Cassandra W. Adams is the Assistant Dean for Public Interest Law and Assistant Professor in Residence. She has served academia and the legal profession for more than 30 years, and has held positions at Samford University, Cumberland School of Law, Wake Forest School of Law, The University of Texas School of Law, and Vanderbilt University School of Law.
She earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN), a Master of Science in Public Health degree from Meharry Medical College (Nashville, TN) and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fisk University (Nashville, TN).
Her research interests are in civil and family mediation, negotiation, restorative justice, victim outreach, ethics, professional responsibility, and access to justice.
Dean Adams is an Alabama Law Fellow, a graduate of the Alabama State Bar Leadership Class 13, a former member and vice-chair of the board of directors for the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, a past chair of the board of directors for Alabama Appleseed, and has served the state and local bar associations in several capacities. In 2020, Governor Kay Ivey appointed her to Alabama United, an initiative created to hold conversations about the root of the challenges facing African American communities around the state. She was recognized by the Birmingham Business Journal as a 2020 “Woman to Watch” and was selected as one of the “30 Faces of Pro Bono” by the Alabama Lawyer magazine. The Alabama State Bar named her Pro Bono Mediator of the Year (2016) and has given her the President’s Award (2021) in recognition of her exemplary service. In 2024, Dean Adams was presented with the Alabama State Bar’s Michael D. Ermert Award, given for outstanding constructive service to the legal profession in Alabama.