Summer 2009 - Cumberland School of Law - Samford University

Summer 2009 

Cumberland Graduates 

Make a Difference 

page 4 

Commencement 2009: 

A New Beginning 

page 10

From the Dean 

On the first day of orientation for the 

entering class, we begin talking about 

the core values of our profession. One 

of the most important of those core values 

is service to others.This magazine features 

some of our students and alumni who 

embody that core value. 

Cumberland School of Law offers a 

significant number of public service opportunities 

for students, and interest in those 

opportunities is at an all-time high. 

Whether it is researching legal issues for 

residents in a local homeless shelter, 

lobbying for criminal justice reform or 

hosting an Easter Egg Hunt for children 

from community organizations, our 

students consistently demonstrate their 

understanding that lawyers have an 

obligation to serve by doing pro bono 

and public interest work. 

One of our most successful 

service programs is the Summer 

Public Interest Stipend Program. 

This program provides funds for 

students who volunteer to do 

public interest or public service 

work during the summer. 

Funds for this program are 

provided by a foundation and 

generous gifts from alumni. 

Participation in the program 

this summer is at a record 

high. Sixty-one law 

students are volunteering their time to 

serve their communities. On page 16, you 

will find a feature on four students who 

participated in this program in the summer 

of 2008. 

The message that we send students 

about the importance of service is 

constantly reinforced by the many alumni 

who lead lives dedicated to the service of 

others.We are honored daily by our 

graduates who are employed in public 

service or public interest positions, or those 

in private practice who still find the time 

to balance an active practice with significant 

civic engagement. Stories about a 

selection of alumni who exemplify public 

service in their work appear in the feature 

“A Commitment to Serve,” which begins 

on page 4. 

I hope you enjoy this issue of The 

Cumberland Lawyer. The stories in this 

edition give us many reasons to celebrate 

our law school and to make us proud that 

we are Cumberland School of Law 

graduates. 

John L. Carroll 

Dean and Ethel P. Malugen Professor of Law

4 

10 

14 

16 

A Commitment to Serve 

Many Cumberland School of Law graduates recognize the importance 

of public service. Featured are five alumni whose talents are making a 

significant impact both locally and abroad. 

Cumberland School of Law Graduates 158 

Cumberland School of Law graduated another class of exceptional 

lawyers on May 16, 2009. Despite the bleak economy, these students 

are looking toward the future, and share a desire to continue learning 

and better themselves. They were encouraged in their pursuit by the 

Honorable Susan Webber Wright, the 2009 commencement speaker. 

Community Service Organization Makes a Difference 

The Community Service Organization is a long-standing organization at 

Cumberland School of Law and has never wavered in its pursuit to 

provide students opportunities to serve those in the local Birmingham 

community. The organization is busier than ever, boasting record 

numbers of volunteers for events throughout the school year. 

Students Benefit from Public Interest Stipend Program 

The Public Interest Stipend Program allows students to work in 

uncompensated public interest placements of which they normally 

would not have the opportunity. Four students reflect on their 

experiences with the program and share how an internship became 

much more than they expected. 

2 Cumberland News 

20 Alumni 

23 Career Services 

25 Focus on Faculty 

The Cumberland Lawyer is a semiannual 

publication of the Cumberland School of 

Law, Samford University. 

Editor Lauren McCaghren 

Director of 

Creative Services Janica York Carter 

Assistant Director of 

Creative Services Laine Williams 

Designer Monica Washington 

Produced by Samford Office of Communication 

26 Faculty and Staff Notes 

28 Class Notes 

33 Births, Deaths 

Cover: Tom Methvin ’88, the 

2009–10 president of the Alabama 

State Bar Association, stands on the 

portico of the Montgomery state bar 

building. 

Contact Cumberland School of Law 

We need your help to make The 

Cumberland Lawyer useful to alumni. 

Send us your comments and ideas for 

alumni profiles, articles and ongoing 

features in addition to your personal 

alumni updates. 

Contact: Lauren McCaghren 

Cumberland School of Law 

Samford University 

800 Lakeshore Drive 

Birmingham, AL 35229 

1-800-888-7248 

205-726-2057 fax 

lcmccagh@samford.edu 

©2009 Samford University 

Samford University is an Equal Opportunity Institution that complies with applicable law prohibiting discrimination in its educational and 

employment policies and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, age, disability, or national or ethnic origin.

CUMBERLANDNEWS 

Coach Mike Rasmussen ’75, center, congratulates 

the team, from left, Summer 

Davis ’09, Shannon Elliott ’09, third-year 

student Timothy Douthit and Jessica 

Jones ’09, on their strong finish. 

Advocacy Team Takes 

Second Place at AAJ 

Nationals 

The Cumberland School of Law team of 

Summer Davis ’09, third-year student 

Timothy Douthit, Shannon Elliott 

’09 and Jessica Jones ’09 placed second 

in the American Association for Justice 

[AAJ] National Student Trial Advocacy 

Competition at West Palm Beach, Fla., 

April 2–5, 2009.A total of 224 teams 

began the competition at the regional 

level. 

Mike Rasmussen ’75 coaches the 

team. 

Other schools in the national competition 

were the University of Akron, 

Baylor University, University of Colorado, 

Duke University, Duquesne University, 

Loyola Law School–Los Angeles, Loyola 

University–Chicago, University of New 

Mexico, NewYork University, Stanford 

Law School, Stetson University, Suffolk 

University and University of Maryland. 

Cumberland School of Law extends a 

special thanks to the firm of Cole, Scott 

& Kissane in West Palm Beach, Fla., for 

providing a place for the team to practice 

2 SUMMER 2009 • THE CUMBLERLAND LAWYER 

and other assistance.The school also 

thanks all the alumni, local practitioners 

and staff who helped with the selection, 

judging and special practices for the team. 

Trial Teams Advance 

to Semifinals 

Cumberland School of Law sent two 

teams to the National Trial Competition 

regional round Feb. 21–22 in Tallahassee, 

Fla.The team of Megan Head ’09, thirdyear 

student Josh Hornady, Lisha Li ’09 

and Ashley Reitz ’09 won and advanced 

to the final round in San Antonio,Texas, 

March 27–29.The team of third-year 

students Andrew Brashier, Bailey 

Gladden and Robert Price, Julie 

McMakin ’09, and Megan Stephens 

’09 lost in the semifinal round. 

Cumberland School of Law was the 

only school at the competition with two 

teams that reached the semifinal round.The 

teams are coached by Jim Roberts ’94. 

The other 20 teams in the competition 

were from the University of 

Alabama, Barry University, Faulkner 

University, University of Florida, Florida 

Coastal School of Law, Florida State 

University, University of Miami, 

University of Mississippi, Mississippi 

College, Nova Southeastern University 

and Stetson University. 

Bankruptcy Team 

Travels to New York 

Cumberland School of Law’s bankruptcy 

moot court team, John Ellis ’09, and 

third-year students Benjamin Coulter 

and Stewart Civils, spent part of spring 

break arguing at the 17th Annual Chief 

Judge Conrad B. Duberstein Bankruptcy 

Moot Court Competition at St. John’s 

University in NewYork. 

The team advanced to the quarterfinal 

round from a field of 48 teams. In the 

BSLA Hosts Thurgood Marshall Symposium 

The annual Thurgood Marshall 

Symposium was held February 12, 

and was cosponsored by the Black 

Students Law Association and Alabama 

Appleseed.The symposium’s theme, 

“Racial Justice in the Obama Era,” aimed 

to identify the root causes of racial injustice 

in society. 

Damon Hewitt, director of the 

Katrina-Gulf Coast Project of the 

NAACP Legal Defense and Education 

Fund [LDF], was the featured speaker. 

Since 2006, Hewitt has coordinated LDF’s 

post-Hurricane Katrina litigation and 

advocacy efforts. Students and guests met 

with Hewitt at a breakfast before the 

symposium and a lunch reception 

following the presentation. 

Third-year student Roderick Evans 

organized the symposium “to provide a 

latter rounds, the competitors faced a 

bankruptcy judge who had been counsel 

in a hallmark case.Another judge was the 

author of a leading opinion on one of the 

competition’s issues. Both judges complimented 

the team for its command of 

the cases. 

The team was coached by bankruptcy 

law specialist Bill D. Bensinger ’03 of 

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & 

Berkowitz, who earned his LL.M. in 

bankruptcy law from St. John’s. 

Appellate Advocacy Team 

Named National 

Quarterfinalists 

Professor Marcia McCormick, center, 

congratulates the team of third-year 

students, from left, Lauren Ellison, Brad 

Howell ’09 and Matthew Penfield ’09. 

The national appellate advocacy team of 

third-year student Lauren Ellison, Brad 

Howell ’09 and Matthew Penfield ’09 

advanced from the regional ABA National 

Appellate Advocacy Competition and 

went to nationals in Chicago, Ill.,April 2– 

4.The team advanced to the quarterfinals 

at the national competition. 

This marks the second consecutive 

year that Cumberland School of Law has 

sent a moot court team to nationals at this 

competition. 

forum to discuss our preconceived notions 

of race and how they have changed after 

electing the first African American 

[president].” He said that student response 

“fostered an intellectual and insightful 

discussion on the role of race, the law and 

what we perceive as justice.”

Virginia Student Bar Association Organizes 

TheVirginia Student Bar Association 

[VSBA] is an organization of students 

fromVirginia, Maryland and 

Washington, D.C., and others interested in 

practicing law in the region.VSBA is 

developing networking opportunities to 

strengthen alumni bonds of Cumberland 

School of Law graduates by recruiting 

new students to the law school.The 

purpose of the organization is to bring 

together students in social and professional 

relationships during law school with the 

Eggshell Skulls Win Intramural Championship 

Law Week 

March 2–6, 2009 

1. Second-year students Brandon Prince, 

left, and Larry Fantroy, right, won the 

2009 Dean Parham Williams Freshman 

Trial Competition with presiding judge 

Callie V. S. Granade, chief judge of the 

United States District Court for the 

Southern District of Alabama. 

2. Members of the SBA gathered at the 

Barrister’s Ball. 

3. Second-year student Matt Phelan 

delivers his rendition of “I’ll Make Love to 

You” at the Cumberland Idol competition. 

4. From right, first-year students Brittany 

Waggener and Kristin Lough, and thirdyear 

student Stacie Irwin assist with a 

breakfast sponsored by the Women in 

Law program. 

5. First-year student Jordan Beard and his 

dog, Nanette, proudly display their gift 

basket for winning the “Most Like Owner” 

contest. 

6. Professor Howard Walthall delivers 

the annual Rascal Day eulogy. 

7. Professor Jill Evans, Gov. Albert 

Brewer, center, and President Andrew 

Westmoreland serve students and their 

families a traditional Rascal Day hot dog 

lunch. 

8. Dean Corky Strickland, Dean Carroll 

and Professor Wendy Greene prepare to 

lead the Rascal Day Procession. 

The Cumberland School of Law 

basketball team, the Eggshell Skulls, 

participated in the Samford 

University Intramural Sports League and 

went undefeated during the season.The 

team, composed of second-year law 

students Jesse Anderson,Tucker Burge, 

Michael Clarke, Chase Elleby, Larry 

Fantroy, Robert Mooty, Alex 

Munderloh, Kenneth Peterson and 

1 

2 

3 

4 

hope that these relationships will help 

establish practices in the Old Dominion. 

If you would like to contribute to the 

efforts of this group, please contact Kristin 

Lough at klough@samford.edu or 

804-938-1908. 

Dean Corky Strickland, won the 

championship game against the Sigma 

Chi B team, 43–35. 

“It was probably our best game of 

the year, as everyone contributed to the 

victory,” said Burge.“Don’t let Dean 

Strickland’s age fool you; he is a very 

good, competitive basketball player. Plus, 

he is also much more eloquent at fussing 

at the referees after bad calls.” 

5 

6 

7 

8 

SUMMER 2009 • THE CUMBLERLAND LAWYER 3 

CUMBERLANDNEWS

A Commitment to Serve 

AlumniDedicateThemselvestoServingthePublic 


MarkWhite

Methvin Succeeds 

White as ASBA 

President 

M 

any Cumberland School of Law 

graduates have the pleasure of 

working alongside fellow 

alumni. It is a rare occasion, however, 

when two graduates succeed each 

other in such a prominent position as 

the president of the Alabama State 

Bar Association.This July, Tom 

Methvin ’88 will step into the shoes 

of Mark White ’74, who served as 

president of the Alabama Bar for the 

2008–09 year. Methvin will serve as 

the 133rd president of the 16,000member 

association. 

“Mark White has been one of the 

best presidents we’ve ever had,” said 

Methvin.“He is an advocate for the bar, 

for lawyers, for the people and for the 

judicial system.These are some big shoes 

for me to fill.” 

White was named the 2009 

Distinguished Alumnus of Cumberland 

School of Law at the Alumni Weekend 

Gala in April for his involvement with the 

law school, his success in the field and his 

dedication to the community.White 

served as the 2007–09 president of the 

Cumberland National Alumni Association 

and is founder of the Birmingham firm of 

White Arnold & Dowd, P.C. He has more 

than 30 years of experience as a trial litigator 

and is the recipient of both the state 

bar’s Commissioner’s Award and the Award 

of Merit. 

White began his legal education in 

1969 but was called on active duty for the 

U.S. Navy during 1970–72. He finished 

his law degree in 1974 and says that the 

combination of his degree and his service 

prepared him well for his career and his 

role as Alabama Bar president. 

During his term,White improved the 

state bar’s relationship with the Alabama 

Legislature and ensured that the lawyers of 

Alabama have a “seat at the table” when 

important decisions are being made about 

the law profession and the judicial branch 

of government. 

“It’s been challenging, but at the same 

time, it’s been rewarding,” said White.“I 

don’t think it’s possible for any person to 

appreciate the state bar staff until they’ve 

actually been in this office and realized how 

complex and how complicated it is.They 

From left, Tom Methvin ’88, Mark White ’74 and past 

president Sam Crosby attend the 2008 Alabama Bar 

Induction Ceremony. 

do a miraculous job with rare recognition.” 

White says he has enjoyed serving as 

president of the state bar, even though he 

admits that being located in Birmingham 

has added about 30,000 miles on his car. 

“My car can go to and from Montgomery 

with very little assistance from me,” he 

quipped. 

