This story was originally published in the 2022 Special Anniversary Edition of Capstone Lawyer as a part of the commemoration of The 50 | 150 Anniversaries—celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the School of Law and acknowledging it was just 50 years ago (in May of 2022) that the first class of African American students graduated from the Law School.
Maud McLure Kelly
In 1907, Luelle Lamar Allen became the first female graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law. In the years since, the percentage of female students at Alabama Law has steadily increased. In fact, three of the past four incoming 1L classes have each consisted of more women than men –a milestone that would not have been possible without the leadership of female trailblazers who came before.
After a change in wording in the State Bar admissions statute in 1908, Maud McLure Kelly became the first woman to have an active and enduring legal practice in the State of Alabama. She was also the second woman to graduate from Alabama Law (Class of 1908)— following Luelle Lamar Allen (Class of 1907).*
Nina Miglionico was sworn in as a Birmingham City Council member in 1963.
Nina Miglionico (Class of 1936) ran for Birmingham City Council in 1963. “She campaigned against organized opposition from the Ku Klux Klan and the White Citizens’ Council, who faulted her support for integration and reconciliation and vilified her Catholicism and Italian ethnicity. [Despite the opposition] she won the seat and became the first woman elected to Birmingham’s city government.”**
Judge Irene F. Scott in January 1961 with fellow members of the Tax Court of the United States.
Judge Irene Feagin Scott (Class of 1936) was appointed to the United States Tax Court in May of 1960 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. She served in that capacity for 12 years and then was reappointed by President Richard Nixon for an additional 15 years. In 1978, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Alabama School of Law. ***
Former Chief Justice Howell Heflin swears Justice Janie Ledlow Shores into the Alabama Supreme Court in January 1975.
In 1974, Justice Janie Ledlow Shores (Class of 1959) became the first woman ever elected to the Alabama Supreme Court. She served in this position for 25 years. While at Alabama Law, she was one of just four women in her cohort. Her notes and outlines at the School of Law were legendary; for years after she graduated, countless students insisted that they succeeded in law school only because they relied on Janie Shores’s notes. ****
Camille Wright Cook (Class of 1948) entered law school during World War II when there were but 12 other students. Nearly 20 years after taking her degree, she returned to the School of Law as an administrative assistant to the dean, was promoted to assistant dean and assistant professor, and promoted again to full Professor of Law. Cook is recognized as both the first female faculty member and the first female tenured faculty member at Alabama Law. And in 1992, she be- came the first female professor at The University of Alabama to hold a named, endowed chair. *****
A composite photo of Sue Thompson from when she was a student at Alabama Law.
Sue Thompson (Class of 1974) was one of the first female African American graduates at Alabama Law, earning her degree in 1974. Thompson, Booker T. Forte, Jr. (Class of 1972), and retired Circuit Judge John H. England, Jr. (Class of 1974) were founding members of the first Black law firm in Tuscaloosa. Most of Thompson’s 40-plus-year legal career has been spent advocating on behalf of low income and marginalized groups. A frequent collaborator with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund addressing school desegregation issues in Alabama, she is a local public education advocate.
*Paul McWhorter Pruitt, Jr., Maud McLure Kelly, Encyclopedia of Alabama (2007).
** FROM THE ALABAMA LAWYER: Women Lawyers in the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame (2022).
*** Caroline Greer, Janie Ledlow Shores, Encyclopedia of Alabama (2020). AND Alabama Law Remembers Justice Janie L. Shores, The University of Alabama School of Law (2017).
**** Tom Scott and Irene Feagin Scott Collection, University of Alabama School of Law Bounds Law Library Archives.
***** Mark E. Brandon, Alabama Law Remembers Professor Emerita Camille Wright Cook , The University of Alabama School of Law (2018).
Professor Fred Vars was a guest on CBS Sunday Morning discussing a law intended to aid in suicide prevention. Click this link to view the full segment.
Paul Caron of TaxProf blog ranked Alabama Law #1 for highest median undergraduate GPA. The ranking was determined based off of the undergraduate GPAs of the 1L class for Fall 2022.
View the full “Law School Rankings by Fall 2022 Median UPGAs” here.
Professor Deepa Das Acevedo‘s article The Past as a Colonialist Resource has been accepted for publication in Volume 73 of the Duke Law Journal. The article uses insights from Anthropology to both explain and critique Originalist interpretation. Read about the forthcoming piece on SSRN.
Alabama Law students Hunter Jackson (3L) and Amani Moore (3L) were recently awarded “Best Respondent’s Brief” at the Southern Regional Black Law Students Association conference in Orlando, Florida.
The Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Competition team was coached by Professor Anil Mujumdar and supported by team manager, Lawrence Perry (2L). Many other members of the Alabama Law community helped the team prepare to compete.
This story was originally published in the 2022 Special Anniversary Edition of Capstone Lawyer as a part of the commemoration of The 50 | 150 Anniversaries—celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the School of Law and acknowledging it was just 50 years ago (in May of 2022) that the first class of African American students graduated from the Law School.
In 1972, Michael Anthony Figures, Booker Forte, Jr., and Ronald E. Jackson became the first Black students to receive a degree from The University of Alabama School of Law. Previously, no law school in the state of Alabama—including the University of Alabama—would accept African American students. In fact, for a time, the State would provide funding for Black students to study law elsewhere.
Fred David Gray speaks at the 2022 Alabama Law graduation ceremony on the 50th Anniversary of the graduation of the first African American students at Alabama Law. Photo credit: Lynn Cummings Photography
Civil rights pioneer and attorney Fred David Gray was one such student whom the State of Alabama paid to pursue his legal education in another state. Gray left Alabama to attend law school in Ohio before returning to Alabama where, in 1963, he successfully represented Vivian Malone and James Hood in their quest to enroll at the University of Alabama. This case played a pivotal role in desegregating public education throughout the State and across the U.S.—eventually opening the door for Figures, Forte, and Jackson to walk across the graduation stage at an Alabama Law commencement ceremony nine years later.
Trailblazers, such as Gray, Figures, Forte, and Jackson—among so many others—each played a major role in initiating a new era at Alabama Law following a century of race-based discriminative practices and policies.
“Change is oftentimes slow, and even painful, for those who muster the courage and stamina to challenge ingrained practices and traditions that are wrong,” said Mark E. Brandon, Dean and Thomas E. McMillan Professor of Law. “But looking back at the progress that has been made over these past 50 years, it becomes evident that the efforts of these early pioneers—including Gray, Figures, Forte, and Jackson—have truly made a difference in the lives of current and future students here at the School of Law. Our responsibility going forward, as the Alabama Law community, is to ensure that all persons have an equal opportunity and resources available to study and flourish at the School of Law.”
During the 2022 Alabama Law Commencement Ceremony—which marked the 50th Anniversary since the graduation of Figures, Forte, and Jackson—the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama System conferred upon Gray an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree in recognition of his outstanding civil rights work.
To learn more about Figures, Forte, and Jackson, continue reading below:*
Michael Anthony Figures (Class of 1972): A successful Mobile attorney, Michael Anthony Figures was elected to the Alabama State Senate in 1978. He was re-elected four times and rose to become the first African American individual to be elected President Pro Tempore in 1994.
During his time in the legislature, he was instrumental in many initiatives as he advocated for the rights of the less privileged through education reform, protecting the heirs of small farms, and authoring and championing fair housing legislation. He also played a pivotal role in the “Helping School” license plate campaign which began in 1990. Because of his efforts, more than $600,000 is generated annually for local schools in Alabama.**
In the 1980s, Figures was the lead attorney in a lawsuit against two Ku Klux Klan members convicted of a race-related lynching. In that case, the jury returned a $7 million judgment that bankrupted the United Klans of America. It was believed by many that he would one day be elected the first African American governor of Alabama. Unfortunately, the life of Senator Figures was cut short after suffering a brain hemorrhage that led to his untimely passing in 1996.
When Figures spoke to students, he advocated the three B’s: Be There, Be On Time, and Be Prepared. He believed that most leaders become leaders through a commitment to personal growth that includes building strength of character, embracing high moral values, and acquiring knowledge through education.
Booker T. Forte, Jr. (Class of 1972): Booker T. Forte, Jr., a native of Pickens and Tuscaloosa Counties, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from The University of Alabama in 1969. Three years later, he earned his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law.
During his career, Forte practiced in the public and private sectors of law. He helped establish the first Legal Services Clinic in the Black Belt region of West Alabama. And as the managing and lead attorney, he represented clients in federal lawsuits in the areas of civil rights, social security, and consumer protection. In 1980, on behalf of the Legal Services Corporation of Alabama, Forte represented a class of plaintiffs incarcerated in the Choctaw County Jail. This suit contained 15 different causes of action based on inadequate or substandard conditions in the jail. The court ordered various forms of injunctive relief, finding that the conditions in the jail violated the right of inmates to be free of cruel and unusual punishment and the right of pretrial detainees to be free from punishment.
