Applicants selected as Jere F. White Jr. fellows receive a unique learning experience at Cumberland School of Law. In addition to a full tuition scholarship, fellows are also invited to be members of Cumberland School of Law’s Inn of Court. Additionally, fellows are often invited to meet and dine with visiting speakers and dignitaries.

Possibly the greatest benefit bestowed upon fellows, however, is the opportunity to connect with and be advised by members of the Jere F. White Jr. Fellows Program Committee. The committee, which is responsible for selecting recipients of the honor, consists of family members and friends of Jere F. White Jr., as well as many highly respected, successful and well-connected attorneys in the Birmingham community. These attorneys serve as mentors to the fellows, taking a special interest in their education, personal and professional growth. Committee members firmly believe that the Jere F. White Jr. Fellows Program is not only an investment in the fellows’ futures, but an investment in the legal profession.

The fellowship is the only entering scholarship that requires an additional application.

Minimum Requirements

• A minimum LSAT score of 160 is required to be considered for the Jere F. White Jr. Fellows Program.
• We ask that you only apply if you will be able to make your final law school decision by the time the fellow is selected, approximately early March. This is out of consideration for the other fellowship applicants.

How to Apply

1. To apply for the Jere F. White Jr. Fellows Program, applicants must first submit an application for admission to Cumberland School of Law’s fall 2025 entering first year class.
2. Once the entering fall 2025 application is submitted through LSAC, applicants may submit the required application documents listed below to lawadm@samford.edu on or by Friday, January 10, 2025.

Required Application Documents

1. Essay: How do you view law as an avenue for service? (500 words or less)
   Also identify one area of service in which you wish to participate during your second and third year of law school. The area of service should address an identifiable community need.
2. Personal Statement: Copy of the personal statement you submitted with your Cumberland School of Law application
3. Resume: Copy of the resume you submitted with your Cumberland School of Law application. Be sure to include your service/volunteer work.
4. Signed Signature Page

Selection Process

• The deadline for applications is Friday, January 10, 2025.
• Finalists will be contacted in early February to arrange mandatory interviews in late February (TBD whether in-person or virtual).
• The 2025 Jere F. White Jr. Fellow will be named in early March.

Jere F. White Jr., JD '80, was a great enthusiast of Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law and an inspiration to everyone who met him. A founding member of the law firm Lightfoot Franklin & White, White passed away Oct. 3, 2011, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He persistently maintained his positive attitude and unshakeable faith to the very end.

For over 30 years, White handled significant civil cases of all types in state and federal courts in Alabama and throughout the United States. He tried more than 100 jury trials to verdict and was lead counsel in approximately two-thirds of those. Most of his cases were devoted to representing major corporations in products liability, class actions, business torts and multi-plaintiff mass tort matters. In addition, White developed a significant practice representing business plaintiffs in commercial disputes. He also had a significant appellate practice—very few lawyers in the South had the breadth of his experience.

White was one of the few lawyers in Alabama inducted in the American College of Trial Lawyers, International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates. He was also a fellow in the Alabama Law Foundation.

Born and raised the son of a trial lawyer and judge in a small town in north Georgia, White married his childhood sweetheart and had three adult children. He was an elder of Independent Presbyterian Church, a former trustee of the board of Hampden-Sydney College, a member of the advisory board of Cumberland School of Law and a former board member of the Birmingham YMCA. White was a graduate of the University of Georgia.

“Jere epitomized the qualities of a great lawyer and person. He was smart and always prepared. Jere had the respect of judges and other lawyers and was so well liked by everybody. He had a sense of grace which caused others to embrace him. The fellowship is a tremendous way to honor Jere’s legacy.”—Bob MacKenzie, JD '84