Cumberland School of Law

Cumberland School of Law is the law school of Samford University in Homewood, near Birmingham. Founded on July 29, 1847 at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, it moved to Samford in 1961 and is described as the 11th oldest law school in the United States.[1][2]

History

Cumberland began in 1847 in Lebanon, Tennessee and adopted the motto “E Cineribus Resurgo” (“I rise from the ashes”) and the phoenix emblem in 1866. Its first graduate, Paine Page Prim, later became chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. Samford acquired the school in 1961 and moved it to Alabama;[1][2]

Programmes and outcomes

The law school offers a 90-hour Juris Doctor, a Master of Comparative Law, an LL.M. with four concentrations and eight dual-degree programmes. Two student journals operate: the Cumberland Law Review (top 15 percent of the first-year class) and the American Journal of Trial Advocacy (top 33 percent). For the fall 2023 entering class of 152, the average LSAT was 155, the average GPA was 3.61 and the acceptance rate was 55.67 percent. First-time bar passage was 78.36 percent in 2023 and the ultimate pass rate for the class of 2021 was 93.80 percent. U.S. News ranked it tied for 103rd of 196 ABA schools in 2024.[1]

Advocacy and alumni

Cumberland teams won first place among 256 teams at the 2008 AAJ National Student Trial Advocacy Competition. A moot court room is named for Cordell Hull, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient and U.S. Secretary of State who studied here. Two U.S. Supreme Court justices, Horace Harmon Lurton and Howell Edmunds Jackson, are alumni, as are U.S. Senator Doug Jones and Representative Martha Roby.[1]

History

Cumberland School of Law was founded July 29, 1847, at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, and moved to Samford University in 1961. It is an ABA-accredited private school; alumni include U.S. Supreme Court justices Horace Harmon Lurton and Howell Edmunds Jackson.[3]

Programs

It offers a 90-hour J.D., a Master of Comparative Law, eight dual-degree programs and an LL.M. with several concentrations. Enrollment is 449 students, and U.S. News 2024 rankings placed it tied at No. 103 among 196 ABA-accredited schools.[3]

FAQs

When was Cumberland School of Law founded? July 29, 1847, in Lebanon, Tennessee.

When did it move to Alabama? 1961, when Samford University acquired it.

Who is a famous alumnus? Cordell Hull, U.S. Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Cumberland School of Law
2. Samford University Library: Howard College and Samford University timeline
3. Wikipedia: Cumberland School of Law

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 10, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue