February 2022
MEMBER NEWSLETTER Periodic E-Newsletter Focusing on Arkansas Bar Association Members
ARKBAR HAPPENINGS
February 2022 SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
1
WEDNESDAY
2
THURSDAY
3
7
8
9
10
14 The Arkansas Lawyer mailed this week
5
11 AR Free Legal Answers Clinic
Paralegal Affiliate Member Word Training
13
4
SATURDAY
Board of Trustees Meeting
Paralegal Affiliate Member Word Training
6
FRIDAY
Paralegal 15 Affiliate 16 Training
12 Mock Trial Regional Competition
17
18
19
24
25
26
Environmental Law CLE Planning Mtg. Construction Law CLE Planning Mtg. Ballots Distributed for ArkBar 2022 Election
20
21 Bar Center Closed for Holiday
27
22 Paralegal Affiliate Member Word Training
23
AR Free Legal Answers Clinic
Natural Resources Institute in Hot Springs 23-25
28
1
Oyez! Oyez!
Allen
The University of Arkansas School of Law announced that Alena Allen, associate dean for research and faculty development and professor of law, has been named interim dean of the School of Law effective Jan. 1, 2022. Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP is proud to announce that Katherine C. Campbell has been elected as partner within the firm.
Campbell
C.C. “Cliff” Gibson III of Gibson and Keith Law Firm in Monticello was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas System.
Hunter
Wray
Kutak Rock LLP has elected Pierce G. Hunter (Little Rock) and Scott E. Wray (Fayetteville) as new partners. The promotions became effective on January 1, 2022.
The law firms of Wright Lindsey Jennings (WLJ) and Dover Dixon Horne PLLC (DDH) are thrilled to announce a strategic partnership effective January 1, 2022, that will unite the two firms under the WLJ umbrella. The alliance combines two longstanding and highly respected Arkansas-based firms with complementary practice strengths and experience.
Gibson
Sarah Ort has been promoted by Stone Bank to Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Counsel.
Ort
Jonathan Warren has joined Stephens, Inc., as Compliance Counsel.
Warren
James M. Graves has joined Crouch, Harwell, Fryar & Ferner, PLLC, in Springdale.
The partners of Wright Lindsey Jennings announced that four attorneys have been elected into partnership: Jake Fair, Quinten Whiteside, Meredith Lowry and Jennifer Smith.
Send your oyez to ahubbard@arkbar.com
Live Microsoft Word Training for Paralegal Affiliate Members
January 18 – March 8 each Tuesday at 11:00 am In these eight weekly sessions, Affinity expert Jeffery Schoenberger, Esq. will teach you everything you need to know about using Microsoft Word in a legal context.
These webinars are free to all paralegal affiliate members. Register at https://bit.ly/arkbarword Fair
2
Whiteside
www.arkbar.com
Lowry
Smith
More information on paralegal affilliate membership at www.arkbar.com/for-attorneys/membership-nav/ paralegal
Two Members Announce Their Candidacy for Association President Kandice Bell and Margaret Dobson have announced their candidacies for President-Elect of the Arkansas Bar Association. The deadline for filing was January 31, 2022. Association members will receive ballots either electronically or by mail on February 15, 2022. Members are encouraged to vote and return their ballots by March 18, 2022. My journey began in 1994 at the University of Arkansas School of Law where, in an opening class of nearly 200 students, I was the only African American woman admitted. After lamenting the first semester to my now late father, who asked me in a rhetorical fashion, “[w]ell what are you going to do about it … you going to quit?” As a first-generation law student, I decided Kandice A. to return to Fayetteville and graduated Bell two-and-a-half years later. Perseverance and tough love from home resulted in a career of litigating civil and criminal cases across Arkansas as a solo practitioner, representing indigent Arkansans across 13 counties as a staff attorney for legal aid, prosecuting cases as an assistant city attorney, and analyzing questions of law, proposed legislation and policies as senior counselor to Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. The practice of law is hardly a smooth ride, even for the best connected and well-positioned lawyers. The advantage I had was listening to those who were. I recall newly elected Bar president Eddie Walker announcing a call to action in the Association, and it resonated in me that I should answer his call. Today, I am a Trustee and Chair of the Commission on Diversity and Inclusion. I was selected a member to the inaugural class of the Public Service Academy. I have served on the following committees: Disaster Preparedness Task Force, Co-chair; Bar Benefits, Co-chair; Law School; Law-Related/Education; Ethics; and Special Task Force on Dues. My prior service included working in the county bars and local auxiliaries. I contributed to the bars of Jefferson and Garland counties, where in Garland, I received the Presidential Award for Distinguished Leadership. My earliest legal auxiliary work began in law school when I joined Phi Alpha Delta Law Society and welcomed to campus member and keynote speaker, the late Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As a young lawyer, I joined Harold Flowers Law Society and served two terms as secretary and authored a letter supporting the nomination of Honorable Lavenski R. Smith to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. I am blessed to have made it to a point in my career to have received accolades from someone as accomplished as Governor Asa Hutchinson, who appointed me a Special Justice to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Similarly, I am grateful to have received continuing appointments from the Arkansas Supreme Court to the Client Security Fund and Chief Justice Dan Kemp’s appointment to the Civil Justice Reform Team. Advancing justice, protecting the rule of law and our democracy are the things I believe we have all been called to do as lawyers. If elected president, these are the things for which I will always advocate. My platform is to grow our membership by mentoring underrepresented attorneys, encourage public service and innovation through diversity of thought and technology. My career as an attorney has been worthwhile because of you and the opportunity I have had to help others. Therefore, with gratitude and humility, I ask for your vote.