White is very proud of the improvements 

and increased commitment for 

access to justice for the poor during his 

term. He looks forward to the work 

Methvin will continue with access to justice, 

which is the focus for his upcoming 

term. 

“When I leave on July 18, the only 

thing that I will do for the state bar is 

whatever Tom Methvin asks me to do,” 

White said.“There is a proud tradition 

that when you walk away from this office, 

the person that walks in this office is truly 

in charge.Your obligation is to try and not 

leave them with any excess baggage.Tom 

will do a splendid job.” 

Methvin comes to the task of president 

with a proven record of dedication to 

the justice system, and the lawyers and 

judges who comprise the Alabama State 

Bar Association. During his time as 

president-elect, Methvin established the 

Alabama State Bar Task Force on 

Mortgage Foreclosure Assistance, allowing 

more than 1,200 Alabamians to keep their 

homes, which were otherwise at risk of 

being foreclosed upon. He has held many 

positions within the state bar, and joins 

White as a fellow in the Alabama Law 

Foundation and a member of the Atticus 

Finch Society. 

Coming from a family that has been 

involved in the practice of law for more 

than 200 years, it is no surprise that 

Methvin always knew that he wanted to 

be a lawyer.After his graduation from 

Cumberland School of Law in 1988, 

he joined Beasley Allen, representing 

victims of consumer fraud. In 1998, 

he became managing shareholder of 

the firm and continues to hold that 

position. He also serves as the 

president of the Montgomery 

Cumberland Club and serves on the 

board of many Montgomery 

charitable organizations. 

“Lawyers are leaders in the 

community,” said Methvin.“We are 

blessed to have more education than 

many, and we need to use the gifts 

and talents that we have to help other 

people.” 

Methvin recognizes that with his new 

title comes great responsibility, and he 

doesn’t take the position lightly. In light of 

the current economy and its effect on the 

people of Alabama, he believes that 

increasing resources to help Alabama’s 

poor and disadvantaged to receive affordable 

legal assistance is more important than 

ever. He says he will fervently promote the 

bar’sVolunteer Lawyer Program and raise 

funds for Legal Services of Alabama, 

which provides legal aid to economically 

disadvantaged citizens through 10 offices 

with staff attorneys. 

Both White and Methvin agree on 

the importance of public service, especially 

for recent law graduates.“Pro bono work 

is a win-win situation,” said Methvin.“It’s 

good for somebody that needs it, it provides 

excellent legal experience and it 

allows you to learn things that will help 

you in your practice.” 

Neither White nor Methvin ever 

envisioned they would be the president of 

the state bar, but both found themselves 

running unopposed for the presidency—a 

tribute to the countless volunteer hours 

they have each dedicated to the association 

and its cause. 

“People look to this association for 

guidance, and hopefully we are perceived 

as an objective and honest resource for the 

benefit of the citizens of this state,” said 

White. 

If Methvin’s work as president-elect is 

any indication of his upcoming term, then 

the work performed by these alumni 

should continue to enhance the reputation 

of the Alabama State Bar Association. 

continued on page 6 

SUMMER 2009 • THE CUMBLERLAND LAWYER 5

Alabama Law 

Foundation 

ounded in 1987, the Alabama Law 

FFoundation 

strives to make access to 

justice in Alabama a reality for all Alabama 

citizens. A charitable, tax-exempt organization 

affiliated with the Alabama State 

Bar, the Alabama Law Foundation receives 

funds from the interest on Lawyers’ Trust 

Accounts [IOLTA] Program and uses those 

funds for law-related charitable projects 

that support the foundation’s mission. The 

foundation devotes 80% of its IOLTA grants 

to providers of civil legal aid to the poor. 

The remaining 20% of grants are for 

projects to improve the administration of 

justice and law-related education. 

Due to the implementation of mandatory 

IOLTA, the Alabama Law Foundation 

was able to increase grants to groups 

providing civil legal aid from $190,000 in 

2007 to $680,000 in 2009. Alabama has 

increased funding per poor person for legal 

aid from $10 to $12 over the past two 

years, but still falls significantly below the 

national average of $20. 

Legal Services Alabama and the 

state’s four volunteer lawyers programs 

provided assistance to 10,800 clients in 

2008. However, the need is much greater. 

According to a 2006 survey of the legal 

need of low-income residents, 422,119 of 

Alabama’s low-income households experienced 

one or more legal problems that 

year but received assistance with only 16% 

of their cases. One in five households did 

not make any attempt to solve their legal 

problem. 


continued from page 5 

‘General’ 

Patton 

Seeks 

to Aid 

Indigents 

Attorney Martha 

Jane Patton ’78 

is the executive 

director at Legal Aid 

Society of 

Birmingham. She has 

held the position for 

more than 11 years 

and directs a staff of 

19 lawyers who 

represent indigent 

adults and children 

from court-appointed 

cases in the greater 

Birmingham area. 

Patton always felt 

a strong call to use her 

education and skills in 

the public service 

arena.“I found myself 

in a secure office job but felt restless about 

not fully using my life interests and education,” 

she said. 

Patton left her job to join the staff at 

Selma Interreligious Project, an economic 

justice organization in Tuscaloosa, where 

she experienced a sense of “doing something 

important for people.” She was 

empowered by her female coworkers to 

pursue a law degree to further her knowledge 

of civil rights and economic justice. 

During law school, Patton continued 

her work with juvenile justice on a study 

in West Alabama and also worked part-time 

as an ombudsman at Chalkville, a state 

facility for incarcerated girls.After being 

admitted to practice and gaining some 

experience, Patton devoted herself to cases 

at Family Court and developed a juvenile 

law concentration in her own practice. 

Patton joined Legal Aid Society of 

Birmingham in 1998. Since then, the office 

has grown in size and budget, housing a 

staff of 19 lawyers, two full-time social 

investigators and four support staff. Under 

Patton’s leadership, the office has adopted 

standards in line with those of the American 

Bar Association and has improved the reputation 

of the lawyering skills offered. 

MarthaJanePatton 

All of the attorneys with Legal Aid 

Society have chosen to work in an area of 

the law where financial success is a lesser 

goal than that of serving the profession and 

the public through quality representation 

of the indigent. Patton is working to 

increase the level of funding to bring staff 

salaries to a comparable rate with prosecutors 

in the courts. Funding comes from 

the state’s Fair Trial Tax Fund and from 

occasional grants for special projects. 

“Our financial existence is dependent 

upon contracts with local court systems, 

which use their collected Fair Trial Tax 

Funds to hire us,” said Patton. Currently, 

Legal Aid Society holds contracts with 

Family Court of Jefferson County, 

Birmingham Municipal Court and, from 

time to time, municipal courts in Jefferson 

County. 

Unfortunately,“a bad economy often 

equates with a higher crime level, more 

domestic violence, and more abuse and 

neglect of children, all the areas where our 

lawyers work,” she said.“We have seen a 

definite increase in cases lately, but our 

funding is operating a year behind that 

curve. It remains to be seen how the 

downturn over the last months will affect 

our contract negotiations this year.”

Regardless of funding, Patton hopes 

that the Legal Aid Society will continue to 

uphold the high ideals of its founders, 

especially those of the late General 

Edward Friend, whose work in establishing 

the organization in 1952 grew 

from his involvement with the National 

Legal Aid & Defender Association. 

Sometimes known as “the General” 

by those close to her, Patton’s intense, 

goal-driven personality and strong leadership 

traits have gained recognition from 

her colleagues in the legal field. She 

received the Birmingham Bar Association’s 

L. Burton Barnes III Public Service Award 

in 2003 for her work with the Legal Aid 

Society and for a life dedicated to serving 

the public. Patton said she was very humbled 

by the experience, but even that high 

honor “cannot match the satisfaction of 

prevailing on behalf of a worthy client.” 

Patton has had many such victories 

over her 31 years of practice, and said that 

some of the happiest moments of her 

career have come “when a child’s life has 

been forever changed through an adoption 

or a custody award to loving parents. 

“From early childhood, I have understood 

my task in this life is to work for the 

spread of God’s Kingdom.That is better 

done with action than words, so I consider 

it a privilege that I have received the education 

and opportunities to allow me to 

do that,” said Patton. 

Strand Leads Trial 

Team to Take on 

Courtroom from 

Another Side 

Ben Strand ’67 has been serving as judge 

of the Jefferson County General Sessions 

Court in Tennessee for 11 years, but some 

of his most important work takes place 

from the other side of the bench. 

For the past three years, Strand has 

worked with students at MountainView 

Youth Development Center, training a 

team to compete in the Tennessee State 

High School Mock Trial Competition. 

The competition is a public service 

project of the Tennessee Bar Association’s 

Young Lawyers Division and is in its 29th 

year. 

Located in Dandridge,Tenn., the 

center serves up to 144 male juvenile 

offenders, ages 13 through 18, who are 

primarily from East 

Tennessee. It operates an 

accredited, on-site school 

that offers course work 

leading to a high school 

diploma, vocational 

programming, special 

education services, GED 

preparation and testing, 

ACT testing, and career 

counseling.Their treatment 

program offers 

case management and 

individual and group 

therapy. 

In 2007, a mock 

trial team from Jefferson 

County High School 

needed to compete 

against another team to 

qualify for state competition. 

Strand, who 

was a volunteer softball 

coach at MountainView, 

put together a lastminute 

team from the 

center.The Mountain 

View team did so well 

in the mock trial that 

Strand decided to work 

with them to compete in future 

competitions. 

“They’re experienced with courtroom 

procedure because they’ve gone 

through it,” said Strand.“They’re not 

[there] for breaking kindergarten rules. 

Most of them could have as many as three 

felonies.” 

Last fall, Strand began working with 

the newly assembled mock trial team as 

soon as the problem was released in 

November.The team worked diligently 

for four months, holding practices at least 

four nights a week. 

“The boys were dedicated to the 

problem and worked very hard,” said 

Strand.“They did a lot on their own, 

preparing a lot of the questions and 

testimony themselves.” 

Alonzo Coleman, 16, acted as a mock 

defense attorney and captain for the 13member 

team. He wrote the entirety of 

his closing argument, and most of his 

questions for direct and cross-examination. 

Coleman, who is at MountainView for 

crimes including aggravated robbery, was 

given the 2009Youth Excellence Award by 

the Tennessee Commission on Children 

andYouth for his success in turning his life 

around. 

BenStrand 

In February, the MountainView team 

competed with teams from two other 

local high schools in the regional competition. 

While the team did not win the 

overall competition in points, Strand says 

he is still very proud of their effort. 

“This was the best group I’d ever 

had,” said Strand.“They did a very commendable 

job, and they learned a lot about 

the legal system.” 

Public service has always played a 

large part in Strand’s life, but the boys of 

MountainView seem to have struck a 

special cord. Strand also conducts a student 

Bible study on most Sunday nights and 

was instrumental in starting a tutoring 

program for the center in conjunction 

with students from Carson-Newman 

college. 

“Many of these boys come from 

broken homes,” said Strand.“They just 

need somebody to say,‘Hey son, I care 

about you. I’m interested in you doing 

well and getting out of here.’ 

“If I can turn one around, it’s been a 

success,” Strand said. 




Myers Coordinates 

Rule of Law in Iraq 

Since August 2008, Wilson Myers ’80 has 

served as the rule of law coordinator with 

the Department of State’s Regional 

Reconstruction Team in Erbil, Iraq. 

Responsible for rule of law development 

throughout the Kurdish Region, Myers’ job 

has him working with Iraqi judges, lawyers, 

associations, and governmental and nongovernmental 

stakeholders within the rule 

of law effort. He works under the guidance 

of the Rule of Law Coordinator’s Office at 

the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. 

Myers believes that the American 

approach to rule of law—a term government 

officials apply to any justice-related 

project—should also include foundational 

aspects: aid to law schools, lawyers, and local 

criminal and civil courts. Instead of trying 

to impose changes on existing Iraqi legal 

culture or spending millions on dead-end 

projects, Myers has immersed himself in 

Iraqi culture by visiting prisons, courthouses 

and the Iraqi bar association. He 

questions their needs and explains the 

importance of due process versus detention 

and prosecution. 

“For 35 years under the rule of 

Saddam Hussein, Iraq was in a bubble,” said 

Myers.“There has always been a strong 

justice system in Iraq, but what we’re trying 

to do is modernize the existing system, 

strengthen the training, and bring the 

judges and the system up to 21st century 

standards.” 

An entire generation of Iraqi judges 

and lawyers has to catch up with the rest of 

the world. Myers and his team look at this 

as a generational challenge as opposed to an 

immediate, one-year reform. He recognizes 

that his “radical” approach to rule of law 

reform must be taught early on, and thus 

has volunteered a large amount of his time 

to curriculum reform in local law schools. 

“What we do with the Iraqi law 

students today will probably not have a 

direct impact on the legal system until 10 

years from now,” said Myers.“The law 

school efforts are tied into the bar associations, 

the judges, into the entire system. 

It is a systemic approach, horizontally 

instead of vertically.” 

In October 2008, Myers and Tina 

Ziegenhain ’00 worked with the Iraqi 

Deans of Law and the European 


Commission to 

facilitate law school 

curriculum reform. 

Ziegenhain has 

been in Iraq since 

September 2008 as a 

voluntary detail on 

loan for one year to 

the Department of 

State from the 

Administrative Office 

of the Federal 

Courts. She works 

directly with Myers 

on issues regarding 

law school curriculum 

reform. 

“When I first 

came over in 2004, I 

was like a fish out of 

water,” said Myers.“I 

had it in my mind to 

teach Iraqi lawyers 

how to crossexamine, 

argue 

motions to judges, 

and give closing and 

opening arguments 

to juries. None of 

that exists. I had a huge learning curve.” 

Iraq operates under a civil code system 

as opposed to a common law system. Iraqi 

judges act as prosecutors in the common 

law system, investigating cases to determine 

whether or not they are misdemeanors or 

felonies, or whether they should be 

dismissed. 

“They are very accepting to our 

assistance as long as we are doing it in their 

system,” said Myers.“We are not trying to 

change the civil code structure. It is not 

adversarial; it is inquisitorial.” 

