The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals held oral arguments in Samford’s Wright Center on Thursday, March 5, offering students a rare opportunity to observe the appellate process in person.
The session included two criminal appeals argued before a five-judge panel consisting of Presiding Judge Mary B. Windom and Judges J. Elizabeth Kellum, J. William Cole, Richard D. Anderson and Richard J. Minor.
In opening remarks, Cumberland School of Law Dean Blake Hudson brought emphasis to the importance of experiential learning for aspiring attorneys.
“Seeing oral arguments firsthand helps illuminate how legal principles move from theory to practice,” Hudson said. “Experiences like this remind us that the law is not merely an academic discipline; it is a living system dedicated to the pursuit of justice.”
Remarks were also delivered by Candis McGowan, president of the Birmingham Bar Foundation, and Elisabeth French, a Cumberland alumna and presiding judge of Alabama’s 10th Judicial Circuit.
For many students in attendance, the arguments offered a clearer understanding of the appellate process beyond the classroom.
“Watching the oral arguments was incredibly eye-opening,” said law student Cole Ramsey. “It was interesting to see how an attorney’s argument pauses immediately upon a judge’s question. It made the appellate process feel much more dynamic than it sometimes seems in a casebook.”
Ramsey added that the experience highlighted how quickly attorneys must respond to questioning from the bench.
“Cold calls in class really feel like nothing compared to a judge interrupting mid argument,” he said.
Second-year law student and moot court participant Gage Rigona said observing the exchange between judges and attorneys provided valuable insight into how appellate arguments unfold in practice.
“For somebody that’s done moot court, it tracks well with what you see in the competition and what they stress,” Rigona said. “Getting to see something that you read about in practice is different. You get to see the back and forth and the judges’ reactions when they ask questions.”
Rigona noted that observing those real-time reactions may help students better understand how arguments translate into written judicial opinions.
The event offered students a rare opportunity to witness appellate advocacy firsthand without having to leave campus.
As Ramsey noted, “The court came to us; we didn’t have to go to them.”
Staff Reporter