I grew up in a family of lawyers, denying –in all my youthful wisdom–that I would ever be a lawyer. It took a few years before I finally admitted that I loved helping people solve problems and I wanted to practice law. As an adult graduate student, I was more serious than I had been in undergraduate. I graduated second in my law school class and was blessed to clerk for U.S. District Margaret Judge Billy Roy Wilson. He (and others) Dobson often preached the importance of the Bar Association, and near the end of my clerkship, Judge Wilson began encouraging me to open my own law practice in Sheridan. I listened. When I opened my office, I was green and needed a lot of help. I relied heavily on the resources and help of many members from this Association. As a seasoned lawyer now with over 22 years of experience, I still need the resources and help of this Association. It has also been my privilege to give back to the Association, and to pay forward the efforts of those who mentored me. I have served in sections and in the House of Delegates and am currently serving as a member of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee. I serve on an Incubator Committee at the Bowen School of Law and encourage lawyers to consider serving rural areas in our state. I have served as a Special Associate Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court. I have also been active in leading the Grant County Bar Association, which although small, has been mighty, and our efforts resulted in receipt of the Outstanding Local Bar Association Award one year. My husband David and I have three sons and a rather large extended family. We are active at our church and in Boy Scouts (that was in the fine print of the marriage vows). I am a Rotarian and a Paul Harris Fellow and serve on a local and regional library board. As our profession and courts become more digital, we are able to be more efficient and serve greater geographic areas, but we face many new challenges. We must continue to promote the personal connections and interactions that improve our profession. We must promote justice. A wise man once told me that sometimes the perception of an impropriety causes just as much harm as the impropriety itself. We need timely resolutions to disputes without sacrificing the fair and effective presentation of testimony and exhibits. We need efficient AND effective communication. Individually we represent diverse clients, but as an association, we represent all our members. Our profession is full of talented problem solvers. Together, we can find ways to connect and serve our members better, improve access to justice, and educate the public. I look forward to hearing from you about how our Bar Association can better serve you. I ask for your vote to serve as President-Elect of your Arkansas Bar Association and thank you for your consideration.
3
Deadline for submission of Annual Award Nominations Friday, March 18, 2022
The Arkansas Bar Association’s 2022 Election Opens February 15th! Ballots for positions on the Board of Trustees and office of President will be distributed Tuesday, February 15, 2022. Electronic ballots will be delivered from AssociationVoting.com. Be sure to add announcement@associationvoting. com to your address book to prevent
Februa
ry
It is time to nominate deserving candidates for this year’s Arkansas Bar Foundation and Arkansas Bar Association Annual Joint Awards. The awards open for nomination are:
15
the email from going to your junk mail or being blocked by your spam filter. Paper ballots will be mailed to members who do not have an email address on file or who have opted out of electronic communications from the
• • • • • • •
Outstanding Lawyer Award Outstanding Lawyer-Citizen Award C.E. Ransick Award of Excellence James H. McKenzie Professionalism Award Equal Justice Distinguished Service Award Outstanding Jurist Award Outstanding Local Bar Association
These awards will be presented at the Annual Meeting in June. You are encouraged to nominate Arkansas lawyers, judges and local bar associations who deserve recognition. Nomination forms may be submitted by any Association member or Foundation Fellow. Forms are available at https://bit.ly/3HrlTlo or you may submit a written letter of nomination to Ann Pyle at the Arkansas Bar Foundation at 2224 Cottondale Lane, Little Rock, Arkansas 72202. Please call Ann Pyle at 501-8015670 with any questions.
Association.