Myers spent three years aiding in 

reconstruction efforts in Iraq, taking a year 

off to return to his private practice in Bay 

Minette,Ala., in 2005.A retired Army 

colonel, he has served as a legal adviser to 

the Iraqi Ministry of Justice, senior legal 

consultant to the Iraqi commissioner on 

public integrity, and representative of the 

Iraqi Reconstruction Management Office 

for Northern Iraq. He also trained Iraqi 

criminal defense lawyers in the new Iraqi 

justice system, advised the Iraqi commissioner 

on issues of law, anticorruption and 

judicial systems from a U.S. perspective, and 

served as a liaison between Iraqi government 

officials and the U.S. Department of State. 

U.S.Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker 

presented Myers the prestigious Meritorious 

WilsonMyers 

Honor Award, which reads “His work . . . 

has helped build capacity throughout the 

legal community in Baghdad province, and 

helped to create growing respect for the 

rule of law among Iraq’s citizens.” 

Myers says that allowances have to be 

made when working in a war zone, but he 

also says that the entire experience has been 

very rewarding.“It is really gratifying to see 

the appreciation that most Iraqis, especially 

the Kurds, have for our involvement,” he 

said. 

Originally opposed to the war when it 

began in Iraq in 2003, Myers’ views have 

since changed. 

“I saw the value there was to the Iraqi 

people of getting rid of Saddam Hussein,” 

he said.“We made some mistakes, no 

question about it, but the value of giving 25 

million people the chance for freedom, 

prosperity and democracy outweighs any 

opposition I originally had. My work over 

the last four years has shown me that we are 

giving the Iraqi people a chance for a better 

life. It is up to them now to take advantage 

of that opportunity.”

Students and Local Firms 

HELP the Homeless 

ach week, attorneys throughout 

E Birmingham donate a portion of their 

Borden said that the attorneys and students 

assist those who need help clearing up out- 

Cumberland, and we want to help,” said 

Hood. 

time to help those in need at homeless standing warrants, and those who are pur- “Any lawyer can help, no matter what 

shelters. 

suing Social Security and military benefits. specialty area of practice or background,” 

The Homeless Experience Legal 

“So often, the problems they have can said Borden.“When you consider that a 

Protection [HELP] program hosts clinics be resolved very easily, but for them, it is a problem that is very simple for a lawyer to 

every Wednesday at the Old Firehouse tremendous obstacle that keeps them from resolve may be what is standing between 

Shelter and First Light Shelter for women. applying for a job or getting an apartment the homeless person and a job or housing, 

Originally started in New Orleans in 2004, or renewing a driver’s license,” Borden you begin to realize just how important a 

the program has spread to cities across the said.“They’re very intimidated by the project like HELP is, not just for the 

eastern part of the United States with the process, so they don’t get the benefits they homeless clients, but for the communities 

help of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell are entitled to.” 

in which they live.” 

& Berkowitz, P.C. Many Birmingham law Second-year student Alyson Hood 

firms have joined in the efforts as well as serves as the contact between law firms 

students from Cumberland School of Law. and volunteer students as part of the 

“This project responds to the highest Cumberland Public Interest Board. She 

calling of our profession,and I am incredibly has received a great response from fellow 

excited about this opportunity for our students and already has assigned students 

students to learn and to make a difference to assist with the firms into 2010. 

in people's lives,” said Dean John Carroll. On April 4, Hood and 21 other law 

Jennifer Benedict ’09, who assisted students attended Project Homeless Connect 

Baker Donelson with the launch of the at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham. 

HELP program, said,“This is a great oppor- Teamed with United Way of Central 

tunity for law students to take an active role Alabama and Metropolitan Birmingham 

in providing a necessary service for the community 

while gaining valuable experience.” 

Lisa Borden handles pro bono cases 

for the firm. In an interview with staff 

writer Jeremy Gray of The Birmingham News, 

Services for the Homeless, 14 Birmingham 

firms offered legal services alongside 

housing, health-care, employment and 

other service organizations. 

“We are privileged to get to go to 

Standing, from left, first-year students 

Roderick Evans, Alyson Hood, Brandon 

Prince, Denetra Hartzog, and (seated) 

Kristen Shields and Amanda Kistler volunteer 

at Project Homeless Connect. 

Photo provided by Joshua Self Photography. 


Cumberland School of Law Graduates 

158 Students from 11 States 

On May 16, 2009, Cumberland School 

of Law held commencement at Samford 

University’sWright Center.The 

Honorable SusanWebberWright was 

the commencement speaker.Appointed by 

President George H.W. Bush in 1990 to the 

position of the U.S. District Judge of the 

Eastern District of Arkansas, she was assigned 

some of the most difficult, most publicized cases 

of the 1990s, including theWhitewater prosecution 

by Kenneth Star and Paula Jones vs. 

President Clinton. In his introduction, Dean 

John Carroll saidWebber “is a living example 

of what the ‘rule of law’ means.” Here is an 

excerpt from her address. 

Almost every federal judge I know says 

that he or she has the best job a lawyer can 

have. Getting to be a federal judge is 

somewhat difficult.You have to have 

friends somewhere, and I would never say 


The Honorable Susan Webber Wright addresses Cumberland 

School of Law juris doctor degree candidates. 

that I got my job on merit, because I did 

not. But there are some judge jokes: 

Do you know what the difference is 

between a federal judge and God? Well, 

God knows that he is not a federal judge. 

Of course, there are other jokes, and 

there are lawyer jokes too. 

Unfortunately, what makes jokes 

about judges and lawyers funny is that the 

jokes themselves contain a grain of truth 

about attributes others perceive in us.The 

joke about God and federal judges is based 

upon the fact that many perceive federal 

judges to be arrogant and self-absorbed in 

the exercise of their sometimes considerable 

authority over others. Some perceive 

lawyers as being greedy, slothful, dishonest 

parasites who thrive on the troubles and 

misfortunes of others, and perpetuate the 

need for their own services by making 

laws and regulations that are too complex 

for the average layman. 

As today’s law school graduates, you 

probably perceive lawyers in a more favorable 

light—as individuals who strive to 

represent their clients’ interests diligently 

while upholding the Constitution and 

laws of the land.You understand that 

without lawyers, our form of government, 

our very way of life, would not survive. 

And you understand that being a lawyer 

has duties and privileges that are unknown 

to any other profession.You understand 

the burdens and also the benefits of the 

law. 

Today, I want to address the topic of 

reputation—your own reputation as a 

lawyer, a citizen and as an individual.You 

want to avoid the attributes that make 

lawyer jokes funny.You want to have the 

reputation of the honest, diligent lawyer, 

the advocate who plays an indispensable

ole in the administration of justice and in 

the business of our institutions, both 

public and private. 

Each of you already has a reputation, 

of course, but you are graduating from one 

phase of life to another.Your reputation as 

a student does not have to follow you after 

graduation. If you want to establish a new 

reputation as a lawyer, the change marked 

by your graduation from law school offers 

a real opportunity. 

How do you achieve developing the 

type of reputation that will bring honor to 

you and to the bar? There’s no quick 

answer. It would take many small steps to 

build the type of reputation you would 

want. But I do have some suggestions. 

One is to demonstrate to others that 

you are honest and trustworthy, that you 

do what you say you will do. One very 

successful lawyer I know, who was born 

into near poverty to uneducated parents 

and who is a graduate of our law school in 

Little Rock, once observed to me that his 

background and the fact that he went to a 

local law school did not matter at all to his 

clients. He said something to this effect: 

“What matters is what others think of you 

and whether they trust you.”That is something 

to keep in mind, because when 

people trust you, your life becomes much 

easier. 

Being a lawyer has duties and privileges 

that are unknown to any other profession. 

Another bit of advice is to keep your 

clients informed of the status of their 

business that you are handling, and make 

certain your clients understand your fee 

contract. Frequently, a disgruntled client 

will write the court about the failure of a 

lawyer to stay in touch, and surely these 

unhappy clients complain to their friends 

and colleagues, and it certainly is not good 

for the lawyer’s reputation. Stay in touch 

with the people you are working for. 

Keep in mind that you are an officer 

of the court and owe obligations to the 

court as well as to your client. I once 

heard an experienced lawyer say to a 

group of young lawyers,“If anyone’s going 

to jail, make sure it’s your client, not you.” 

That is a bit extreme, perhaps, but in all 

seriousness, judges learn over time which 

lawyers are to be trusted. Most of them are 

very trustworthy, and it is a pleasure to 

work with those lawyers.A few, however, 

are not; and quite frankly, those who do 

not have a good reputation do have a 

more difficult time because someone is 

always double-checking what they say and 

what they write. 

Be prepared, and be competent. If 

you are in a situation in which you are 

stymied concerning what to do, ask the 

advice of an attorney whose reputation 

you respect.There is no way law school 

could have prepared you for every eventuality. 

If you ask a more experienced 

attorney for advice, you are very likely to 

get good advice.This might keep you 

from looking ignorant or foolish to a 

client or judge, and might even prevent 

you from malpractice. In other words, if 

you don’t know, just ask for help or advice, 

or both. 

Next, be active in a bar association or 

an inn of court.You will get to know 

other lawyers and develop friendships with 

at least some of them. Camaraderie among 

lawyers helps promote civility in litigation 

and respect for the profession. 

My husband told me when he read 

this speech that I should always make a 

caveat, even though you are to be nice and 

friendly enough to other lawyers. Don’t be 

overly friendly in front of your clients, 

because they will be furious if you’re 

being nice to someone who is trying to 

ruin their life. 

In any event, be friends with other 

lawyers, and you will find yourselves being 

civil to each other. 

Be mindful that you do not enhance 

your own reputation by harming that of 

others.What comes to mind is what 

Shakespeare said:“He who steals my good 

name takes something that cannot benefit 

him and does me much harm.” Remember, 

you don’t help yourself in any way by 

trashing someone else. It does not help 

you, and it does not help the reputation of 

your profession. If it is possible, when you 

are having difficulty with another lawyer, 

handle the matter with discretion and 

with tact. 

Another thing to do is to find an 

activity that you enjoy that is unrelated to 

the law and that will help you interact 

with others outside your law practice.You 

could volunteer with your children’s 

school or your church, or with an arts or 

sports organization.This will give you 

relief from the stress of your work and will 

also promote others to get to know you as 

an individual instead of the lawyer they 


Commencement macebearer, Professor 

Brannon Denning, above, leads the procession. 

Afterward, Professor Leonard J. Nelson 

delivered the invocation, “Grant that we may 

be able in argument, accurate in analysis, 

strict in study, insightful in perplexity, candid 

with clients and honest with adversaries.” 

Carin Brown ’09 is one of the winners of the 

Daniel Austin Brewer Professionalism Award. 

Larry Young ’09 also received this award. 

Samford University President Andrew 

Westmoreland said, “You carry with you our 

cherished hopes and dreams; indeed, to seek 

justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with 

your God. In the decades to come, we will 

cheer from this Alabama hillside as you work 

each day to make the world a better place.” 



might read about.Your law practice 

might require you to take on an unpopular 

cause or to represent unpopular 

people.When people get to know you 

not just as lawyers, but as citizens and 

members of the community, you will 

help your reputation as a lawyer, the reputation 

of the bar and you will certainly 

help yourself to be a happier person. 

When you are deciding on a course 

of action, consider the long-term consequences 

of your decision. Lawyers face 

difficult ethical decisions that can have 

long-term effects on their reputations.A 

book published recently, 10-10-10, by 

Suzy Welch, suggests a decision-making 

strategy that could fit what I am describing. 

Welch’s approach requires that 

one consider the outcome that a 

decision is likely to have in 10 minutes, 

10 months and 10 years. She points out 

that studies have shown that people ordinarily 

do not consider the long-term 

consequences of their decisions, but 

instead are more likely to consider the 

short-term. I have seen this in lawyers 

who, after all, have to make difficult 

decisions, and sometimes quick ones. It is 

good to keep in mind and ask yourself, 

“What effect will this decision have on 

my reputation later on?” 

Everything that you do has the 

potential to be a defining part of the reputation 

that you are building.Think of 

these parts as feathers that are stuffed into 

a pillow. Every now and then, someone 

or something beyond your control may 

unexpectedly break that pillow, and all 

the feathers will be spread about by the 

wind.Try as you may, you can never 

retrieve all of those feathers; they will 

remain in circulation for the rest of your 

life and beyond. 

Please accept my best wishes as you 

begin to undertake the privileges and 

duties of the legal profession. I hope that 

your conduct will not support any 

lawyer jokes. I am confident that the 

Cumberland School of Law has given 

you the skills and values necessary to 

build reputations that will bring honor 

to you as individuals and to the bar. 

Congratulations, and thank you. 


The Initial Stage of a 

Development Process 

Below is an excerpt from Class of 2009 President 

Alan Kirk’s farewell address. 

W 

e are here today for the commencement 

ceremony, but we are not here to just 

celebrate the end of law school or the 

ending of the study of law; the studying is 

just about to begin. This day is not about the 

final hour of our Cumberland career. Today 

is about a new beginning. 

Today, our doctorate of jurisprudence is 

being handed to us as we walk across this 

stage. This degree provides us great privileges 

and great responsibilities. We will 

never be viewed the same—today, tomorrow 

and the many days to come—as the way we 

were viewed yesterday. Tomorrow, when you 

wake in the morning, your name will hold a J.D. 

This is the initial stage of a developmental 

process; this is the beginning of 

becoming counsel for whoever your client 

will be. 

At orientation, the entire entering Class 

of 2009 was sitting in the Moot Court Room. 

Dean Carroll, standing at the podium, 

addressed our class for the first time and 

said, “The practice of law is not about a 

scorched-earth, take-no-prisoners approach. 

It is about representing your client, your 

position and working with all parties to 

reach a resolution.” 

Class of 2009, you will find each other 

on opposite sides of a legal battle one day; 

that is inevitable. But remember, the practice 

of law is not a war; it is not scorched 

earth, take no prisoners. Most of the time, it 

is an adversarial process, but it is a process 

that clings to lofty ideals. Remember the 

slogan that always comes up on the 

Cumberland website and characterizes our 

angel patio: “Seek wisdom to temper justice 

with compassion.” 

To my classmates, wherever your path 

takes you—a large firm to hanging out your 

shingle—remember that from this day forward, 

you are in the initial stage of a 

developmental process. There is always 

something more to learn, something more 

to improve, another way you can better yourself. 

Work hard, always do what is right, 

always be honest and tell the truth. Never 

forget your ethics; never forget your morals. 

It has been a privilege and honor to be 

part of the Class of 2009 with you. Thank 

you, and God bless. 

