“Thank God for the Birmingham School of Law!” past alumni President LaBrenda Norman exclaims as she remembers her time at the Birmingham School of Law. Like many students at BSL, LaBrenda was able to get a JD while working and taking care of her family. The Birmingham School of Law offers an affordable law education on a flexible schedule with classes on nights and weekends, allowing graduates like LaBrenda to be able to move on to become successful law practitioners without piling on a lot of debt.
Below, we highlight the profiles of two past students who have moved on to have successful careers practicing law.
Ross Kinder becomes a solo practitioner straight out of law school
Ross received his Doctor of Law (JD) in 2013 from the Birmingham School of Law where he was a member of the Sigma Delta Kappa Honor Fraternity and a member of the Judge Hugh Locke Honor Society. As indicated by his honors, Ross was an exemplary student who had the opportunity to excel during his time at BSL.
Today, Ross has a law practice in Birmingham, Alabama where he uses the knowledge and skills he gained at the Birmingham School of Law. He attributes all of his success to his time at BSL.
The Birmingham School of Law did a lot to prepare Ross for his career as an attorney. After graduation and the Bar, Ross began his solo practice. He states that “the connections I made at BSL are crucial. As a solo practitioner, you need a strong network of attorneys, and you get that network at BSL.” Ross goes on to describe how a group of 7-8 students all started on the same night at BSL. All of them are solo or small firm attorneys now, and they all still keep in touch. Ross says, “We still talk, we network, we get together at happy hour, and we’re all still great friends.”
If you talk to any alumni from BSL, every one of them mentions the strong bonds they formed as students there. “The BSL bond is strong,” Ross states, “Even alumni you don’t know become part of your network, and having that network of people you can trust is a huge benefit.”
Like many students, Ross would not have been able to get his law degree without the Birmingham School of Law. He says, “If not for the price of the school and the night classes they offered, I wouldn’t have been able to do this. It was also very helpful that I didn’t graduate with a house payment sized loan debt. Being able to start a law practice right out of school and not be in the red was huge. BSL was just so convenient and affordable, unlike other schools in the area.”
Ross employs a diverse skill set as an attorney which allows him to take on a wide variety of cases from probate to criminal work. Also, as a solo attorney, he handles every aspect of his practice himself: marketing, networking, getting cases, working cases, drafting documents, and all of the nitty-gritty stuff that comes with running an office. Ross says he wouldn’t be able to do all of this if it wasn’t for the experienced and practicing lawyers that taught him at BSL.
Jennifer Tombrello graduates with new baby in tow
Jennifer Tombrello graduated from the Birmingham School of Law in 2013 with a Doctor of Law (JD). She received her Student Practice Card from the Alabama State Bar in September of 2013 and then sat for the February 2014 Alabama State Bar Exam, where she passed on the first try.
Jennifer went to the Birmingham School of Law because they offered classes that worked around her life. “I had just had a baby,” she states, “and BSL allows you to take night and weekend classes, so without BSL, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.” Today, Jennifer runs a successful law practice in Hoover, Alabama.
Jennifer credits her success to the bonds she made with other students and with her professors at BSL. She says she can still call those professors for help and that they even call her sometimes to get her to take on cases.
Jennifer states, “The best part about studying at BSL is they have the best attorneys in Birmingham teaching you and answering your questions. You have professors like Danny Carr, Richard Theibert, and John Robbins.” The professors teaching classes at BSL are practicing lawyers who know their stuff. “They don’t just teach you the law,” Jennifer explains, “they teach you how to be a lawyer. They teach you how to interpret the law, how to write, and, of course, how to argue.” Jennifer further explains, “the teachers are not retired. They are working in the day and going to class at night, just like the students. You become colleagues.”
The professors at BSL prepared Jennifer so well that she was able to start her law practice right away. She says, “I had the confidence to know I’d be able to walk out of the Bar and hang out a shingle and just be able to practice law.” Jennifer started her practice in 2015 with ten clients, and she is thriving to this day. “Three and a half years later, I’m still running a great practice.” She boasts, “I’ve had 250 clients, and I’ve even had to turn some away.” It’s a fair boast to make. Not many law practices are so successful, but Jennifer learned what she needed to at BSL to make sure she succeeded.
Many students have graduated from the Birmingham School of Law to experience wild success. The city of Birmingham and the surrounding areas are full of BSL graduates who practice law and make a difference in their communities, and they all have mutual respect for one another. “Even a lot of the judges in Birmingham are BSL grads,” Jennifer states, “so they love seeing other alumni come into their courtrooms. They respect them because they know that they worked all day and all night to get there.”
Birmingham School of Law is a law school that provides a unique learning experience and an affordable quality legal education. BSL has a diverse student body of approximately 350 students from across the State of Alabama and the Southeast. Many different undergraduate majors are represented as there is no “correct” pre-law major. Contact us today to learn more about enrollment options.