Students and New Faculty - August 21, 2008

This is always an exciting time of the year at the law school. Classes have started and our second and third year students have returned. It is a real joy for me to hear about their summer experiences. For me, it also marks a return to teaching. In the first semester, I co-teach a mediation practice course along with Cassandra Adams, the Director of our Cumberland Community Mediation Project. The course teaches our students to be mediators which gives them an inside look at the mediation process. I also teach an on-line course entitled e-Discovery and Evidence. The course focuses on the law relating to the discovery of electronically stored information and related evidentiary issues. My interest in e-discovery stems from my days as a member of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. We are one of the few law schools in the country which offers an e-discovery course which, I am told, is a hot topic in litigation.

One of the great strengths of our law school is the faculty. Because they have all practiced law, they are able to combine the intellectual side of the law with the practical. We welcome two new faculty members to the Cumberland Community this semester. The first new professor is Dayna Harmelin. Professor Harmelin is a graduate of the University of Florida and a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan School of Law. She clerked for Judge Rosemary Pooler on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Before joining our faculty, Professor Harmelin was a litigation associate with Dow Lohnes in Atlanta.

The second new faculty member is Greg Laughlin. Professor Laughlin is a graduate of Missouri State University and the University of Missouri School of Law. He also has masters degree in library and information science from the University of Illinois. Professor Laughlin will also the Director of our Lucille Beeson Law Library. He comes to us from the University of Memphis School of Law where he was the Associate Dean for Information Services and Law Library Director. We are excited about these great new additions to our faculty.

I like to keep you abreast of what is going in with our faculty. This past week marked the publication of a new book by Professor Mike Floyd of our faculty. The book is published by Carolina Acadmic Press and is entitled "Mastering Negotiable Instruments"

This week also marks the official opening of the University and is marked by a state of the university address by the president, Andy Westmoreland. During his address, the president announced that the University will embark on 200 million dollar capital campaign in October. the law school will be an important part of the campaign. President Westmoreland is doing an outstanding job of leading the university and is a real supporter of the law school.

These are also exciting times for the Samford sports teams. Over the summer, Samford moved to the Southern Conference which is a good thing for the law school. We will be playing schools like Appalachian State, Furman, the College of Charleston and Davidson which are natural feeder schools for us. In addition, the enhanced national profile that the Southern Conference has will help the national reputation of the University and our law school.

See you next week.