University of Alabama School of Law

University of Alabama School of Law
Parent schoolUniversity of Alabama
Established1872
School typePublic
DeanWilliam S. Brewbaker III
LocationTuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.
33°12′14″N 87°32′07″W / 33.2039°N 87.5354°W / 33.2039; -87.5354
Enrollment395 (2024-2025)
Faculty46 full-time, 66 non-full-time
USNWR ranking31st (tie) (2025)
Bar pass rate95.24% (2025 First-time takers)
Websitewww.law.ua.edu
ABA profileABA Standard 509 Report

The University of Alabama School of Law, (formerly known as the Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law at The University of Alabama) located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is the only public law school in the state. It is one of five law schools in the state, and one of three that are ABA accredited. According to Alabama's official 2025 ABA-required disclosures, 93.2% of the Class of 2025 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. An additional 5.5% of the Class of 2025 obtained JD-advantage employment.

395 JD students attended Alabama Law during school year 2024–2025. 51 undergraduate institutions, 23 states, and 3 countries are represented among the class of 2026, and the student-faculty ratio is 6.7 to 1.

Academics

Alabama Law offers the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, as well as an International LL.M., an LL.M. in Taxation, and an LL.M. in Business Transactions. In conjunction with the Manderson Graduate School of Business, the law school also offers a four-year joint J.D./M.B.A. program. Students may also pursue a number of graduate degrees through established dual enrollment programs for M.A. or Ph.D. in Political Science, M.P.A., Ph.D. in Economics, or LL.M. in Taxation. Certificates in Public Interest Law, Governmental Affairs, and International and Comparative Law are also available.

Admissions have been increasingly selective. The class of 2026 has a median LSAT score of 167 and median undergraduate GPA of 3.95. The 75th and 25th percentile for these metrics are 168 and 4.00, and 159 and 3.63, respectively.

Law clinics

Alabama Law guarantees that every interested student has the opportunity to participate in at least one law clinic before graduating. It is one of the few law schools in the country to make this guarantee.

Publications

In 2007 Jarvis & Coleman ranked the Alabama Law Review (ALR) 36th "on the basis of the prominence of their lead article authors." This represents an incredible 63 position improvement from the rankings of ten years prior. For 2015–2016, ExpressO, UC Berkeley's manuscript submission service, ranked the ALR at 10th in terms of "number of manuscripts received." In 2015 Washington and Lee's methods rank ALR at 46th in both the number of citations from other journals and the combined score. These show an improvement of 10 and 26 positions, respectively, over the preceding 5 years.

Approximately 40% of students graduate with journal experience. This is a slightly lower percentage than many of Alabama's peer schools, but nonetheless above the national average.

Employment

According to Alabama's official 2025 ABA-required disclosures, 93.2% of the Class of 2025 obtained full-time, long-term, bar passage required employment within nine months after graduation. 29.7% of 2025 graduates were employed by a national law firm and 17.2% found judicial clerkships. Alabama's Law School Transparency under-employment score for 2023 is 4.9%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2023 who were unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.

ABA Employment Summary for 2025 Graduates
Employment Status Percentage
Employed - Bar Passage Required
 
 93.2%
Employed - J.D. Advantage
 
 5.5%
Employed - Professional Position
 
 0.7%
Employed - Non-Professional Position
 
 0.0%
Employed - Undeterminable
 
 0.0%
Pursuing Graduate Degree Full Time
 
 0.0%
Unemployed - Start Date Deferred
 
 0.0%
Unemployed - Not Seeking
 
 0.0%
Unemployed - Seeking
 
 0.7%
Employment Status Unknown
 
 0.0%
Total of 146 Graduates

Costs

Tuition and fees at the University of Alabama School of Law for the 2025–2026 academic year total $24,980 for residents and $48,100 for nonresidents. 96% of students received grants during the 2024–2025 school year, of which 66% received at least half tuition.

Alabama law alumni awards

Each year the Law School Board of Governors and the Alabama Law Alumni Society give out three awards. Specifically the three awards are The Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumna Award, Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor Award, and Alabama Rising Young Attorney Award.

Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor

The Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor was established in 2020 by the Law School Foundation Board to honor alumni and faculty of the law school. The recipient of the Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumna Award is also inducted into the Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor.

Inductees
Name Year of Induction Graduation Year from UA Law Notes
Pamela Bucy Pierson 2025 N/A
Jefferson B. Sessions III 2025 1973
C.C. Bo Torbert 2025 1954
H. Thomas "Tommy" Wells 2025 1975
Judy Whalen Evans 2024 1975
Vanessa Leonard 2024 1995
Robert F. Prince 2024 1974
M. Wayne Wheeler 2024 1966
Sue Bell Cobb 2023 1981
L. Scott Coogler 2023 1984
Elizabeth H. Huntley 2023 1997
M. Dale Marsh 2023 1974
Sonja F. Bivins 2022 1988
William N. Clark 2022 1971
Michael D. Ermert 2022 1990
H. Harold Stephens 2022 1980
Julia Smeds Roth 2021 1977
Bryan K. Fair 2021 N/A
Walker Percy Badham III 2021 1982

Notable alumni

References

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  2. ↑ "University of Alabama". Retrieved April 11, 2025.
  3. ↑ "2026 Bar Passage Report" (PDF).
  4. ↑ "UA trustees vote to return Culverhouse Jr. donation, remove name from law school". WTVY. June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
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  8. 1 2 "Quick Facts". UA School of Law. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
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