Alabama Law Alumni Awards

Each year, the Law School Foundation Board of Governors and the Alabama Law Alumni Society accept nominations for three awards: the Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumni Award, the Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor, and the Alabama Rising Young Attorney Award. The award recipients are honored and celebrated at a reception in their hometowns with hors d’oeuvres and cocktails.

The Law School is pleased to announce the 2025 Alumni Award recipients:

Jerry W. Powell (Class of 1975) | Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumni Award

Professor Pamela Bucy Pierson | Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor

Senator Jefferson B. Sessions III (Class of 1973) | Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor

Chief Justice C.C. “Bo” Torbert Jr. (Class of 1954) | Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor

H. Thomas “Tommy” Wells Jr. (Class of 1975) | Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor

Judge Zachary R. Walden (Class of 2016) | Alabama Rising Young Attorney Award

The Alumni Society will be hosting receptions in Opelika, Knoxville, Birmingham, and Mobile to celebrate their achievements. Find more information and RSVP for each reception at the links below.

The Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumni Award

The Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor presented by the Law School Foundation to an outstanding alumni of The University of Alabama School of Law who has distinguished themselves through service to the Bar, The University of Alabama, and the School of Law. The award is named for the late Samuel Wesley Pipes (Class of 1938), who was a partner in the Mobile law firm of Lyons, Pipes & Cook until his death in 1982. Pipes was a director of the Law School Foundation from 1965-1980, serving as president from 1966-1968. He also chaired the statewide fundraising campaign, which, in 1965, laid the groundwork for the formation of the Alumni Society.

2025 Recipient: Jerry W. Powell (Class of 1975)

Jerry W. Powell (Class of 1975) began his academic career at Birmingham-Southern College, graduating with his BA in 1972, before enrolling at The University of Alabama School of Law, where he earned his JD in 1975. During law school, Powell was a member of Order of the Coif, Bench and Bar Honor Society, the editorial board of Alabama Law Review, and was a Hugo L. Black scholar.

Upon graduation, he clerked for Judge Seybourn H. Lynne of the Northern District of Alabama before moving into private practice at the law firm of Johnston, Barton, Proctor, Swedlaw & Naff in Birmingham, where his practice focused on consumer compliance, creditors rights, and litigation. He then entered the financial services sector, serving 30 years as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of BBVA Compass Bancshares and Compass Bank before moving to Cadence Bancorporation and Cadence Bank, again as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary, where he provided strategic legal counsel and guidance to the executive team and board of directors and was responsible for overseeing all legal matters and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations. During his tenure, he successfully led various legal initiatives and achieved significant accomplishments, most notably providing guidance and leadership in taking the company public in 2017. He was also a special counsel in the banking and financial services practice group at Jones Walker LLP, highlighting his expertise in the banking and finance sector.

Powell has also been actively engaged with his community and the legal profession throughout his career. He is a member of the American, Alabama, and Birmingham Bar Associations, serving on various committees of the state and local bars. He has served on the board of many organizations, including the Alabama Bankers Association, AIDS Alabama, the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, Magic Moments, and Housing Enterprise of Central Alabama. He is also a graduate of Leadership Birmingham (2001) and Leadership Alabama (2010). He has continuously provided support for the Law School, first as chairman of the Alabama Law Alumni Society and now as a member of the Alabama Law Foundation Board of Governors. Additionally, he has generously contributed to technological upgrades throughout the Law School over the years through the Jerry Powell Technology Fund and supported faculty and the business law curriculum through the Jerry and Carolyn Powell Professor of Practice for Law and Business.

Powell will be honored at the reception in Birmingham on June 26. Click here to RSVP.

Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor

The Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor was established in 2020 by the Board of Governors of the Law School Foundation to recognize the outstanding achievements of Alabama Law alumni and faculty. Criteria for the award include making significant and extended contributions to the life of the Law School, having a distinguished career, and sustaining involvement in service activities.

2025 Inductee: Professor Pamela Bucy Pierson

Professor Pamela Bucy Pierson has authored 10 books and over 70 academic articles. A proven expert in criminal law and healthcare law, she has regularly been quoted by the national press including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg News, and NPR’s All Things Considered and Talk of the Nation. In 2013, she was recognized in The New York Times in “Women Lead the Way in White Collar Crime.” She has offered expert testimony before Congress on three occasions on matters of health care fraud and corporate criminal liability. 