Class of 2009 President Alan Kirk receives his hood from Professor Marcia McCormick and 

Governor Albert Brewer.

Legacies 

Proud graduates of the 

Class of 2009 celebrate 

graduation with relatives 

who share in the honor 

of receiving a degree 

from Cumberland School 

of Law. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 6 

7 8 

9 

1. Margaret Head ’09 with her father, James Benjamin Head ’82 

2. Ty Brown ’09 with his brother, Brett Brown ’06, and father, Buddy Brown ’77 

3. Drew Isom ’09 with his father, Charles Edward Isom ’67, and uncle, Chervis 

Isom, Jr. ‘67 

4. Kelly Wallace ’09 with father, James Wallace, and sister, Barbara N. Wallace ’02 

5. Anthony Romano ’09 with his sister, Nicole Romano ’01 

6. Joseph Dennis ’09 with his aunt, Labella Alvis ’84 

7. Graham Lane ’09 with his grandfather, Richard Dance ’47 

8. Christy Young ’09 and her husband, Larry Young ’09 

9. Sarah Payne ’09 with her father, Jack Payne ’71 

Not pictured: Janice Ballard ’09 and her husband, Patrick Ballard ’96; Laura 

Catherine Mason Ashburner ’09 and her father, Courtney Mason ’75; Mi Wu ’09 

and her husband, Robert Lewis Belvin ’09 


Cumberland Community Service Organization 

Makes a Difference 

From the first day students start classes at 

Cumberland School of Law, they are 

taught professionalism, ethics and the 

duties of lawyering. One of these duties 

is a commitment to serving the public. 

The Cumberland Community 

Service Organization [CCSO] has been 

providing students opportunities to serve 

the Birmingham community for as long as 

Pam Nelson, director of student services 

and ADA compliance, can remember. 

“The students that we have involved 

with the CCSO are not students who are 


looking for an organization to go on their 

résumé,” said Nelson.“These are students 

who are looking to be involved directly 

with the community, and they follow 

through with their involvement once they 

graduate from law school.” 

A variety of events are organized by 

the CCSO each semester for students and 

other members of the Cumberland School 

of Law community. Last year, under the 

leadership of president Carin Brown 

’09, the CCSO introduced new events to 

engage students and Cumberland School 

of Law constituents.These events included 

the 2009 Lakeshore Foundation 

Wheelchair Rugby Demolition Derby 

and Cumberland Christmas. 

Brown regularly volunteers with the 

wheelchair rugby team at the Lakeshore 

Foundation, located just minutes from 

Samford University. Each year, the 

Lakeshore Foundation hosts a Demolition 

Derby, a tournament featuring top club 

teams from across the United States as well 

as a number of the world’s best international 

teams.The CCSO organized

The law school provided Christmas presents for 80 Salvation Army Angel Tree children. 

student volunteers for the event and 

singlehandedly filled every volunteer spot 

for the three-day event. 

“The demolition derby was really fun 

for everyone,” said Brown.“Many students 

ended up staying longer than the time for 

which they had signed up.” 

CCSO officers developed the idea of 

Cumberland Christmas to get 

the entire school involved in a 

service project.The CCSO 

committed to providing 

Christmas presents to 80 

children through the Salvation 

Army’s Angel Tree program.The 

children were part of the Court 

Appointed Special Advocates 

[CASA] program, devoted to 

assisting abused and neglected 

children.All 80 CASA children 

were adopted by students, faculty 

and staff through the Angel Tree 

program and received an abundance 

of presents, including 

clothes, toys, PlayStations, 

XBoxes, guitars and bikes. 

“The camaraderie of all the 

students really showed through 

with this event,” said Brown. 

“The students teamed up on 

their own accord to purchase 

big-ticket items. I think that says 

a lot.” 

Cumberland Christmas also hosted a 

cookie contest for students, faculty and 

staff. More than 30 students submitted 

cookies for the competition, which raised 

funds to provide gift certificates for all of 

the CASA children’s foster families. 

In March, the CCSO hosted more 

than 30 children from Big Brothers Big 

CCSO members work hard on the organization’s Habitat for Humanity house. 

Sisters, Grace House, and the Children’s 

Village on campus for a giant Easter egg 

hunt, face painting and games. 

“The kids really seemed to enjoy all 

of the day’s activities, especially the kickball 

games.All of the Cumberland students 

had a great time as well,” said Chandra 

Paul ’09. 

According to third-year student 

Krystal Drummond, president of the 

CCSO for the 2009–10 academic year, 

they intend to continue the successful 

events of this past year and further develop 

a relationship with Hands on Birmingham, 

a local volunteer resource organization, 

and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater 

Birmingham. 

If you would like to contribute to the efforts of 

this organization, you can stay connected to the 

CCSO by joining the organization’s Facebook 

group, Cumberland Community Service 

Organization (Past and Present), or contact the 

organization’s adviser, Cassandra Adams, at 

ceadams@samford.edu. 


Students Benefit from 

Public Interest Stipend Program 

Each year, students are invited to participate 

in the Cumberland Public 

Interest Project, including the 

Summer Public Interest Stipend 

Program, which provides grants ranging 

from $1,200 to $2,000 to students who 

wish to work for uncompensated public 

interest placements. Stipends are awarded 

based on the educational benefit of the 

proposed work experience, the benefit to 

the community of the proposed work 

experience and the student’s expressed 

interest in pursuing a career in public 

interest work.The stipends are available 

through the Henry G. and Henry U. Sims 

Foundation, the generosity of alumni and 

other fund-raising efforts. 

This summer, a record number of 

Cumberland School of Law students are 

volunteering 6–12 weeks of their time in 

public interest and public service placements. 

Placements range from the governor’s 

legal office in Montgomery,Ala., to 

the International Criminal Tribunal at The 

Hague in the Netherlands. 

The Public Interest Stipend Program 

allows students to experience the importance 

of public service that they might not 

have otherwise. Here, four students share 

how the program affected their views, 

career paths and priorities. 

Edmonds Parlays 

Internship into New Career 

Brad Edmonds ’09 had been thinking 

about law school for more than 20 years. 

With a variety of degrees under his belt, 

including an M.B.A., doctorate of music 

and master’s in psychology, he had worked 

in many fields, had published more than 


BradEdmonds 

250 political/economic commentary 

articles on the Internet and had written a 

book by the time he was 38.After he and 

his wife, Linda, married in 2006, they

TianaGarner 

decided it was time for Edmonds to 

consider law school. 

“I originally desired a way to enhance 

my education to strengthen my background 

for writing,” Edmonds said.“Law 

offered the chance to better inform my 

writing and to work within an area of my 

interest full-time, outside academia as well 

as inside.” 

Edmonds accepted a presidential 

scholarship to Cumberland School of Law 

and began classes in the fall of 2006.As a 

law student, he held a variety of internships 

in both the public and private sector. 

One of those internships included 

working in the office of Chief Justice Sue 

Bell Cobb in Montgomery,Ala., through 

the Cumberland Public Interest Project. 

“The Public Interest Stipend was an 

encouragement to do the internship,” said 

Edmonds.“To the extent Cumberland can 

increase that stipend, I’m all for it.” 

Wayne Mills, senior staff attorney for 

the chief justice, worked directly with 

Edmonds during his six-week internship. 

Edmonds helped with research projects 

that staff attorneys didn’t have time to 

complete and agreed to stay on part-time 

for the remainder of the summer to assist. 

As a result of his work with the internship, 

Edmonds was offered a job as a staff 

attorney in the civil appeals court in 

Montgomery and will begin the position 

full-time in August 2009. 

“Doing your best for a client, no 

matter who it is, is your moral imperative 

as a lawyer,” said Edmonds,“I don’t feel 

any a priori bias toward plaintiffs or defendants. 

Because of that, I believe civil 

appeals is a great place for me, and I have 

Cumberland’s Public Interest Project 

largely to thank for my finding a position 

there.” 

Garner Discovers New 

Appreciation for Criminal 

Law 

For Tiana Garner ’09, it was never a 

question whether or not she wanted to 

help people. 

“I had always been interested in 

working with indigent clients and making 

sure they were provided with adequate 

counsel,” she said. 

When it came time to apply for the 

Cumberland Public Interest Stipend, 

Garner contacted a familiar attorney from 

her home in Georgia.The attorney 

worked with the Newton County Public 

Defender’s Office, which was not necessarily 

looking for an intern but agreed to 

let Garner assist with trials over the summer. 

Each Monday, Garner accompanied 

attorneys from the office to local jails, 

where she reviewed plea deals with 

inmates to see if they were willing to 

accept them. She also assisted with communication 

with the district attorney’s 

office to discuss the plea deals and 

responded to inmate correspondence. 

“One of the common misperceptions 

among people that are assigned public 

defenders is that public defenders are not 

as good as private criminal lawyers,” 

Garner said.“Many cases carry mandatory 

minimums that a public or private attorney 

can’t do anything about, and people 

don’t understand that. Many of [the 

inmates] were very frustrated with their 

situation.” 

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Garner 

was in court available to assist, regardless of 

which attorney was in session. Garner 

found the experience of working with a 

wide variety of attorneys to be very 

beneficial. 

“Everybody does things differently; 

the way they handle their cases, the way 

they talk to their clients.All of the attorneys 

had something to offer,” said Garner. 

Garner gained much appreciation for 

the attorneys she worked with during her 

internship.The attorneys work long, often 

uncompensated hours; but this demonstrated 

to Garner how much they cared 

about the clients and their cases. 

“Your work may not always be appreciated,” 

she said.“That really prepared me 

for what to expect if I do end up going 

into public service.” 




DanielMilton 

Without the Public Interest Stipend, 

Garner would have been unable to participate 

in the internship.The stipend covered 

transportation expenses for the internship, 

which was located 50 miles from her home. 

Garner lives in Atlanta, Ga., with her husband 

and has commuted to Cumberland 

School of Law for the past two years for 

her education. 

“Criminal law was something I never 

thought I would do, but this internship 

really exposed me to it,” she said.“Of all 

the internships I have had, I enjoyed this 

one the most.” 


Milton Views Work Ethic 

as Crucial Component 

When third-year student Daniel Milton 

realized he did not have a job for the first 

six weeks of his summer break, he turned 

to fellow third-year student Andrew 

Brashier. Brashier had worked with the 

Legal Aid Society of Birmingham the 

previous summer and knew that they had 

an opening in a semicriminal law sector. 

Milton had not yet taken any criminal 

procedure classes, and he found himself 

both nervous and excited for the internship. 

“Criminal law class somewhat prepared me 

for this internship, but the internship itself 

was a completely new learning experience,” 

said Milton. 

Milton was assigned to work with 

Jequette H. Clancy, acting managing 

attorney of the South Court, Birmingham 

City Jail. Clancy represents 20–30 clients 

per day who don’t have the funds for representation 

in minor crimes such as traffic 

tickets and insurance. 

Clancy had developed carpel tunnel 

syndrome in her arm due to all the writing 

associated with her work, which is one 

reason why Milton was hired to serve as 

her right-hand man. Milton assisted Clancy 

during court hearings, making note cards 

on all defendants, calling defendants’ 

contacts and assisting with sentencing 

procedures. 

“I absolutely loved working with her,” 

said Milton.“She was patient with me 

when I first started working, and made sure 

I understood the entire process and what to 

do and not to do in the courtroom.” 

Defendants would receive their 

charges from the judge and were then 

called by Clancy and Milton to review 

their charges and their options, a streamlined 

procedure that Milton described as 

“buffet-line justice” and “organized chaos.” 

Throughout the internship, Milton gained a 

great appreciation for Clancy’s work ethic. 

“It was always really important for her to 

give them [the defendants] a chance to talk, 

just because nobody else gave them that 

chance,” said Milton.“There are very few 

people that I have met in my life that work 

as hard as Ms. Clancy and are as happy 

about their job and what they’re doing as 

her. It was very inspiring and uplifting to 

meet someone like that.” 

Though Milton does not plan to work 

in public interest, he felt the experience 

taught him many long-term lessons.“I 

really feel like I’m going to look back in 

several years and see that I learned more 

than what I thought,” he said.“It made me 

realize the importance of people to be 

represented, no matter what they do, no 

matter if they did it or not.” 

Though Milton’s career dreams 

include litigation, he is confident that he 

will always be involved with public interest 

work.“Now when I look at firms, I look to 

see if they offer any pro bono experience 

that an attorney can get involved with.The 

amount of work that they do for the less 

fortunate is really telling to the firm’s 

character,” said Milton.

DanielleTouart 

Touart Champions 

Innocence Project 

Danielle Touart is a very busy third-year 

law student. In addition to her law school 

studies, she holds a part-time position at a 

local law firm, lobbies for criminal justice 

reform in Montgomery,Ala., and independently 

works on more than 30 case files 

for convicted Alabama felons. 

Touart’s passion for criminal justice 

reform developed through her internship 

with the Georgia Innocence Project [GIP] 

last summer.The GIP is a nonprofit organization 

dedicated to helping individuals who 

have been convicted of crimes they did not 

commit.The project works to secure postconviction 

DNA testing for Georgia 

inmates where DNA analysis could prove 

guilt or innocence, and adequate DNA 

testing was not available at trial. 

“Innocence Projects are an important 

way to ensure the criminal justice system 

functions properly. It provides an opportunity 

for the release of innocent persons,” 

said Dean John Carroll.“For our students, 

the Innocence Project provides valuable 

insight into the actual workings of the 

criminal justice system.” 

Touart worked with the GIP for six 

weeks. She initially learned about the nonprofit 

when it visited the law school for an 

informational session led by Dean Carroll 

and Cassandra Adams, director of the 

Cumberland Community Mediation 

Center.Touart interviewed for the GIP 

summer internship program and was 

selected as one of their first out-of-state 

interns. She was assigned to work on the 

Alabama Initiative, which was created in 

2007 to assist Alabama inmates who are not 

allowed postconviction DNA testing. 

“There are now more than 200 

Americans whom DNA evidence has 

proven innocent long after their convictions,” 

said Aimee Maxwell, GIP executive 

director.“Alabama is one of only two states 

not currently served by a regional or state 

Innocence Project, and we feel that justice 

in Alabama cannot wait another day.” 

Touart and the other interns sent 

letters to select felons convicted prior to 

1994 in Alabama.The letters informed the 

convicts of the program and offered assistance 

if they felt they had been wrongly 

accused.The GIP received 189 responses 

over the past year and has taken 42 cases 

from Alabama.Touart met three innocents 

who were exonerated because of the GIP’s 

work, and she said,“Their stories were just 

amazing.” 

