter at once on the duties of the
profession Cumberland has held true to
that purpose and it remains steadfast to
that purpose today we take legal
scholarship legal theory legal analysis
very seriously but we realize that the
practice of law entails using the law
very purposely in practical context to
help people and to help businesses most
law schools in recent years have
recognized the importance of a practical
legal education and proclaim a goal of
producing practice ready lawyers
Cumberland meanwhile has been doing that
for over 160 years our faculty have been
selected groomed and trained over time
to accomplish just that goal we have a
long record of preparing our graduates
for practice evidence of that includes
our many championships in trial practice
and mock trial and moot court
competitions it's also evidenced by the
many reports we received from employers
who say our graduates are more prepared
for work in the law firm setting we also
have over 8,300 graduates practicing law
daily across the country some have
included governor's congressmen and
innumerable federal and state judges so
how do we prepare students for the
practice of law it starts with a great
faculty we hire faculty all of whom have
practiced law themselves they're all
committed
to being good teachers in addition to
being accomplished scholars we also
provide students innumerable opportunity
to practice their knowledge and skills
in a practical context that includes
countless intramural competitions
inter-school competitions externships
and even the ability to work in a number
of law firms across the city of
Birmingham the practice of law though is
not static it is continuously evolving
with our society and so we at Cumberland
are constantly engaging focus groups and
surveys of the practicing bar to make
sure our students have the knowledge and
the skills that are needed to excel in
law practice in the 21st century one
more benefit of studying law at
Cumberland is that all this preparation
takes place in an unusually supportive
environment the Cumberland student body
is an unusually cohesive group that
forms bonds that last a lifetime the
Cumberland faculty and the Cumberland
staff not only are available to students
they actively cultivate relationships
with students to support their study of
law and their future careers this
personal interaction is made possible in
part because Cumberland is by design one
of the smallest ABA approved law schools
in the country in the 1990s we began
reducing entering class size to ensure a
collegial supportive learning
environment if you choose to study law
at Cumberland you'll find an incredibly
friendly and supportive community great
teachers and a program laser focused on
you and your future success I invite you
to explore this website to see those
teachers to look at the programs we have
available and if you have any questions
feel free to contact me directly anyone
on campus or please come visit us on
campus yourself