In recognition of her dedication to teaching, Professor Pierson has received both the University of Alabama’s Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (2000) and the Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award (2005). She was selected seven times by Alabama Law students as Outstanding Faculty Member, an award presented by the Student Bar Association, and 21 times by the graduating class to participate on the hooding team at commencement. While at Alabama Law, Professor Pierson founded the Public Interest Institute, the Summer Externship Program, and the Shadow Program for students to shadow attorneys throughout the U.S. 

Professor Pierson has been recognized with multiple awards for her public interest work, including induction into Order of Samaritan, the highest public service award presented by the Public Interest Institute at Alabama Law, and being selected four times by students to receive the Dean Thomas W. Christopher Award, which recognizes one faculty member each year for making a lasting contribution to legal education and the Law School. She has been honored by the Alabama State Bar with awards for outstanding leadership, outstanding service, and multiple awards from the Volunteer Lawyer’s Program.   

Professor Pierson graduated from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, where she was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society and received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1998. She earned her JD from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where she was a member of Order of the Coif and was again recognized as an Outstanding Young Alumni in 2003. Upon graduation from law school, Professor Pierson clerked for Judge Theodore McMillian of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. She also served as assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri’s Criminal Division from 1980-1987 prior to entering academia. 

Professor Pierson will be honored at the reception in Birmingham on June 26. Click here to RSVP.

2025 Inductee: Senator Jefferson B. Sessions III
(Class of 1973)

Senator Jefferson B. Sessions III (Class of 1973) earned his JD from The University of Alabama School of Law in 1973 after graduating from Huntingdon College in Montgomery. Upon graduation from law school, Sessions served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1973-1977, earning the rank of captain. Sessions was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama before being nominated as U.S. Attorney for the same district by President Ronald Reagan where he served for 12 years until 1993. In November 1994, Sessions was elected as attorney general of Alabama, and in 1996, was elected to represent Alabama in the U.S. Senate. He was reelected three times, the last without opposition. Among other committees and assignments, he served for 20 years on the Senate Judiciary and Armed Services committees, where he was a consistent advocate for the rule of law and a strong national defense. In 2017, President Donald Trump nominated and the Senate confirmed him to be the 84th Attorney General of the United States where he served until November 2018.

Senator Sessions and his wife, Mary, have three children and 10 grandchildren. They are members of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Mobile.

Senator Sessions will be honored at the reception in Mobile on July 15. Click here to RSVP.

2025 Inductee: Chief Justice C.C. “Bo” Torbert Jr.
(Class of 1954)

Chief Justice Clement Clay “Bo” Torbert Jr. (Class of 1954) was educated in the public schools of Opelika, Alabama. He attended the United States Naval Academy and graduated from Auburn University in 1951, where he was a collegiate swimmer. He served in the U.S. Air Force, attaining the rank of Captain. Following his graduation from The University of Alabama School of Law in 1954, where he served on the Alabama Law Review, Justice Torbert began the practice of law in Opelika, first with Bill Dickinson (Class of 1950), and later joining Yetta Samford (Class of 1949) to form the law firm of Samford & Torbert, now Samford & Denson.

In 1958, Justice Torbert was elected to represent Lee County in the Alabama State Legislature then was elected to the Alabama State Senate in 1966, where he served two terms. The Capitol Press Corps. named him Most Outstanding Freshman Legislator in 1959 and Most Effective Senator ten years later. As a Senator, Justice Torbert proposed a number of legislative initiatives that would set the stage for significant reforms to Alabama’s courts and legal system.

In November 1976, he was elected Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court where he served two terms until 1988. He followed Chief Justice Howell Heflin, who created Alabama’s Unified Judicial System. As Chief Justice, Torbert was responsible for securing funding and implementing the unified system — which became a model that other states looked to as they reformed their own judicial systems. During his tenure as Chief Justice, he was active in national and international judicial organizations, serving as president of the Conference of Chief Justices, chairman of the National Center for State Courts, and chairman of the State Justice Institute. In 1979, he was elected to the Alabama Academy of Honor.