Touart was so inspired by the project 

that when she returned to Cumberland 

School of Law in the fall, she brought along 

30 possible GIP case files as well. She 

recruited five fellow students to assist her 

on the cases, and together, they are working 

toward helping the potentially innocent 

convicts and having legislation passed in 

Alabama. 

“A lot of people are not willing to 

work for nothing. But it’s such a good 

cause. Somebody has to do it,” she said. 

This summer,Touart is putting her 

skills to use at the Colorado State Public 

Defender office. Her work with the GIP 

helped her to be selected as one of three 

nonresident interns. 

If you would like to submit an internship 

opportunity for the Cumberland Public Interest 

Project or sponsor a Summer Public Interest 

Stipend, please contact Jeanette Lincecum at 

205-726-4454 or jmlincec@samford.edu. 


Letter from the 

Director of Alumni 

nother year has 

gone by, and what a 

year it has been! The 

spring was filled with 

events in Birmingham, 

Montgomery, Centre, 

Miller 

Dothan and Huntsville, 

Ala., and Nashville, 

Tenn. Alumni Weekend 

2009 was held March 26–27 at the 

Renaissance Ross Bridge Resort. The 

weekend attracted a very large turnout of 

graduates. Mark White ’74 was honored 

as Distinguished Alumnus, and he passed 

the gavel to our new National Alumni 

Association president, Lenora Pate ’85. 

Thank you, Mark, for such wonderful 

leadership these last two years! More than 

200 people attended the gala dinner and 

more than 300 enjoyed various class 

parties throughout Birmingham. 

If we didn’t visit your area this year, 

please let us know if you would be interested 

in hosting an event or helping us to 

schedule one in your area. We look forward 

to another year of great events and hope to 

see you there! 

The alumni page on the school’s website 

is updated weekly with class notes, 

pictures from events and links to our 

online communities. We are ramping up 

efforts to communicate online through 

social media groups, including Facebook, 

Twitter and LinkedIn. We want to use every 

avenue possible to stay in touch with 

alumni. Find ways to join these groups and 

stay connected at http://cumberland. 

samford. edu/alumni. 

Thank you to all our alumni and 

friends who have helped us this year with 

interviewing prospective students, 

speaking at events, volunteering to help 

the alumni office in many ways and supporting 

us financially. As my first year as 

director comes to a close, I am humbled by 

the continual realization that it is alumni 

such as you that keep the school great. 

Mary T. Miller 

Director of Alumni 

A 


1 

2 

3 

4 

1. Samford President Andrew 

Westmoreland addresses alumni at 

the Cumberland School of Law 

Birmingham Alumni Luncheon at the 

Harbert Center. 

2. From left, Anthony Joseph ’80, Prof. 

Howard Walthall, Bob MacKenzie ’84 

enjoy a faculty reception hosted in 

MacKenzie’s home. 

3. From left, H. Warren Cobb, Jr. ’05 

and Bo Boyd ’03 join Dean John 

Carroll at the Dothan Alumni Dinner. 

4. Bruce Gardner ’79, left, and Judge 

Lloyd Little ’72 meet at the Huntsville 

Alumni Reception. 

5. From left, Labella Alvis ’84, Leslie 

Barineau ’85 and Barbara Olschner 

’84 enjoy a class reunion party in Alvis’ 

home. 

5

1 

3 

5 

Additional Alumni Weekend photos can 

be found at http://www.cumberland. 

samford.edu/alumni/events-pictures. 

4 

6 

2 

ALUMNI WEEKEND 2009 

1. National Alumni Past President Mark White ’74 and Dean John Carroll 

2. Jennifer and Dow Davidson ’04 

3. Chris Brewer ’74 and his wife, Judge Jacqueline Brewer 

4. Lenora and Lee Johnson ’74 

5. Greg Glynis ’79 and Judge Clyde Jones ’79 

6. Margaret and Jeff Rickard ’89 

7. Russ and Lindsey Allison ’84 

7 


Upcoming 

Alumni Events 

Miami, Fla., Alumni Event, Aug. 18 

Cumberland Family Night with the 

Birmingham Barons and Montgomery 

Biscuits, Aug. 20 

Cumberland Luncheon with Brock School of 

Business, featuring speaker Rick Pitino, 

Sept. 10 

Donor Dinner, Sept. 21 

Mobile, Ala., Donor Dinner, Sept. 29 

Atlanta, Ga., Alumni Reception, Sept. 30 

Montgomery, Ala., Donor Dinner, Oct. 12 

Gadsden/Anniston, Ala., Donor Dinner, 

Oct. 14 

Cumberland Lawyer in Residence with Pat 

Dye, Jr., Oct. 19–20 

Memphis, Tenn., Alumni Dinner, Oct. 27 

Advisory Board Reception and Meeting, 

Oct. 22–23 

Daytona, Fla., Alumni Reception, Nov. 17 

For more information about these and 

other upcoming events, go to 

http://cumberland.samford.edu. 


Letter from Your Alumni President 

I 

was honored to be introduced at the 

recent Cumberland Alumni Reunion 

Weekend as the next president of the 

National Cumberland Alumni Association 

by outgoing president Mark White. It is a 

humbling responsibility to follow Mark, 

who has worked tirelessly to enhance the 

local and national image of the law 

school, as well as to organize and connect 

alumni through cutting-edge technology 

and creative initiatives. 

Those who have led alumni in the 

past embody the spirit of the servantlawyer, 

a role that is often forgotten in 

these difficult economic times. U.S. 

Supreme Court Justice Samuel A.Alito, 

Jr., stated recently at the University of 

Virginia School of Law 10th Annual 

Conference on Public Service and the 

Law that “public service is and has always 

been at the heart of our profession . . . a 

noble profession . . . to promote the rule 

of law and pursue the common good.” 

Reflecting on how the Cumberland 

Alumni Association can support the 

school, its students, faculty, alumni and 

our state in these troubled times leads to 

one conclusion: It is time to call alumni 

to step out of our comfort zones to 

pursue the true spirit of this noble 

profession. It is time for an army of 

Cumberland servant-lawyers to get fired 

up to make a difference! So consider 

yourself called! 

Now what? 

First, get fired up and connect. If you 

haven’t visited, given to the Annual Fund 

or contacted your classmates, today is the 

day! Mark White worked tirelessly to 

connect us electronically, so we have no 

excuse not to stay in touch and become a 

virtual army. Sending your latest contact 

information to Lauren McCaghren at 

lcmccagh@samford.edu.Also, join the 

Cumberland Facebook age, the alumni 

Facebook group, the Cumberland Alumni 

Association LinkedIn group or your local 

Cumberland Club alumni group. 

Second, get fired up and give. 

Cumberland School of Law is judged 

nationally against other law schools, in 

part, on the percentage of alumni who 

give to the annual fund.This is a difficult 

economic time for all, including the law 

school, so giving any amount will help 

increase alumni participation level and 

enhance our 

ranking nationally.Volunteer 

to 

be your class 

e-mail rep and 

challenge your 

classmates to 

give at a 100% 

level. Contact 

Mary T. Miller Pate 

at mtmiller@samford.edu to get an 

e-mail list of your classmates. 

Third, get fired up and serve.Alumni 

have many opportunities to give back: 

judging competitions, teaching classes, 

lecturing, writing, mentoring students, 

participating on committees, interviewing 

on campus, hiring students, sharing ideas, 

encouraging faculty by buying their 

books and much more. Contact Dean 

Carroll, jlcarrol@samford.edu or any of 

the faculty members with your thoughts 

of service. 

Finally, get fired up reform our 1901 

constitution. Carroll, Brewer,Walthall, 

Cole, Denning and many more faculty 

and alumni are committed to “promote 

the rule of law and the common good” 

through constitution reform/convention 

efforts, but we need you! Go to 

www.constitutionalreform.org to learn 

more about how you can become a 

servant-lawyer to change the racist, 

outdated, archaic and fundamentally 

flawed charter still governing the State of 

Alabama. 

To whom much is given, much is 

indeed required.We have all been given 

much, not the least of which is a wonderful 

opportunity to become a servantlawyer 

as a result of that law degree from 

Cumberland School of Law. So let’s get 

fired up! 

Lenora Pate ’85 

National Alumni President

Alumni Can Help 

Students, Other Graduates 

Cumberland School of Law students 

and graduates seek employment in 

communities throughout the Southeast. 

The Career Services staff supports 

them, in part, by meeting regularly 

with alumni and other employers to 

develop legal hiring markets, stay current 

on legal employment needs and trends, 

and establish a network of advisers for 

students and graduates seeking work in 

various communities and practice areas. 

These networking efforts are vital to our 

graduates’ success in the current legal 

hiring market. Many alumni have been 

very helpful to the school’s next generation 

of lawyers. Many others have asked 

how, specifically, they can help. Some ideas 

are set forth below. 

1.Call Career Services if you need to 

hire a lawyer or can hire a law 

clerk. 

a.Participate in the on-campus 

interviewing [OCI] program. 

b.Post an opening on the Internetbased 

job bulletin board if you are 

seeking candidates at times outside 

the fall and spring OCI periods, or if 

it is not feasible for your organization 

to visit the campus to interview. 

c. Interview at the Atlanta job fairs. 

Cumberland School of Law, along 

with several other Southeastern law 

schools, participates in these job fairs 

in March and August, enabling you to 

interview students from several law 

schools in one convenient location. 

2.Refer others who need to hire 

(lawyers, judges, insurance 

companies, banks, etc.) to the 

school. 

3.Contact Career Services if you hear 

of a vacancy or other opportunity 

for a law student or recent 

graduate. Notify the school when a 

legal employer expands into the area or 

needs to replace an attorney. 

4.Meet with a student or recent 

graduate. Career Services encourages 

students and recent graduates to contact 

alumni in the area in which they wish 

to practice to obtain advice on job 

searching and becoming active in the 

local bar.This advice is very beneficial 

in helping students make a smooth transition 

from law school to law practice. 

5.Share opportunities for students 

and new graduates to become 

involved, network and meet other 

lawyers in your area. These opportunities 

include joining and attending 

events sponsored by state and local bar 

associations, other legal and professional 

organizations and civic and charitable 

groups. 

6.Participate in one of the school’s 

educational programs. Career 

Services frequently invites practitioners 

to be guest speakers or panelists in 

various professional development 

programs.The greatest need is for the 

annual mock interview program, which 

helps first-year students prepare for the 

spring recruiting season. Each January, 

110–130 students register for a mock 

interview with a practicing or retired 

attorney.Attorneys generally are 

assigned only two interviewees, so just 

an hour is required.Accordingly, Career 

Services needs 55–65 attorneys to interview 

the students each year. 

7.Inform Career Services about 

employment trends, desirable 

career development programs for 

law students and local news 

affecting lawyers. 

Career Services is very grateful for all 

you do for Cumberland School of Law. 

Please do not hesitate to contact the office 

for assistance to you or your 

organization. 


Students converse with an employer 

at the Public Interest Career Fair. 

Career Services Intensifies Offerings 

Career Services continually works to 

improve the education, services and 

opportunities it provides students and 

graduates.This task became even more 

important this year, as the already slowing 

legal employment market experienced a 

precipitous decline that resulted in fewer 

available positions, more competition and 

increased demand for career services. In 

response, the office implemented a more 

intensive career development program. 

Opportunities offered during the 2008–09 

academic year included the following: 

Interviewing Programs 

and Job Fairs 

Cumberland Fall On-Campus 

Interviewing Program 

Cumberland Spring On-Campus 

Interviewing Program 

Cumberland Public Interest Career Fair 

(26 employers—up from 16 employers 

last year) 

Chattanooga Bar Association Career Fair 

Heartland Diversity Legal Job Fair 


Loyola Patent Law Interview Program 

Mobile Bar Association Minority Job Fair 

Nashville Bar Association Damali Booker 

Minority Job Fair 

Spring Southeast Legal Hiring Conference 

Southeastern Intellectual Property Job Fair 

Southeastern Legal Placement 

Consortium 

Southeastern Minority Job Fair 

Educational Programs 

1L Introduction to Legal Hiring and 

Career Development (with résumé 

drafting manual) 

1L Practice Interview Program 

1L Résumé Editing 

11 Tips for Shortening the Partnership 

Track 

Advanced Résumé Construction 

Workshop 

Breakfast with a Bankruptcy Judge 

Dining Etiquette Program (interviewing 

over a meal) 

How To Be a Successful Summer Clerk 

Interviewing Skills Workshop 

Judicial Clerkship Program 

Lunch with a JAG Lawyer 

Lunch with a Judicial Law Clerk 

Lunch with a Plaintiff’s Lawyer 

Lunch with a Tax Lawyer 

Networking ThroughYour Local Bar 

Association 

Preparing for the Patent Bar 

State Court and Federal Court Practice 

Visit to the Alabama Supreme Court, 

hosted by Justice Greg Shaw 

If you have any suggestions for other 

programs or would like to participate in 

upcoming programs, please contact Career 

Services at 205-726-2797. 

Jeff Price, director 

Anne Marovich, associate director 

Anna Kinman, program assistant

FOCUS ON FACULTY 

Bishop 

DiRusso 

Greene 

Snoe 

Four Professors Receive Honors 

During Alumni Weekend 

Professors Brad Bishop ’71 and 

Alyssa DiRusso each received the 

Harvey S. Jackson Excellence in 

Teaching Award at the National Alumni 

Association gala reception and dinner 

during Alumni Weekend 2009. Eddie 

Jackson ’76 and Richard Fikes ’85 

endowed the award to allow the law 

school to recognize members of the 

faculty for their teaching excellence.A 

joint faculty and student committee 

selected the recipients. 

Bishop has been a member of 

Cumberland School of Law faculty since 

1985, and currently teaches Contracts II 

and Municipal Courts. He has published 

30 books and articles, and is the recipient 

of many awards for his accomplishments 

and teaching abilities. 

DiRusso teaches Estate and Gift Tax; 

Estate and Trust Administration; and Wills, 

Trusts and Estates. She has been a member 

of the faculty since 2005, after more than 

five years of practice in Boston, Mass. Her 

research focuses on wills, trusts, intestacy 

and nonprofit organizations, and she has 

presented her work nationally and 

internationally. 

