It is important to note that Cumberland Law School does not require the purchase and use of personal desktop or notebook computers.  This information is being provided to guide those of you who have already decided to make such a purchase.  There are sufficient computer resources in the Law Library and throughout the campus to meet student demand.

If you are considering purchasing a computer, please consider purchasing an extended warranty.

Laptops

Law students may use PCs or Macs. Free McAfee is available to law students for PCs and Macs.

Law students at Cumberland School of Law use computers primarily for four things:
  1. Word processing
  2. E-mail & Internet access
  3. Computer-assisted legal research (for example, using Lexis-Nexis or Westlaw services)
  4. Computer-assisted legal instruction (for example, tutorials run from CD-ROMs or a website)
None of these activities require a "super-computer".  Any basic computer that is three years old or less with a CD-ROM/DVD drive should be sufficient (although, older machines with processors less than pentium class may have problems running some software).  I usually suggest that students use computers with the following MINIMUM specifications:

Wireless

For those of you considering purchasing a laptop computer, you will be happy to learn that the Law Library is a wireless hotspot and has 144 networked carrels and 11 networked conference rooms, that allow users to connect to the Internet as well as to Samford’s local area network.  Please refer to our floor maps (http://lawlib.samford.edu/maps/) for more information concerning the location of the network jacks (note:  the purple desks on the maps  and the yellow conference rooms are the networked areas).

Samford's main library, Davis Library, is wireless as well.

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