Retired Circuit Judge John H. England, Jr. (Class of 1974), who attended Law School with Forte, said his friend and colleague was “courageous and committed in his own quiet and modest way.” After Judge England graduated from Alabama Law in 1974, he practiced with Forte and Law School classmate Sue Thompson in the firm of Forte, Thompson, and England in downtown Tuscaloosa. “We didn’t make a lot of money,” Judge England said, “but we did provide what I would say is a good bit of service.”***
Forte established his private law practice in several West Alabama cities, where he handled cases in criminal law, domestic relations, civil rights, personal injury, torts, workers’ compensation, insurance fraud, and probate.
Forte also served as municipal attorney to the towns and cities across Alabama including Boligee, Forkland, Gieger, and Union. He served as Assistant District Attorney for the 17th Judicial Circuit of the State of Alabama in the prosecution of criminal offenses in Greene, Sumter, and Marengo Counties. He served as Assistant Alabama Attorney General to represent the State of Alabama Department of Transportation and the Sumter County Department of Human Resources. And he served as County Attorney for Sumter County.
The United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit), United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Supreme Court of Alabama, Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, and Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals permitted him to practice in their courts. Forte loved and practiced law until the time of his death in 2019.
Ronald E. Jackson (Class of 1972): Ronald E. Jackson is a Birmingham native and life-long resident. He was educated in Birmingham’s segregated Lane Elementary and Ullman High Schools. As a youth, he participated in the 1963 “Children’s Campaign,” to desegregate the City of Birmingham and its public schools. Jackson received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science at Miles College and was an Exchange Student to the College of Wooster. After attending the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) Program at the University of Virginia School of Law, he earned a Juris Doctorate from The University of Alabama School of Law in May of 1972. He practiced law with the firm Hilliard, Jackson, Barnes, Cook, Mixon & Little. In 2008, Jackson was awarded the Public Interest Hall of Fame Award by OBM Watch for his outstanding public interest work in the Birmingham area.*
* Each bio was collected with permission from Ronald E. Jackson and the families of Michael Anthony Figures and Booker T. Forte, Jr. As faculty and staff at Alabama Law, we express our gratitude for their generosity in sharing these details. ** Some info provided by Beyond the Book; Alabama African American History.*** Alabama Law Remembers Booker T. Forte, Jr., https://www.law.ua.edu/blog/news/alabama-law-remembers-booker-t-forte-jr/
Professor Julie Hill was quoted in a Bloomberg Law article titled State Banks’ Crypto Plans Face Hurdles After New Fed Policy. You can read the full article here.
On Friday, March 3, the School of Law will host the annual Alabama Law Alumni Society Banquet at the Florentine in Birmingham. Six distinguished alumni will be honored this year for their significant contributions to the legal community and the School of Law:
2023 Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumnus Awardee
James (Jim) F. Hughey, Jr. * (Class of 1970)
*Mr. Hughey will be honored posthumously.
The Sam W. Pipes Award is the highest honor bestowed by The Law School Foundation
to outstanding alumni of The University of Alabama School of Law, who have
distinguished themselves through service to the Bar, The University of Alabama, and
the School of Law.
2023 Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honorees
The Honorable Sue Bell Cobb (Class of 1981)
The Honorable L. Scott Coogler (Class of 1984)
Elizabeth (Liz) H. Huntley (Class of 1997)
M. Dale Marsh (Class of 1974)
The Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor was established in 2020 by the Board of Governors
of the Law School Foundation to recognize the outstanding achievement of Alabama
Law alumni and faculty. Criteria for the award include making significant and
extended contributions to the life of the Law School, having a distinguished career,
and sustaining involvement in service activities.
2023 Alabama Rising Young Attorney Awardee
Justin L. Jones (Class of 2012)
The Alabama Rising Young Attorney Award, which was established in 2020,
recognizes a recent graduate who has shown significant leadership and purposeful
service to the legal profession, their community, and the School of Law.
Come celebrate the 2023 Alabama Law Alumni Award Winners Friday, March 3, at The Florentine in downtown Birmingham! Purchase your tickets today.
Professor Shalini Ray has published an essay in the Georgia Law Review for its 2022 symposium on “Immigrants and the First Amendment.” Her essay, The Contested ‘Bright Line’ of Territorial Presence, is available online.
The Princeton Review ranked the University of Alabama School of Law #9 among all U.S. law schools for Federal Clerkship placements. Of the 10 schools named “Best for Federal Clerkships” in the 2023 Law School Rankings, Alabama Law ranked third among public institutions.
To determine the rankings, The Princeton Review compared the percentages, from each law school, of 2021 JD graduates who secured federal judicial clerkships. View the full 2023 “Best for Federal Clerkships” list published by The Princeton Review online.