After leaving the court, Justice Torbert held the Leslie S. Wright Chair of Law at Cumberland School of Law at Samford University and the John Sparkman Chair of Law at The University of Alabama School of Law before joining the law firm of Maynard, Cooper & Gale (now Maynard Nexsen), where he practiced until his retirement.

Justice Torbert passed away in 2018, but his impactful legal career is still felt throughout the State of Alabama. The Brewer-Torbert Public Service Award, named in his honor, is presented by the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice to individuals who have demonstrated a substantial commitment to public service and the improvement of the lives of Alabamians, and the Heflin-Torbert Judicial Building in Montgomery, home of the Supreme Court of Alabama, was named in his honor. Justice Torbert was a lifelong hunter, conservationist, historian, and outdoorsman.

Chief Justice Torbert’s legacy will be honored at the reception in Opelika on May 15. Click here to RSVP.

2025 Inductee: H. Thomas “Tommy” Wells Jr.
(Class of 1975)

Tommy Wells Jr. (Class of 1975) dedicated his life to mentorship, philanthropy, leadership, and uplifting those around him. A native of Gadsden, Alabama, Wells graduated from The University of Alabama in 1972 as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society. He then enrolled at the Law School, where he earned his JD in 1975 as a member of Order of the Coif, Alabama Law Review, and the Farrah Order of Jurisprudence. He also received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Suffolk University in 2008. Upon graduation from law school, he proudly served his country as a member of the U.S. Air Force, working as legal counsel in the Pentagon. He later became a founding partner of Maynard, Cooper & Gale, now known as Maynard Nexsen. His storied career as a litigator and environmental lawyer was consistently recognized through legal accolades such as Chambers USA, Best Lawyers, and The Best Lawyers in America.

Throughout his career, he dedicated himself to what he called “common core values that unite” the legal profession: access to justice, independence of the bar and judiciary, diversity, and the rule of law. His service was honored by Legal Services Alabama, which created the Tommy Wells Justice Award to recognize outstanding service in promoting access to justice and legal services.

Wells was a member of the Birmingham, Alabama, and American Bar Associations. He served as president of the American Bar Association from 2008-2009, and, prior to that, held several other leadership roles in the organization. He was also initiated as a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the Litigation Counsel of America, the American College of Environmental Lawyers, and the American Bar Association, and was a member of the American Law Institute, Diversity Law Institute, and Trial Law Institute.

A community leader, Wells served on the board of directors for the YMCA of Greater Birmingham, the board of directors for Scholarships for Kids, the University of Alabama President’s Council, the Alabama Law Alumni Society Leadership Council, the Board of Governors for Shoal Creek, and as the former director of the American Judicature Society.

Wells’ legacy will be honored at the reception in Birmingham on June 26. Click here to RSVP.

Alabama Rising Young Attorney Award

Established in 2020, the Alabama Rising Young Attorney Award recognizes a recent graduate who has made outstanding contributions to the legal profession, their community, and the School of Law.

2025 Recipient: Judge Zachary R. Walden
(Class of 2016)

Judge Zachary R. Walden (Class of 2016) serves Tennessee’s Eighth Judicial District, presiding over Criminal Court, Recovery Court, and Veterans Treatment Court. Elected in 2022, he is the youngest trial court judge in the United States. Judge Walden is a graduate of The University of Alabama School of Law and East Tennessee State University. Upon graduation from law school, he practiced with Eldridge & Blakney, P.C., in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Judge Walden is a past president of the Knoxville Barristers and previously chaired the Tennessee High School Mock Trial Competition. He currently serves as East Tennessee Governor for the Tennessee Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division and is a member of the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Technology Oversight Committee, where he works to promote innovation and technology access in the state judiciary. Judge Walden has received the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division President’s Award and Public Service Award, as well as the Knoxville Bar Association Barristers President’s Award in recognition of his commitment to public service programs.

Judge Walden is frequently asked to teach CLEs and recently spoke at Cornell Law School’s New York State Access to Justice Conference, where he addressed the unique challenges of rural legal deserts. He is also a recipient of the American Bar Association’s On the Rise Award, which recognizes young lawyers who demonstrate exceptional achievement and leadership in the legal profession.

Judge Walden will be honored at the reception in Knoxville, Tennessee, on June 5. Click here to RSVP.