Before the rigorous courtroom training and lawyering skills begin, the new students to Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law will be welcomed under the white tents on the Brewer Plaza Sunday, August 14, 2011, for the law school’s orientation picnic.

This informal picnic Sunday opens the six day event.  The event is a chance for students, their families and Cumberland faculty to forge friendships before the semester of hard work begins.

The Class of 2014 will hear from a variety of speakers throughout the week including, dean and Ethel P. Malugen Professor of law, Judge John L. Carroll ’74; assistant dean for admission and diversity, Jennifer Y. Sims ’01; Student Bar Association President, Ryan J. Letson and Cumberland’s National Alumni Association President, Judge Julian Mann, III ’74.  Other speakers include Professor of Law, Howard P. Walthall; associate dean for academic affairs and Professor of Law, H. Corky Strickland; executive director of the Alabama State Bar, Keith B. Norman; Samford University Provost Dr. J. Bradley Creed and Samford University President Andrew Westmoreland.

On the last day of orientation, the week will end with a focus on volunteerism and giving back to the community, a core message of the law school’s three years of legal education. Orientation will end with the law school’s annual First-Year Service Project.  This service project is organized by Cassandra Adams, director of the Cumberland Community Mediation Center, and is in conjunction with Hands-On-Birmingham.  This year, the community of nearly 200 students, administrators, faculty and staff members will work on projects for the following Birmingham organizations, Christian Service Mission, Southern Environmental Center, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Birmingham, Ronald McDonald House, and the Glenwood Autism and Behavioral Health Center.