Brannon Denning, Alyssa DiRusso and Edward Martin, professors in Samford University's Cumberland School of Law, recently attended the annual meeting for the Southeastern Association of Law Schools.

With the purpose of bringing together law professors to collaborate on panels and in workshops, the meeting provided the opportunity for these Cumberland professors to participate in open dialogue about legal academics.

Both Martin and DiRusso participated in panel discussions. Martin led a panel on designing and sequencing the modern law course in a workshop about court design. And, DiRusso presented at a panel on the law and reality of trusts and estates.

"It was a great opportunity for me to learn what some of my colleagues in trusts and estates are working on and their insights," DiRusso said.

Despite having taught law for more than 30 years, Martin said he was able to take away from the discussions new ideas to implement in the classroom.

"I was able to gain some valuable insights on planning and implementing student assessments into my own law courses from some of the other panelists and law professors," he said. "As a result of these discussions I will be including many new types of assessments into my own law courses as I continue to design new courses for both the face-to-face classroom environment and the law school's on-line law curriculum."

Sarah Waller is a journalism and mass communication major and a writer in the Office of Marketing and Communication.