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Dale and Joan Marsh of Enterprise, Alabama have made an estate gift of $50,000 to The University of Alabama Law School Foundation to create the M. Dale Marsh Endowed Law Scholarship Fund.

The fund is intended to benefit students from the State of Alabama with priority given to those from Enterprise and surrounding counties in the Wiregrass region.

“I sent myself through law school through a combination of part-time jobs, student loans, and modest scholarships awarded in my second and third years of law school,” said Marsh. “My experience at Alabama Law provided a great education, close friendships, and a legal career that allows me to do truly interesting work.”

He continued, “Today, law school is a three year mentally challenging and six-figure debt commitment. I want to help other deserving students, and this is my way of paying it forward—by helping promising students from Enterprise, Coffee County, and the Wiregrass study law at The University of Alabama.”

Marsh received his J.D. from Alabama Law in 1974 and returned to his hometown of Enterprise to begin practicing law. Fifty years later, he still maintains an active law practice as managing partner in the firm Marsh & Cotter where he serves as a trial attorney representing both plaintiffs and defendants, municipal/governmental entities, major corporations, and local business and industries. Marsh’s two children followed in his footsteps at Alabama Law, with his daughter Katherine Marsh Whitson graduating in 2004 and his son John W. Marsh graduating in 2007.

In 1990, Marsh was inducted into the Alabama Community College System Hall of Honor, and he was inducted into the Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor in 2023. He continues to be an active member of the Law School Foundation’s Board of Governors and served as the Board’s president from 2004-2006. He served as a director for Legal Services of Alabama from 2006-2014. Marsh, his siblings, and additional family members established the Marsh Family Scholarship in honor of their parents Mr. and Mrs. Dalbert Marsh at Enterprise State Community College. The fund, which now has a corpus of approximately $128,000, awards scholarships to deserving students attending the college.

Marsh is an active member of the Alabama State Bar, where he served on the Board of Bar Commissioners from 1994-1997; the Coffee County Bar Association, where he served as President from 1979-1984; the Court of Judiciary, where he served as an alternated judge from 2015-2020; and the Alabama Association for Justice. He also completed the National Security Strategy Seminar at the U.S. Army War College in 2014 after retiring at the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves in 2001. Additionally, Marsh has played a vital role in fundraising efforts to assist various legal and non-profit organizations and educational related entities in Enterprise and Coffee County. It would be hard to name a charitable organization or entity that Marsh has not devoted time, service, or financial support within the County.

“We are incredibly grateful for Mr. Marsh’s support,” said Dean Bill Brewbaker. “He has been a great friend of the Law School for a long time, and he is paving the way for students from southeast Alabama to become the next generation of leaders in our state. The Marsh Scholarship Fund will help students from the Wiregrass focus on succeeding in law school and worry less about how they will pay for their education.”

Additional contributions to the Marsh Scholarship Fund can be made by contacting The University of Alabama School of Law’s Advancement Office at 205-348-5752.