The first graduate of the school during its existence as a department was Nathan L. Bachman, who went on to become a United States Senator.
[2] In 1910, the university decided to discontinue its professional departments, and the dean of the law school, Charles R. Evans, persuaded the state to grant it a charter as an independent institution.
[3] Evans died shortly thereafter, and the deanship was then assumed by local judge W. B. Swaney, who remained in that position for many years.
[3] The American Bar Association reported in 1912 that "the Chattanooga College of Law has fifteen instructors, and not one of the number devotes his entire time to the school",[4] and a 1915 description noted that the faculty generally came "from the bench and bar of Chattanooga", and were active practitioners in the law.
[5] The school was never accredited by the American Bar Association, and ceased accepting new students in 1942, several years after legislation was passed by the state requiring increased standards for the admission of students to enter law schools in the state.