Laura Taaffe is an assistant professor of Legal Research and Writing at Cumberland School of Law. She earned a Bachelor of Science in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University and a Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University. She served as the managing editor for the Vanderbilt Law Review.

Before joining Cumberland, Taaffe worked as a career law clerk to the Honorable James H. Hancock in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama; a labor and employment litigator in Birmingham, Alabama; and most recently as a staff attorney to the Honorable R. David Proctor in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Having worked for 18 years within the federal court system, Taaffe has extensive experience in litigation, brief and opinion writing, and oral advocacy. 

At Cumberland School of Law, she received the Harvey S. Jackson Award for Excellence in Teaching for 2022-23.

Degrees and Certifications 

• JD, Vanderbilt University, 2003
• BS (Industrial and Labor Relations/concentration in Collective Bargaining), Cornell University, 2000

Teaching and Research Interests

Legal research and writing, employment law, employment discrimination, and labor law