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ABA Standard 509 Consumer Information ReportThis information is presented in compliance with ABA Standard 509 for 2011−2012. Cumberland School of Law, established in 1847 as a part of Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, is one of the oldest law schools in the country. The law school was acquired by Samford University in 1961. Today, Samford University is the largest privately supported and fully accredited institution of higher learning in Alabama. Samford’s beautiful 300 acre campus is located in a suburban area of Birmingham, the state’s largest industrial, business, and cultural center. Cumberland School of Law has been a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) since 1952 and has been accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) since 1949. The Office of the Consultant on Legal Education/Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar can be reached at American Bar Association, 321 N. Clark Street, 21st Floor, Chicago, IL 60654 (phone: 312.988.6738 & fax: 312.988.5681).
ABA Standard 509 (b) A law school shall publicly disclose on its website consumer information in the following categories: (1) admissions data; (2) tuition, fees, living costs, financial aid, conditional scholarships and refunds; (3) enrollment data and attrition/graduation rates; (4) number of full-time and part-time faculty and administrators; (5) curricular offerings, academic calendar, and academic requirements; (6) library resources; (7) facilities; (8) employment outcomes and bar passage data. (c) A law school shall publicly disclose on its website, in a readable and comprehensive manner, its policies regarding the transfer of credit earned at another institution of higher education. The law school’s transfer of credit policies must include, at a minimum:
Employment Data Individual employment summary reports for graduates The National Association for Law Placement (NALP)
American Bar Association (ABA)
The Office of Career Development provides the training, resources, and guidance to enable Cumberland students and alumni to make well-informed career choices, secure employment as quickly and efficiently as possible, and forge rewarding careers. To help students and graduates achieve these goals, the office provides career counseling, résumé editing, practice interviews, on-campus interview programs, job fairs, job listings, instructional handouts, a resource library, and extensive educational programming. In addition to educational programs on résumé drafting, interviewing skills, networking, and job searching, Career Development also presents a “Lunch with a Lawyer” series, in which Cumberland alumni and other law school graduates come to campus to discuss the practical aspects of their work in various traditional and nontraditional legal jobs. All programs are taught by the attorneys on the Career Development staff and by Cumberland alumni and other attorneys.
Bar Passage Rates
Admission The law school seeks a diverse student body that will make a contribution to the law school and the legal profession. To that end, every applicant’s file is thoroughly reviewed for admission. In addition to the LSAT and GPA, difficulty of major, personal challenges overcome, graduate work completed, scholarly achievements, and volunteer and work experience are also considered. Applications are evaluated on a rolling basis, so it is important to apply early.
Applicants: first-time/transfer/visiting Entering and transfer students are accepted for fall semester only and are strongly encouraged to submit their applications online. The link provided above will direct you to LSAC's applicant website. Those who have a hardship and are unable to submit an electronic application should contact the Law Admissions Office at lawadm@samford.edu for instructions on how to submit a paper application. Transfer Credit Details Please note, once a transfer student is admitted, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will confirm the number of law school credit hours that will transfer. In most instances, all credit hours for regular first-year law courses earned at an ABA-approved law school with a grade of "C" or better will transfer. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will evaluate additional hours, up to a maximum of 40 credit hours. Visiting Students Visiting students are accepted for summer, fall and spring semesters. These applicants must submit a paper application.
Conditional Scholarship Data*
*Samford University Cumberland School of Law’s scholarship retention policy was first implemented with the fall 2011 entering class. Conditional scholarships are suspended for those recipients who are not in good scholarship standing. Good scholarship standing requires recipients to maintain a law school GPA that would rank them in the top two-thirds of their class at the conclusion of an academic year. Scholarships can be reinstated for a subsequent academic year where a recipient restores his or her class rank to be within the academic requirement.
Scholarships Generous merit-based scholarship assistance is awarded to Cumberland’s entering and current law students annually. In addition, numerous other scholarships are provided to those students who distinguish themselves academically, make outstanding contributions through leadership in the law school, or demonstrate financial need.
Tuition and Cost of Living 2012-13 Law Student Budget
*Tuition costs are subject to change for the 2013–14 academic year. The cost of attendance, the total estimated amount it will cost a student to complete one year of Law school, is determined using rules established by the U.S. Congress. Contact the Samford University Financial Aid Office if you have any unusual expenses that might affect your cost of attendance. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid or “FAFSA” form can be access at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov.
Refund Policy: The refund policy is set by the University may be found here: http://www4.samford.edu/admin/bursar/refund_withdrawal.html All seat deposits paid during the admission process are nonrefundable. If a student enrolls, all seat deposits will be credited toward the fall tuition of the entering admission year.
Attrition Rates
Graduation Rates
Faculty and Administration
The typical joint-degree program permits the student to apply 12 hours in the other program toward the J.D. requirements, these grades are not transferred to the student’s law school transcript. Similarly, a student may apply 6-9 hours (depending on the program) of law school credit toward the other graduate degree. Courses taken prior to matriculation in the law school’s J.D. program may not be counted toward the J.D. degree requirements. A student participating in a joint-degree program will not be permitted to count the credit hours for courses taken in the other degree program toward the J.D. requirements until the other degree is awarded following completion of all applicable requirements. JD/MBA
The law school building, Memory Leake Robinson Hall, and the Lucille Stewart Beeson Law Library, are connected by a passageway and are located on the campus of Samford University, which is known for its Georgian-Colonial architectural style. The law school, in addition to its classrooms and seminar rooms, has three fully-equipped courtrooms and is the home of the faculty and administrative offices. All classrooms have a SMART board or SMART Sympodium. The Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton Advanced Advocacy Courtroom is updated to reflect the technology available in courtrooms across the country. A wireless network service provides laptop users with fast and convenient access to email and web-based services from anywhere on campus.
Library Resources The law library is designed to accommodate private study and discussion, housing 13 conference rooms, 474 study spaces, carrels with electrical connections, long tables and comfortable seating. With more than 200,000 shelved volumes and 96,000 on microfiche, the library contains all federal and state judicial opinions and statutory codes. Students can read law reviews from every American law school, as well as access the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations, United States Hearings and Reports, and selected foreign common law rulings. Three computer labs and wireless internet offer instant access to additional online databases, such as LexisNexis, Westlaw, Hein Online, Bureau of National Affairs, Index to Legal Periodicals, Berkeley Electronic Press (bepress) Journals, LegalTrac, Loislaw, Versuslaw, and Case-MakerX, as well as databases subscribed to by the University Library and the library catalog.
The Student Bar Association functions as the first professional organization of a law student’s career. In addition to the more than two dozen outstanding organizations, students may also be invited to join one of three national legal fraternities and be inducted into two honorary societies, Order of the Barrister and Curia Honoris. Student-run publications include Cumberland Law Review and American Journal of Trial Advocacy.
Page last updated: Wed, 04/03/2013 - 09:53 |
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