Called to the Bar, Alumni & Intercollegiate Athletics

As I have mentioned in one of my previous blogs, we have a year long orientation for our entering students entitled Called to the Bar. It is designed to emphasize the core values of our profession and to emphasize that being a lawyer is a real calling not just a job. Our first Called to the Bar program is always special. Doug Jones '79 talks to our students about the prosecution of the individuals who bombed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in September of 1963. Doug has received national honors for his work in that prominent case.

We ask Doug to give this presentation to underscore the power of the law to do good. It is always a spectacular presentation which leaves a very positive impression on our students. An interesting sidebar of the presentation is the fact that most of the prosecutors and defense lawyers in the case were Cumberland graduates. Even one of the prosecutors who was not a Cumberland graduate, Don Cochran, is now a professor at the law school. The judge who presided over the case and who gained national attention for his fairness was Judge Jim Garrett '71.

I had the good fortune this week to travel to Huntsville to appear on a TV show about law schools and legal careers. The show was sponsored by the Siniard, Timberlake & League firm. My appearance on the show gave me the opportunity to talk about the many great things going on at Cumberland. It also gave me the opportunity to spend time with Mike Timberlake '95 who was one of the moderators. I also had dinner with one of my old classmates, Bruce Williams '74. Bruce has been a circuit judge in Huntsvile since 1995. Ir was great fun regaling each other with tales from our law school days.

I also met Chris Wooten '08 and Heath Brooks '08 for breakfast. They were outstanding members of our trial advocacy program and both work for Mike Timberlake's firm. Chris and Heath are excellent examples of the kinds of exceptional people we are sending to our profession.

This year, we have something at the law school that we may not have had before - a law student playing intercollegiate athletics for Samford. Ashley Adams is a 1l who came to Cumberland from Columbus, Ohio. She was a standout volleyball player at Middle Tennessee and happened to have a year of eligibility left. She joined the Samford University Women's Volleyball team and has led them to a 7-2 record. Yesterday, in a game against Murray State, she set the all time Samford record for kills in a single game by recording 31. She is also an excellent student.

More next week.