Under the leadership of Jere White 

’80, the Lightfoot, Franklin & White law 

firm endowed awards for faculty scholarship 

in April 2006.The awards allow the 

law school to recognize faculty members 

who have published significant scholarly 

works during the past year.The award 

selection committee is composed of 

faculty and a member of the Lightfoot, 

Franklin & White firm. 

Professor Wendy Greene is this 

year’s winner of the Junior Faculty Award 

for her article entitled “TitleVII:What’s 

Hair (and Other Race-Based Characteristics) 

Got To Do with It?” in the 2008 Colorado 

Law Review. The article is part of a larger 

employment discrimination law project in 

which Greene seeks a more contextualized 

judicial approach to TitleVII race, 

color and national origin disparate treatment 

cases. In the article, she proposes a 

revised analysis of TitleVII cases involving 

adverse employment actions resulting 

from an employee’s nonconformity with 

an employment policy barring mutable, 

racialized characteristics such as hairstyles, 

clothing and language. 

Greene joined the law school faculty 

in 2007 and teaches Equitable Remedies, 

Race and American Law, Employment 

Discrimination, and Real Property. She 

has traveled throughout the country and 

to Canada, presenting on various topics, 

including employment discrimination, 

comparative slavery and race relations in 

Brazil and the United States, and U.S. 

racial determination cases. 

Professor Joseph Snoe is this year’s 

winner of the Senior Faculty Award for a 

coauthored book entitled Property: 

Examples & Explanations (3rd ed. 2008) 

published by Wolters Kluwer (Aspen). 

Coauthored by Snoe and Professor 

Barlow Burke of American University, 

Property: Examples & Explanations is one of 

the most popular law student study aids 

and supplements to property law today. 

The book explains most subjects studied 

in first-year property courses.As with 

other books in the popular Examples and 

Explanations series, each chapter begins 

with an overview section followed by 

problems (examples) and answers 

(explanations). Snoe said that drafting the 

law part was laborious and required 

research, creativity and common sense. 

Snoe also published an article in 2008, 

“ERISA Preemption:A Product Rule and 

the Neglected Workhorse,” published in 

the Journal of Health & Biomedical Law. 


Faculty 

and Staff Notes 

Cassandra Adams, director of the 

Cumberland Community Mediation 

Center and Public Interest Project, was 

elected to serve on the 2009–11 Board of 

Directors for the Alabama Appleseed 

Center for Law and Justice, Montgomery, 

Ala.Alabama Appleseed seeks causes of 

injustice and inequality, and finds solutions 

to improve the lives of all Alabamians, 

striving to make legal and social systems 

better serve the citizens of the state.Adams 

also serves on the Alabama State Bar 

Committee onVolunteer Lawyer 

Programs/Access to Legal Services 

Committee and attended the quarterly 

meeting in Montgomery Jan. 30, and will 

serve on the Birmingham Bar Association’s 

ADR Committee for 2009. 

Albert Brewer was selected as The 

Anniston Star’s 2008 Alabamian of theYear. 

The Star’s definition for Alabamian of the 

Year is “an Alabamian (or Alabamians) 

who made a significant mark on events 

over the past year; someone who lived up 

to the state creed’s dictate ‘to foster her 

advancement within the statehood of the 

world.’”The former state governor also 

received the American Inns of Court’s 

2009 Professionalism Award for the 

Eleventh Circuit.The award is presented 

to honor a senior practicing judge or 

lawyer whose life and practice display sterling 

character and unquestioned integrity, 

coupled with ongoing dedication to the 

highest standards of the legal profession. 

Candidates are nominated through circuitwide 

open nominations and selected by a 

distinguished panel of judges and representatives 

from the American Inns of 

Court Foundation. 

John Carroll ’74 was a presenter at the 

Colloquium on the Future of Commercial 

Litigation in NewYork Dec. 1, 2008, 


Adams Brewer Carroll Davis 

Debow Denning Floyd Greene 

which focused on Developing a Cost- 

Efficient Judicial Process for the Electronic 

Age. On Dec. 10, Dean Carroll participated 

in a nationwide webinar concerning 

electronic discovery in employment cases. 

On Jan. 27, he participated in a national 

webinar discussing the Sedona 

Conference’s Cooperation Proclamation. 

The Sedona Conference is a national 

policy-making body on complex litigation 

and e-discovery issues, and has issued a 

detailed proclamation calling for more 

cooperation in discovery in federal court, 

particularly where e-discovery issues are 

concerned. Carroll is a member of both 

the Advisory Board and Corporate Board 

of the Sedona Conference. He also participated 

in the Northern Kentucky 

University Law Review’s Spring 

Symposium in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was a 

member of a panel that discussed ethics 

and e-discovery. 

LaJuana Davis presented a work in 

progress at Stetson University College of 

Law Jan. 30.The work is entitled 

“Reconsidering Remedies for Ensuring 

Competent Representation in 

Immigration Removal Proceedings.” 

Michael DeBow testified before the 

Judiciary Committee of the Kansas House 

of Representatives on a bill that would 

reform that state’s selection mechanism for 

judges Feb. 12. He also spoke to a conference 

on state judicial selection held at the 

University of Missouri Law School in 

Columbia, Mo., Feb. 27. 

Brannon Denning was quoted in the 

April 2 issue of The NewYorkTimes in the 

article “Toll Discounts for In-State 

Residents Draw Constitutional 

Challenge.” 

Michael Floyd, director of international 

studies, traveled to Hyderabad, India, Feb. 

20–28 to attend the 12th International 

Conference on Consumer Law, sponsored 

by NALSAR University of Law and the 

International Association of Consumer 

Law. He also met with administrators at 

NALSAR to explore ways for NALSAR 

and Samford to work together, building 

on previously established relationships. He 

traveled to São Paulo, Brazil,April 20–24 

to promote the Master of Comparative 

Law Program. 

Wendy Greene’s article,“TitleVII: 

What’s Hair (and Other Race-Based 

Characteristics) Got to Do with It?” was 

published inVolume 79 of the University 

of Colorado Law Review. Her article, 

“Determining the (In)determinable: Race 

in Brazil and the United States” was 

accepted for publication with the Michigan 

Journal of Race and Law. 

In January, Greene traveled to 

Washington, D.C., for her work with the 

National Bar Association Law Professors 

Section and NBLSA. She was invited to 

serve as an official volunteer for the presidential 

inaugural events. She also traveled 

to Phoenix,Ariz., for the Southeast/ 

Southwest People of Color Legal 

Scholarship Conference hosted by the 

Phoenix School of Law. She is a program 

cochair for the conference, and was a 

panelist on the Law and Literature panel 

March 28. 

On April 3, she presented her paper, 

“Putting it in Context:Words, Race and 

TitleVII,” at the Critical Race Theory 20: 

Honoring Our Past, Chartering Our 

Future Conference commemorating the 

20th anniversary of the critical race theory 

legal scholarship movement.The conference 

was held at the University of Iowa 

College of Law.

McCormick Ross 

Smolin Stoddard Walthall 

Marcia McCormick was quoted extensively 

about the Supreme Court case Ricci 

v. DeStefano in a January issue of the Yale 

Daily News. On March 25, she filed an 

amicus brief with the United States 

Supreme Court on behalf of the 

International Association of Hispanic 

Firefighters and the Bridgeport Hispanic 

Firefighters Association in support of the 

City of New Haven in the case of Ricci v. 

DeStefano, Nos. 07-1428 and 08-328. 

On Feb. 20, she spoke at St. Louis 

University School of Law, presenting her 

work on “Revamping Antidiscrimination 

Enforcement for the Twenty-First 

Century.” On Feb. 24, she spoke to the 

faculty at Marquette University School of 

Law on her paper,“Solving the Mystery of 

How Ex ParteYoung Escaped the 

Federalism Revolution.” In March, she 

again presented her paper and participated 

in a symposium held by the University of 

Toledo Law Review, celebrating the centennial 

of the Supreme Court’s decision of 

Ex ParteYoung, 209 U.S. 123 (1908). 

William Ross published a column in the 

online journal, Jurist.The column, 

“‘Advice and Consent’: How the Senate 

ShouldVet Obama Cabinet Picks,” may be 

found at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu. 

he first Cumberland Staff Appreciation 

Award was presented during the Rascal 

Day festivities March 5. Like the Faculty 

Award, the recipient of the Staff 

David Smolin established his conference 

at NALSAR last year on adoption issues. 

Belle Stoddard ’78 was a speaker for the 

Birmingham Bar Association’s Future 

Leaders Forum 2009 on Jan. 14.The 

Alabama Supreme Court reappointed her 

to the Alabama Pattern Jury Instructions 

Committee—Civil for a term ending in 

2012. She also serves on the Board of 

Directors for Judson College and attended 

the Induction Ceremony of Coretta Scott 

King for the Alabama Women’s Hall of 

Fame at Judson College in March. Board 

members are selected from a cross section 

of the state and represent broad areas of 

interest. Stoddard represents the legal 

profession on the board. 

Howard Walthall participated on a panel 

on “Methods of Constitutional Reform” 

as part of a symposium on “State 

Constitutional Reform in the New 

South” Jan. 16.The symposium was sponsored 

by the Charleston Law School Law 

Review and the Riley Institute of 

Government of Furman University.The 

symposium took place at the Charleston 

Museum in downtown Charleston, S.C. 

Professor Walthall’s remarks will be published 

by the Charleston Law School Law 

Review. 

Simms Wins First Staff Appreciation Award 

Student Bar President Jessica Thomas ’09, 

left, and third-year student Frances Cade, 

right, present Grace Simms the first 

Cumberland Staff Appreciation Award 

during the Rascal Day festivities. 

T 

Appreciation Award is student selected 

based on the criteria of accessibility, 

attitude, knowledge, helpfulness and 

organization. 

The first recipient of the Staff 

Appreciation Award is Grace Simms, computer 

services librarian for the Beeson Law 

Library. The student body presented the 

award to Simms “in recognition of her excellent 

service, superior IT knowledge and 

compassionate demeanor,” said third-year 

student Frances Cade. “Grace enhances 

the Cumberland experience, and she is 

highly deserving of this recognition.” 

If you would like to help fund this 

student-selected award, please contact 

Frances Cade at fhcade@samford.edu. 

Alabama State Bar 

Leadership Forum 

T 

he mission of the Alabama State Bar 

Leadership Forum is to (a) form a pool 

of lawyers from which the Alabama State 

Bar, state and local governmental entities, 

local bar associations and community 

organizations can draw upon for leadership 

and service; (b) build a core of practicing 

lawyers to become leaders with 

respect to ethics and professionalism, 

resulting in raising the overall ethical and 

professional standards of lawyers in the 

community; and (c) raise the level of 

awareness of lawyers as to purpose, 

operation and benefits of the Alabama 

State Bar. 

2009 Class V Participants 

Paul Anthony Clark ’99 

Balch & Bingham, LLP, Montgomery, Ala. 

John Gibbs Dana ’99 

Gordon, Dana, Still, Knight & Gilmore, LLC, 

Birmingham 

Michael Aaron Fritz, Sr. ’97 

U.S. Bankruptcy Administration, 

Montgomery, Ala. 

Richard Mark Gaal ’97 

McDowell, Knight, Roeder & Sledge, LLC, 

Mobile, Ala. 

Christopher Dean Glover ’01 

Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & 

Miles, Montgomery, Ala. 

Lauryn Akens Lauderdale ’96 

Lauderdale & Lauderdale, PC, Opelika, Ala. 

Emily Kay Niezer ’01 

Knight, Griffith, McKenzie, Knight & 

McLeroy, Cullman, Ala. 

Bentley Hines Patrick ’95 

Cincinnati Insurance Company, 

Birmingham 

Valerie Hose Plante ’03 

Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C., Huntsville, Ala. 

Audrey L. Oswalt Strawbridge ’00 

Strawbridge, Strawbridge & Strawbridge, 

LLC, Vernon, Ala. 

James Robert Turnipseed ’96 

Burr & Forman, LLP, Mobile, Ala. 


Class Notes 

Through April 30, 2009 

1929 

Walter Michael was featured in the 

Arizona Star Daily, where he recounted his 

experience with the famed Tennessee 

Scopes trial. 

1967 

H. Lee Moffitt established the Moffitt 

Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla.The center is 

designated as a National Cancer Institute 

and is committed to remaining on the 

cutting edge of discovery as well as 

embracing patient- and family-centered 

care. 

Ben Strand, Jr., was recognized in a 

February news story on WBIR Channel 

10 TV in Knoxville,Tenn., for his work 

with the MountainViewYouth 

Development Center. He coaches a team 

from the center that competes in the High 

School Mock Trial Competition. (See story 

on page 7.) Strand has been the juvenile 

judge for Jefferson County for 11 years. 

He also handles the civil, criminal and 

probate matters for the General Sessions 

and Probate Court. 

1969 

Skip Ames was accepted to participate as 

a 2009 Fellow of the National Institute for 

Teaching Ethics and Professionalism in 

Atlanta, Ga. 

1970 

Judith S. Crittenden coauthored 

Introducing Alabama Family Law (Alabama 

Practice Series) with Charles P. Kindregan, 

Jr.Thompson Reuters published the twovolume 

treatise in 2008. 

1973 

Don Harrison joined Lehr Middlebrooks 

&Vreeland, PC, as a senior counsel. 


Bower 

J. Richard Duke was named to Worth 

magazine’s Top 100 Attorneys 2008 for the 

fourth year in a row. 

1974 

W. Lee Thuston of Burr & Forman, LLP, 

was honored by Chambers USA as a 2009 

leader in his field. 

1976 

Charlie Waldrep was featured in the 

March issue of Birmingham Magazine for 

his community service work with 

Alabama Civic Chorale. 

1977 

Joseph Madison Carlton, Jr., announces 

the opening of Joe Carlton,Attorney at 

Law, P.O. Box 214, Sylacauga,AL 35150, 

256-245-0525. 

Joseph Fawal of Fawal & Spina was 

named to the executive committee of the 

Birmingham Bar Association. 

George M. “Jack” Neal, Jr., a shareholder 

of Sirote & Permutt, was inducted 

as the president of the Birmingham Bar 

Association for 2009.At the Birminghambased 

firm, Neal’s practice focuses on 

general and commercial civil litigation, 

and he serves as a mediator and arbitrator. 