Voting ends March 18, 2022. Pro Bono CLE Opportunities
Volunteer for an upcoming AR Free Legal Answers Clinic. At these clinics, attorneys and law student volunteers work together to answer questions received from low- and moderate-income Arkansans who can’t afford an attorney. Register at https:// www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4ea4ac2ca1fac16-november. This program qualifies for your Pro Bono CLE. Attorneys can claim one hour of credit for every 3 hours of pro bono work, with a maximum of 3 hours of credit per CLE year according to Rule 4 of the Rules for Minimum Continuing Legal Education.
https://www.arkbar.com/armocktrial/getinvolved 4
www.arkbar.com
Spring 2022 CLE Calendar February 23-25 60th Annual Natural Resources Institute DoubleTree, Hot Springs
March 30
April 8
The New Arkansas Supreme Court Office of Ethics Counsel: What It is & How it Works
Workers’ Compensation Conference
Webinar
Inn at Carnhall Hall Fayetteville
April 22
May 4-6
Construction Law Conference
25th Annual Environmental Law Conference
Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort, Hot Springs
On-Demand CLE Do you still need to register for your six free hours of on-demand CLE that are included with your membership this bar year? Register here for your free CLE: https://eazyform.app/ form/mf-47246392 View the on-demand library, seminar agendas and register on CLE CENTRAL.
May 12-13
Inn at Carnhall Hall Fayetteville
June 15-17 124th Annual Meeting
25th Annual DebtorCreditor Conference Pleasant Valley Country Club, Little Rock
https://bit.ly/arkbarevents
Hot Springs Convention Center Hot Springs
Also in June — Best of CLE!
60th Annual Natural Resources Institute FEBRUARY 23-25, 2022 DoubleTree by Hilton Hot Springs 4813 Central Avenue • Hot Springs, AR 71913 8.0 CLE Hours, incl. 1.0 Ethics
Thank You to Our Sponsors AIPRO Daily & Woods, P.L.L.C. Hardin, Jesson & Terry, PLC J. David Reynolds Company
Oxley Energy, LLC PPGMR Law, PLLC William C. Warren
Wednesday, February 23 5:00p - 5:30p
Section Meeting
5:30p - 6:30p
Reception
Thursday, February 24
Lake Hamilton Ballroom
Lake Hamilton Ballroom
8:00a - 9:30a
A Case-Law Update and Brine Law Primer Thomas A. Daily, Daily & Woods, P.L.L.C.
9:45a -10:15a
Counterintuitive Energy Policies: Why Everyone Else is Wrong Robert Hefner V, Hefner Energy LLC
10:15a - 10:45a
Generational Trends in Energy: Connecting with a New Generation Robert Hefner V, Hefner Energy LLC
10:45a - 11:15a
Oil & Gas Commission Regulatory Update Shane E. Khoury, Chief Counsel of Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment
11:15a - 11:45a
Arkansas Energy & Environment Transformation Roundtable Becky W. Keogh, Cabinet Secretary of Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment Lawrence E. Bengal, Chief Administrator of Energy Julie Linck, Chief Administrator of Environment Shane E. Khoury, Chief Counsel
11:45a - 12:15p
Adverse Possession of Minerals Mark Robinette, Law Office of Robinette
Friday, February 25
Lake Hamilton Ballroom
8:00a - 9:00a
New Methane Rule John Peiserich, PPGMR Law, PLLC
9:00a - 10:00a
Riparian Law Revisited Robert Honea, Hardin, Jesson & Terry, PLC
10:15a - 11:15a
Guns in the Workplace Jessica Fontenot, Associate, PPGMR Law, PLLC Julie DeWoody Greathouse, Managing Member at PPGMR Law, PLLC
11:15a - 12:15p
Response and Responsibility…Evaluating the Corporate Response After a Major Event Dr. Casey Rockwell, Assistant Professor of Marketing and Advertising, University of Arkansas School of Business
Ethics
HOTEL Discounted rates available through February 5, 2022. To make reservation online, click here. REGISTRATION The registration fee includes the seminar, reception, electronic course materials and beverage breaks.
6
Program Planners: Shane Khoury and Richard Walt
www.arkbar.com
CLE CREDIT The program has been submitted to the Arkansas Continuing Legal Education Board & AAPL. Attendees who are licensed in other states are responsible for applying for CLE credit in those states.
SPECIAL NEEDS If you plan to attend a program and require special need facilities or assistance relating to a disability, please contact Cynthia Barnes at (501) 801-5660 or cbarnes@arkbar.com prior to the program. To the extent we are able, we will try to accommodate any special dietary needs if they are provided to us one week prior to the event.