It was founded in 1847 at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and is the 11th oldest law school in the United States.

This summary is based on From Maverick to Mainstream,[6] a review of Cumberland's history and the development of the American legal education system.

Following the American Civil War, Cumberland rebuilt itself and ultimately succeeded on a grand scale with its single-year curriculum.

Prior to the founding of the United States' first law schools, the primary means for a legal education was apprenticeship.

[10] Cumberland's first graduate Paine Page Prim ultimately became chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court.

[11] Students were taught through reading treatises, approximately two hours worth of recitations each morning, and a mandatory moot court program.

[12] After the Civil War, this treatise method, the legal formalism of the school's approach, and Nathan Green Jr.'s unwillingness to make changes, were all considered reasons for Cumberland's drift out of the mainstream.

Nathan Green Jr.'s father, a law professor, went home, but in fear of arrest, Abraham Caruthers fled to Marietta, Georgia, where he died a year later.

In July 1866, Cumberland adopted the image of the phoenix, the mythological Egyptian bird that is reborn from its own ashes.

Robert Caruthers had previously served as the state attorney general and had been elected Governor of Tennessee during the war in 1863, but was never inaugurated.

But there were few students from outside of the defeated Southern states, which Langum and Walthall claim underscored "how terribly the Civil War blighted Cumberland.

The new hall apparently had "excellent acoustics and hard seats" and is described as a: splendid structure, built after the latest architectural style, is nearly one hundred feet from base to spire, and contains two recitation rooms for the Law Department, two Society Halls, a Library, and a chapel whose seating capacity is about seven hundred.

It maintained a one-year curriculum when other schools moved toward longer terms, and it was entrenched with legal formalism, which had reached its peak in the 1870s and would soon be on the decline.

[20] Historian Lewis L. Laska observed that: Cumberland, which had once marked the high point of professional education, had become a captive of its own success.

Unwilling to adopt modern techniques such as the case method, or to expand and deepen its curriculum by opting for the three-year standard, Cumberland became the symbol of the democratic bar.

Former dean, former federal judge John L. Carroll (class of '74), has stated that: The prevailing philosophy is simple: Practical skill outweighs raw knowledge, and application transcends erudition.

That's why Cumberland’s curriculum emphasizes the core competencies of legal practice: research, writing and persuasion.The first-year required classes are Civil Procedure, Contracts, Property, Torts, Criminal Law, and Evidence.

Cumberland offers a balance of traditional courses, such as Criminal Procedure, Family Law, and Basic Federal Income Tax, and practical courses, such as Basic and Advanced Trial Skills, Business Drafting, Real Estate Transactions, and Law Office Practice and Management.

The library building is 42,500 square feet (3,950 m2) with 13 conference rooms, 474 study spaces, carrels equipped with electrical and data connections, and three computer labs.

The keynote address, which was also the Thurgood Marshall Lecture, was presented by United States Congressman Artur Davis, a leader on issues relating to the delivery of health care services.

[4] According to Samford's official 2022 ABA-required disclosures, 80.7% of the Class of 2022 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.

[25] Samford's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 19.3%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2022 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.