He also was named as a member of the 

2009 Board of Trustees for the Legal Aid 

Society of Birmingham and was accepted 

to the Roster of Neutrals for both arbitration 

and mediation by the American 

Arbitration Association. 

Carol Sue Nelson of Maynard Cooper & 

Gale, PC, was honored in the 2009 edition 

of Chambers USA. 

Driver Jones Hamilton 

Huret Lane Self Sport 

1978 

Joseph A. Lane was selected by The Best 

Lawyers in America 2009 in the areas of 

commercial litigation and construction 

law. 

James M. Nolan, an attorney with the 

Birmingham office of Constangy, Brooks 

& Smith, LLP, was promoted to an equity 

partner of the firm. 

Martha Jane Patton continues to serve 

in her 11th year as executive director on 

the board of the Legal Aid Society of 

Birmingham. 

James R. Pratt III, a partner in the law 

firm of Hare,Wynn, Newell & Newton, 

was selected for inclusion in the 2009 

edition of Benchmark Litigation. Pratt 

earned his inclusion as a star litigator based 

on his accomplishments in the areas of 

personal injury, products liability and 

complex civil litigation matters. 

Tommy Spina of Birmingham was named 

2009 president of the American Board of 

Criminal Lawyers. 

1979 

James Anderson was selected as a fellow 

of the Alabama Law Foundation. 

Joseph S. Bower was a featured speaker 

at the Investors Title Insurance Company’s 

Fifth Annual Fall Gathering Seminar in 

Chapel Hill, N.C. Bower, who practices 

with White & Allen, P.A., in Kinston, 

N.C., spoke on the practical, ethical 

dilemmas that can emerge in real property 

transactions. Bower’s practice is concentrated 

in the areas of business law, corporate 

law, residential and commercial 

real estate, title claims litigation and

Walker Watters Wise 

Yaghmai 

foreclosures.The Home Builders 

Association of Kinston also honored 

Bower for his outstanding community 

leadership and service. He was presented 

with the 2008 W. Roy Poole Memorial 

Award. 

Mary Anne Gibbons is president of the 

Women’s Committee of 100 for 

Birmingham, Inc. She retired after 20 years 

as senior clerk to a U.S. district judge and 

now conducts independent legal research 

and writing. 

G. Douglas Jones, an attorney with 

Haskell SlaughterYoung & Rediker, LLC, 

delivered the 2009 Nichols Foundation 

Prominent Speaker Lecture at the Stetson 

University College of Law March 12.The 

address, entitled “Justice Delayed, but Not 

Denied:The 16th Street Baptist Church 

Bombing Prosecutions,” recounted the 

story of the successful murder prosecutions 

of two of the 16th Street Baptist Church 

bombers in a case reopened 40 years after 

the tragedy. Jones served as lead trial 

counsel in the prosecutions. He was also a 

featured panelist at the Ethics, Politics, and 

Public Corruption conference sponsored 

by the American Bar Association’s 

Criminal Justice Section at the Alabama 

State Bar, held April 3 at the Renaissance 

Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa in 

Birmingham.The Alabama Supreme 

Court appointed Jones to the Advisory 

Committee on the Alabama Rules of 

Evidence in April. 

1980 

Steven Allen is the author of the comic 

strip The Gentleman from Lickskillet. 

Launched on http://ConservativeHQ. 

com, the new daily comic strip is 

described as the conservatives’ answer to 

political comics such as Doonesbury and the 

strip-turned-animated-cartoon The 

Boondocks. 

George V. Laughrun II was selected by 

North Carolina Business Magazine as one of 

North Carolina’s legal elite in criminal law. 

This is his seventh straight year to be 

chosen for such designation. He is a 

board-certified criminal law specialist by 

the North Carolina State Bar. He was also 

chosen by North Carolina Magazine Law & 

Politics as one of North Carolina’s Super 

Lawyers for 2009 in the criminal defense 

of DWI cases. 

Chris Murvin was promoted to senior 

vice president, business affairs of the Golf 

Channel. He supervises the human 

resources and legal departments, and manages 

the administration of the network’s 

existing contracts with major golf organizations 

as well as its international partners. 

John Neal of Austin,Texas, was named 

first assistant district attorney. He is 

responsible for the day-to-day management 

of the district attorney’s office. Neal 

has served as chief disciplinary counsel for 

the State Bar of Texas since 2005. 

1981 

Karen O. Bowdre, judge of the Northern 

District of Alabama, was elected a member 

of the Board of Trustees of Samford 

University. 

Mark S. Carter announces the opening 

of Carter & Hall PC, 1608 Broad Street, 

Phenix City,AL 36867, 334-291-3070. 

Charlie Crist, current governor of 

Florida, served as grand marshal for the 

51st Daytona 500 on Feb. 15. 

Elizabeth H. Hutchins of Sirote & 

Permutt, PC, was named an officer of the 

2009 Estate Planning Council of 

Birmingham. 

David H. Marsh of Marsh Rickard & 

Bryan was selected by the Alabama Law 

Foundation to join its Fellows Program. 

Birmingham Magazine also honored him as 

one of the top attorneys for his work in 

personal injury litigation. 

1982 

Kenneth D. Hampton is an attorney in 

Huntsville,Ala. 

Carol H. Stewart of Burr & Forman, LLP, 

was honored by Chambers USA as a 2009 

leader in her field. 

1984 

Daniel F. Aldridge announces that 

Howard & Aldridge, PC, has changed to 

Aldridge Law Firm, PC, and is now 

located at 605 Madison Street, Huntsville, 

AL 35801. 

Greg Burge was named partner in the 

Birmingham office of Burr & Forman, 

LLP. 

C. Paul Cavender of Burr & Forman, 

LLP, was honored by Chambers USA as a 

2009 leader in his field. 

Scott Donaldson was selected as a fellow 

of the Alabama Law Foundation. 

Sim Penton was selected as a fellow of 

the Alabama Law Foundation. 

Stuart F. “Todd” Vargo was named 

partner in the Birmingham office of Burr 

& Forman, LLP. 

1985 

Katherine Barr of Sirote & Permutt was a 

featured speaker at the American Bar 

Association Section of Real Property,Trust 

and Estate Law’s 20th Annual Spring 

Symposia held April 30–May 1 in 

Washington, D.C. 

Lenora Pate was featured in the March 

issue of Birmingham Magazine for her community 

service work with the American 

Cancer Society, Cumberland School of 

Law and Alabama Citizens for 

Constitutional Reform. 

1986 

William A. Bond was named partner in 

the firm of McDonald, Fleming, 

Moorhead, Ferguson, Green, Smith, 

Blankenship, Heath & de Kozan, LLP. He 

joined the firm in 2005, and his primary 




areas of practice include estate planning, 

business planning and business transactions, 

tax planning, trusts, and probate. 

Richard J. Brockman of Johnston Barton 

Proctor & Rose, LLP, was honored in the 

2009 edition of Chambers USA. 

John Thomas Brown was appointed 

Okaloosa County Circuit Judge in April. 

Davis Malone, a partner in the Dothan 

law firm of Farmer & Malone, P.A., was 

elected to the board of trustees of the 

University of Alabama System. Malone 

will represent the Second Congressional 

District. 

1987 

Lori Collier Ingram was appointed by 

Gov. Bob Riley as Houston County 

District Court Judge. 

Helen Shores Lee was honored as a 2009 

Southern Woman of Distinction by the 

Southern Women’s Committee of Fifty at 

a luncheon in March. 

1988 

Brent Craig was elected district judge of 

Morgan County Nov. 4, 2008. He and his 

wife,Angela, have two daughters and live 

in Hartselle,Ala. 

Edward H. Merrigan of Fort Lauderdale, 

Fla., was appointed to the Broward 

County Court by Gov. Charlie Crist 

’81. 

Tom Methvin was named president of the 

board of directors for Brantwood 

Children’s Home. 

Gil Self, an attorney in Florence,Ala., 

since 1988, was appointed by Gov. Bob 

Riley to fill the unexpired term of 

Lauderdale County Circuit Court Judge 

Mike Suttle, who retired. 

Susan Walker of Waldrep Stewart & 

Kendrick judged the Second Annual 

American Mock Trial Association 

Regional Mock Trial Tournament, which 

was presented by Samford University and 

the University of Alabama at Birmingham 

Pre-Law Advisory Board. 


1989 

David Dwight Kiely, formerVanderburgh 

County, Ind., Circuit Court magistrate, 

was elected to fill the bench of retiring 

Vanderburgh Superior Court Judge Scott 

R. Bowers. 

1990 

William A. Fort was selected to join the 

board of trustees for the Walker 

Foundation, supporting the South 

Carolina School for the Deaf and the 

Blind. 

Anne Elizabeth McGowin was named 

deputy state finance director for Alabama. 

William Henry Seals, Jr., was elected by 

the General Assembly for the State of 

South Carolina to the Circuit Court 

Bench Feb.11. He was invested in April as 

circuit court judge, at-large, seat 6. 

1992 

Robert Gardner of Baker Donelson 

Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, was 

named an officer of the 2009 Estate 

Planning Council of Birmingham. 

1993 

Leslie Kroeger joined the firm of 

Leopold-Kuvin in Palm Beach Gardens, 

Fla., as one of its consumer justice 

attorneys. 

1994 

Reed Bates of Starnes & Atchison, LLP, 

was selected to serve on the 2009 

Committee for the Future of Children’s 

Hospital of Alabama. 

1995 

Bobby Christine was sworn in as 

magistrate judge for Columbia County in 

Augusta, Ga., Feb. 5. 

Anne Lamkin Durward was named as a 

member of the board of trustees for 2009 

for the Legal Aid Society of Birmingham. 

Michael I. Fish, a senior partner in the 

Fish Nelson, LLC, a civil defense litigation 

firm he founded in Birmingham, was 

named one of Birmingham’s “Top 40 

Under 40” by the Birmingham Business 

Journal. 

Randal Larry Gilliam is an assistant district 

attorney in McMinnville,Tenn. He 

and his wife, Christi, have two children, 

Garrett, 8, and Raleigh, 5. 

1996 

Christopher A. Bottcher, a shareholder 

in the business, corporate and commercial 

litigation section at Sirote & Permutt, PC, 

was named one of Birmingham’s “Top 40 


Journal. 

Polli Camille Lamar married Dwight 

Lee Campbell Nov. 29, 2008, at the Sacred 

Heart Cultural Center in Augusta, Ga. 

Christine Green joined the Birmingham 

office of Maynard, Cooper & Gale, PC, as 

an associate. 

Susan Haygood McCurry joined the 

firm of Haygood, Cleveland, Pierce, 

Mattson & Thompson, LLP, as an associate. 

1997 

William Robby Chumley was appointed 

judge to the Spartanburg County Court 

in South Carolina by Gov. Mark Sanford. 

Chumley has taught government and 

business law at Spartanburg Community 

College since 1999. He also has been the 

office manager of Drainbox, LLC, a family 

company, since 1999. 

B. Thomas Hickey is a partner in the 

Chattanooga,Tenn., office of Spicer, Flynn 

& Rudstrom, PLLC. 

James Johnston serves as the president of 

the board of directors for Birmingham’s 

Children’s Dance Foundation. 

Shannon Barnhill Lisenby serves as president 

of the Junior League of Birmingham. 

Monica Sargent of Balch & Bingham, 

LLP, was selected to serve on the 2009 

Committee for the Future of Children’s 

Hospital of Alabama. 

Greg Yaghmai will teach trial techniques 

that can be applied in both the civil and 

criminal arena at Solo Practice University. 

1998 

Jeffrey W. Brumlow announces the 

opening of Morris & Brumlow, PC, 1100 

East Park Drive, Suite 402, Birmingham, 

AL 35235, 205-833-1303.

Peter J. Hardin of Sirote & Permutt, 

PC,was selected to participate in a panel 

of experts at the 2009 Advising the Small 

Business Conference. He explored the 

current trends in early-stage financing. 

Tara L. Helms announces the opening of 

Martin & Helms, PC, 401 Holmes Avenue 

Northeast, Suite C, Huntsville,AL 35804, 

256-539-1990. 

Norman M. Orr was named partner in the 


LLP. 

Jeff Pomeroy, vice president and assistant 

general counsel for Bayer Properties, was 



Journal. 

Angela Dawson Terry was appointed by 

Gov. Bob Riley as the new district judge 

in Lawrence County.Terry is a partner 

with Malcom and Terry of Moulton,Ala. 

She has been Hillsboro Municipal Court 

judge since 2004. She is married to 

Shanon Terry and has a daughter,Ashley 

Elizabeth, 9. 

1999 

Marshall “Marty” Cook was selected 

to participate in the Tennessee Bar 

Association’s 2009 Leadership Law 

program. Cook practices in both the 

Nashville,Tenn., and Hendersonville, 

N.C., offices of Bone McAllester Norton, 

where he focuses his practice in the areas 

of small business law, commercial litigation, 

employment litigation and premises 

liability litigation. 

Jeffrey S. DeArman, a partner in the 

Birmingham office of Adams and Reese, 

LLP, and a member of the real estate and 

banking and finance practice, was named 

one of Birmingham’s “Top 40 Under 40” 

by the Birmingham Business Journal. 

Devona L. Johnson joined Estes, Sanders 

& Williams, LLC, as an associate. 

Dana W. McGowin is an associate at 

Battaglia Law Office, LLC. 

Chad Stewart of Marsh Cotter & 

Stewart, LLP, was selected to serve on the 

2009 Committee for the Future of 

Children’s Hospital of Alabama. 

India Vincent, a partner at Burr & 

Forman, LLP, with a practice specializing 

in intellectual property, technology, business 

planning and media, was named one 

of Birmingham’s “Top 40 Under 40” by 

the Birmingham Business Journal. 

2000 

Shayana Boyd Davis was named a member 

of the board of trustees for 2009 for 

the Legal Aid Society of Birmingham. She 

also was named a partner in the firm of 

Johnston Barton Proctor & Rose, LLP. 

Joel DiLorenzo of the DiLorenzo Law 

Firm, LLC, was named chair of the 

Emerging Leaders, the statewide young 

lawyer section of the Alabama Association 

for Justice for 2008–09. He also announces 

the opening of the DiLorenzo Law Firm, 

LLC, 1130 22nd Street South, Suite 4500, 

Birmingham,AL 35205, 205-212-9988. 

Khristi Driver, an attorney with Haskell 

SlaughterYoung & Rediker, LLC, 

coauthored the Alabama section of DRI 

Trucking Compendium 2008, a state-bystate 

review of the law regarding trucking 

insurance policy disclaimers and the 

policyholder’s obligations to preserve coverage. 

She also served as a regional editor 

of the treatise published by DRI,“The 

Voice of the Defense Bar.” DRI is the 

largest international organization of attorneys 

defending the interests of business 

and individuals in civil litigation. She was 

named to the executive committee of the 

Birmingham Bar Association and also was 



Journal. 

T. Scott Kelly, an attorney with the 

Birmingham office of Ogletree Deakins 

Nash Smoak & Stewart, PC, was elected a 

shareholder of the firm. Kelly’s practice 

focuses on employment-related litigation. 

Michael Gould became a shareholder at 

the firm of Akerman Senterfitt in 

December 2008. 

Woody Hamilton joined the Signal 

Mountain Office of Prudential Realty 

Center as an affiliate broker with the 

Hamilton Group after working for the last 

nine years as a real estate attorney in 

Birmingham and locally for Milligan- 

Reynolds Guaranty Title Agency, Inc. 

Demetra Liggins, a corporate reorganization 

and creditors’ rights attorney in the 

Houston,Texas, office of Thompson and 

Knight, was named to the Texas Rising 

Stars 2009 list. 

2001 

Brian M. Cloud and Jay E. Tidwell ’04 

announce the opening of Cloud & 

Tidwell, LLC, 1625 Richard Arrington, Jr., 

Boulevard South, Birmingham,AL 35205, 

205-322-6060. 

Ashley E. Manning is a partner in the 

firm of Gaines,Wolter & Kinney, PC. 

Latanishia D. Watters, an attorney with 

Haskell SlaughterYoung & Rediker, LLC, 

was a featured speaker at a continuing 

legal education program entitled 

“PreservingYour Client’s Rights When 

Someone Files for Bankruptcy.”The program 

was presented Feb. 13 as part of the 

ABA Midyear Meeting in Boston, Mass. 

Watters was also a featured panelist at the 

National Bar Association Commercial Law 

Section’s Annual Corporate Counsel 

Conference Feb. 19–21 in LasVegas, Nev. 

She spoke on a panel entitled “To Sue or 

Be Sued:The Two-Edged Sword of 

Business Litigation and Effective Strategies 

for In-House Counsel.” 

E. B. Harrison Willis joined the firm of 

Cloud & Tidwell, LLC, as an associate. 

2002 

Robin Beardsley of Sirote & Permutt, 

PC, was elected president of theYoung 

Lawyers Section of the Birmingham Bar 

Association. 

Jennifer Bellamy is the new legislative 

counsel for criminal justice issues for the 

Washington Legislative Office. She advocates 

on behalf of more than 500,000 

ACLU members on a broad range of 

criminal justice issues, including juvenile 

justice and drug policy reform, eliminating 

racial disparities in law enforcement practices 

and strengthening privacy protections 

for personal information such as DNA. 

R. Mac Freeman is a shareholder at 

Rushton, Stakely, Johnston & Garrett. 

Freeman became an associate in 2002 and 

practices insurance defense law. 




Kathryn I. Kasper joined Emmanuel, 

Sheppard & Condon as an associate attorney 

in the commercial litigation division. 

Heather A. Lee was named partner in the 


LLP. 

Jay E. Murrill, Jr., is an attorney with the 

Perkins Group, LLC, practicing in governmental 

affairs and corporate litigation. He 

and his wife, Leah, live in Birmingham 

with their son, Peyton, 5. 

Claire Hyndman Puckett was named a 

member of the law firm Bishop Colvin 

Johnson & Kent, LLC. Her practice concentrates 

on education, local government 

and employment law. 

Jason A. Walters was named partner in 

the Birmingham office of Bradley Arant 

Boult Cummings, LLP. 

Eric Wade was named a shareholder in 

the firm of Carr Allison. 

2003 

Steven C. Huret of Wilson Worley Moore 

Gamble & Stout, PC, became a shareholder 

in the firm Jan. 1. He is a member 

of the firm’s practice groups in litigation 

and alternative dispute resolution. He also 

serves as chairman of the firm’s personal 

injury practice group. 

Elizabeth Jackson Kanter, an attorney 

in the Birmingham office of Carr Allison, 

was named a shareholder in the firm. His 

practice focuses primarily on transportation, 

products liability, premises liability 

and insurance groups. 

2004 

Choctaw County prosecutor Joe 

Thompson was named district judge in 

Alabama’s First Judicial Circuit, which 

includes Choctaw, Clarke and Washington 

counties. 

Jay E. Tidwell and Brian M. Cloud ’01 

announce the opening of Cloud & 

Tidwell, LLC, 1625 Richard Arrington, Jr., 

Boulevard South, Birmingham,AL 35205, 

205-322-6060. 

2005 

Willam M. Cheves, Jr., joined Carlock, 

Copeland & Stair, LLP, as an associate. 

Jason Gammons and his wife, Kristin, are 

stationed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, 

where he is a captain in the Judge 

Advocate General’s Corps.They have a 

daughter, Martha Hope, 1. 

Elizabeth McIntyre joined the 

Birmingham office of Carr Allison as a 

member of the firm’s litigation practice 

group. 

2006 

Michael T. Scivley joined the 

Birmingham office of Starnes & Atchison, 

LLP, as an associate. 

Eric L. Toxey joined Moses & Moses, PC, 

which focuses on business and estate 

planning, alternative dispute resolution and 

elder law. 

2007 

Charles Greene is an associate at 

Lightfoot Franklin White, LLC. 

Hyland Authors Book on Jefferson 

William Hyland, Jr. ’83 recently released 

his book, In Defense of Thomas Jefferson. 

Published by St. Martin’s Press, the book 

unravels the scandalous relationship 

between Jefferson and his servant, Sally 

Hemings, and proves beyond reasonable 

doubt that Jefferson was innocent of the 

charges brought against him. 

Hyland introduces the reader to the 

president’s younger brother, Randolph 

Jefferson, as the DNA match for Hemings’ 

children. 


Along with the most thorough examination 

of the Hemings controversy to date, 

new discoveries and details are revealed 

within the book exonerating Jefferson from 

this 200-year-old political scandal. 

Hyland is president of the Cumberland 

Alumni Association in the Tampa Bay, Fla., 

area. He has more than 25 years of appellate 

and civil litigation experience. A former 

prosecutor, Hyland and his firm now serve 

as in-house counsel to Travelers Insurance 

Co. 

Jett T. Jackson joined the Birmingham 

firm of Fish-Nelson, LLC, as an associate 

attorney. 

Mary Leah Singletary Miller is an 

attorney with Alvis & Willingham, LLP, in 

Birmingham. 

William Walker Moss is an associate at 

Estes, Sanders & Williams, LLC. 

Jonathan G. Wells is an associate at Estes, 

Sanders & Williams, LLC. 

2008 

Hayes Arendall joined the Birmingham 

office of Maynard Cooper & Gale, PC, as a 

new associate. He serves in the firm’s commercial 

lending and real estate practice 

groups. 

Meredith Hamilton Barnes joined the 

legal division of the Alabama Board of 

Pardons and Paroles. 

John R. Bowles is an associate at Engel, 

Hairston & Johanson, PC. 

Haley D. Bozeman is an associate at 

Engel, Hairston & Johanson, PC. 

Krista L. DeWitt joined the firm of Huie, 

Fernambucq & Stewart as an associate. 

Jaime Haggard joined the Birmingham 

office of Maynard Cooper & Gale, PC, as a 

new associate. She joined the firm’s insurance 

and financial services litigation practice 

groups. 

Jamin W. Hogan joined Hogan Law 

Office, PC, as an associate. 

Brian J. Malcom joined the Birmingham 

office of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis 

as an associate. He is a member of the 

firm’s trial and appellate litigation practice. 

Brooke Malcom is an associate at 

Lightfoot Franklin White, LLC. 

Sean T. Mims joined Beers,Anderson, 

Jackson, Patty & Fawal, PC, as an associate. 

J. Tyler Schermerhorn is an associate 

with Weinberg,Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn 

& Dial in Atlanta, Ga. 

Morgan Sport is an associate with the 

firm of Hand Arendall, LLC, practicing in

the area of litigation and business in the 

Birmingham office. 

Molly Taylor joined the firm of Bradley 

Arant Rose & White, LLP, as an associate. 

Amber M. Whillock joined the 

Birmingham office of Starnes & Atchison, 

LLP, as an associate. 

April Dunaway Wise joined the central 

Alabama law firm of Capell & Howard, 

P.C., as a new associate. Focusing on estate 

and tax planning and estate and trust 

administration,Wise also handles other probate 

court matters including guardianships, 

conservatorships and adoptions. 

Christopher M. Wooten joined the firm 

of Siniard,Timberlake & League, PC, as an 

associate. 

Births 

Emily and Champ Crocker ’01, a son, 

Henry Francis, born Jan. 26, 2009. 

Ann and Jordan Knight ’06, a daughter, 

Caroline Ann, born June 20, 2008. 

Janie and Charles Bennett Long ’05 of 

Mobile,Ala., a son, Charles “Charlie” 

Bennett, Jr., born Dec. 8, 2008. 

Nathan and Allison Reid Lumbatis ’06, 

of Dothan,Ala., a daughter,ArielYvonne, 

born Jan. 29, 2009. 

Lloyd ’98 and Candi Brannen Peeples 

’00, a daughter, Lillian Davis Peeples, 

born Jan. 11, 2009. 

Martha ’01 and Riley Roby ’00, a son, 

George Adams Roby, born Feb. 19, 2009. 

Stuart M. and Jeannette Smith Tysinger 

’96 of Johnson City,Tenn., a son, Lucas 

Kirkpatrick, born Sept. 9, 2008. 

In Memoriam 

1936 

Dudley Porter, Jr., died March 10, 2009. 

For 27 years, he worked in the law department 

of Provident Life and Accident 

Insurance Company, and served as general 

counsel. 

1947 

Stephen L. Guice, age 88, of 

Diamondhead, Miss., died Jan. 2, 2009, 

peacefully at home. He was a member of 

the Mississippi Bar since 1947, and 

practiced law in Mississippi, Idaho and 

California. 

Edwin Clay Townsend died Jan. 31, 2009. 

1957 

Randell H. Rowe, Jr., age 81, of Madison, 

Fla., died Oct. 31, 2008.A retired attorney, 

he was a 50-year member of the Florida 

Bar and was a former municipal judge. He 

served in the U.S. Navy during World War 

II and in the U.S.Army in the Korean War. 

1967 

Joel Michael Folmar, Sr., age 73, died 

Dec. 24, 2008, at Bay Medical Center in 

Panama City, Fla., following a brief cancerrelated 

illness. His career was one of public 

service as a district judge, state representative 

and district attorney for the 12th 

Judicial Circuit. 

Tom E. Merritt, Jr., died April 14, 2009, 

following a battle with heart disease. 

1974 

Dick Donnelly Nave died Jan. 4, 2009, of a 

heart attack. He practiced defense insurance 

law in Birmingham for 34 years. 

Nave served his country for seven years as 

a green beret in the 20th Special Forces 

Group,Airborne Division, of the U.S. 

Army Reserves. 

1975 

Ben Randolph King died Dec. 10, 2008, 

in Houston,Texas. He was a licensed 

attorney in South Carolina and Texas, and 

practiced law for 35 years. 

1976 

Herbert J. “Jadd” Fawwal died Jan. 17, 

2009, after a brief illness. He practiced law 

in Jefferson and surrounding counties with 

offices in Birmingham and Bessemer, with 

his focus on trial practice, both civil and 

criminal. 

1977 

Leon F. “Buddy” Kelly, Jr., of 

Columbiana,Ala., died March 30, 2009, 

due to complications from a heart attack. 

He served with distinction as first assistant 

U.S. attorney for 11 years. 

1981 

Scott J. Humphrey died April 12, 2009. 

He was the proprietor of Scott J. 

Humphrey, LLC, law firm for many years. 

1982 

John G. Isom, age 52, of Marietta, Ga., 

died Jan. 3, 2009. 

1986 

Gary Cody, age 55, of Hoover,Ala., died 

Jan. 10, 2009. 

Susan Hubbert Peterson, ofVestavia 

Hills,Ala., died Nov. 12, 2008, after a long 

battle with cancer. 

1989 

Jessee Dean Hash II died Jan. 9, 2008. 

1990 

Steve Johnson, age 44, of Johnson City, 

Tenn., died April 17, 2009, at his home. 

1994 

Jeff Carr, age 39, of Guntersville,Ala., died 

Sept. 22, 2008.An attorney in Guntersville, 

he practiced previously in Albertville and 

Gulf Shores,Ala. 

William L. Powell Jr., died Feb. 27, 2009. 

He worked with the Public Defender’s 

office in Titusville, Fla. 

2000 

Jason T. Derrick of Charleston, S.C., died 

peacefully Dec. 31, 2008. 


Cumberland School of Law 

800 Lakeshore Drive 

Birmingham,Alabama 35229 

Check your calendar, 

mark the date, plan to 

attend, and look for 

the program brochure 

six weeks prior to the 

seminar. 

September 

11 Developments and Trends in Health Care Law 2009 

co-sponsored with the Healthcare Financial Management 

Association and the Health Law Section of the Alabama 

State Bar 

25 Legal Writing/Appellate Practice 

October 

2 20th Annual Bankruptcy Law Seminar 

29-30 Southeastern Business Law Institute 2009 

November 

6 Class Action Litigation 

Nonprofit Org. 

U.S. Postage 

PAID 

Birmingham, AL 

Permit No. 1083 

Continuing Legal Education 

Upcoming Seminars 

13 

20 Commercial Real Estate Law Seminar 

co-sponsored with the Real Property, Probate & Trust 

Law Section of the Alabama State Bar 

December 

4 16th Annual Employment Law Update 

11 Recent Developments 

Choose live seminar or a 3 hour live webcast 

18 Negotiation Strategies in a Tough Economy featuring 

Martin Latz, national negotiation expert 

29 14th Annual CLE by the Hour 

Check our website at http://cumberland.samford.edu/cle for 

additional seminar listings or call (205) 726-2391 or 1-800-888-7454; email lawcle@samford.edu 

Did you know Cumberland offers a wide range of online courses?

Summer 2009 - Cumberland School of Law - Samford University

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