Speakers' Gallery

Speaking at 11:30 on Wednesday
PLENARY Speaker Dicky Grigg

Guantanamo: It Is Not About Them - It Is About Us

https://www.grigglaw.com/

Dicky Grigg received his undergraduate degree from Texas Tech in 1970, but could not get into Tech Law School.  He swallowed his pride, took second best, and attended law school at the University of Texas, graduating in 1973.  Mr. Grigg is board certified in Car Wrecks and Sore Backs and has dedicated his legal career to determining which car entered the intersection first.

Grigg was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas. He attended Texas Tech University for his undergraduate work, where he also played defensive tackle for the Red Raiders football team. Indeed, his original plan was to be a football coach, following in the footsteps of others in his family. But after choosing law school over business school, he was quickly lured by the challenge of trying cases. Anyone who knows Grigg knows that he is the penultimate storyteller, both in and out of the courtroom.

He attended the University of Texas School of Law, and Grigg hit the ground running, trying cases in the courtroom as he started his career in the Lubbock County District Attorney office. Early in his career, he moved to Austin, still focused on trying cases in the courtroom, and now has spent over four decades in civil trial practice handling hundreds personal injury cases at the prestigious law firm of Spivey & Grigg in Austin, Texas. Most often, he’s representing “the little guy.”

His self-effacing humor belies the fact that he is the recipient of many prestigious awards over his storied career: State Bar of Texas, Litigation Section, the Excellence in Litigation Award and the Luther Soules III Award for Outstanding Service to the Practice of Law; State Bar of Texas, Leon Jaworski Award for Law Teaching Excellence; Austin Bar Association, Distinguished Lawyer Award; American Board of Trial Advocates, TEX-ABOTA Trial Lawyer of the Year and former President; Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers; Fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and former President; Member of the Tonahill Society; recognition as one of The Best Lawyers in America; and recognition as a Super Lawyer, Texas Monthly Magazine.

But, in his career, as Grigg will tell you, the most meaningful work he has done has been in the public interest and pro bono sector, representing “the little guy” even when the “the little guy” is an Afghani detainee at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba who speaks only Pashto. In 2005, Grigg was attending a legal seminar and answered the call for help from the Center for Constitutional Rights to assist in the defense of the approximately 770 terrorism suspects housed at Guantanamo Bay. None of them had legal counsel nor had their cases been reviewed by an impartial court. Grigg volunteered to represent three Guantanamo detainees, filing habeas corpus petitions in their behalf in federal court in Washington D.C. His work involved several trips to the detention center and appearances at hearings and status conferences in D.C. Personally, he spent nearly $50,000, primarily on travel and interpreters—which is a small figure in comparison to the value of his time and expertise spent working on these cases. Two of his clients were released, and the third was represented by military attorneys before the Military Commission.

In 1994, Professor Henning was appointed to Missouri’s delegation to the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), and he served the ULC as Executive Director from 2001 to 2007. Today, as a ULC Life Member, he serves as vice-chair of the Committee on the UCC, emeritus member of the Permanent Editorial Board for the UCC, and co-chair of the Study Committee on Implementation of the Hague Judgments Convention. He previously served as a member of the drafting committees that developed the 2022 amendments to the UCC and the 2010 amendments to Article 9, chair of the drafting committee that developed the 2004 amendments to Articles 2 and 2A, and a member of the ULC’s Executive Committee.

Professor Henning is a member of the American Law Institute and the American Bar Association, and he is a Fellow of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers (ACCFL). He is a member of the State Department’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law and has served as a U.S. delegate to both UNCITRAL and UNIDROIT. 

In 2002, Professor Henning received the Spurgeon Smithson Award, presented annually by the Trustees of The Missouri Bar Foundation for outstanding contributions to the legal profession by a member of The Missouri Bar; and in 2021, he received the ACCFL’s Homer Kripke Award, recognizing a career of noteworthy leadership and a history of exceptional dedication to the improvement of commercial finance law and practice.

Anton Janik is an experienced attorney with a specialized practice in complex litigation, tax controversies and information security and privacy.  Anton advises businesses and individuals on tax controversies, investigations and corporate compliance, employee privacy, data protection and social media.  He is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US) and a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E). He also leads the Tax Controversy and Litigation practice area and co-leads the Information Security & Privacy practice area. Anton previously served as a Trial Attorney with the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.

McCoy oversees the legal affairs for the University’s Athletic Department and provides legal and strategic advice to the Chancellor, Athletic Director and senior administrators related to intercollegiate athletic matters.  He is an advising member of the department’s Senior Staff, but also provides guidance to other UA System attorneys working with athletics departments at other UA System campuses.
McCoy started in the University of Arkansas System in January 2009, before moving to the Fayetteville campus in December 2015. As a trial lawyer for nearly two decades, his primary practice has included education, athletics, employment, contracts, licensing, gaming and constitutional law and litigation.  As a former Assistant Attorney General and as an attorney for the UA System, McCoy represented numerous public officials, agencies, colleges and universities in federal and state trial and appellate matters.  He successfully fought constitutional challenges to the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, Oaklawn and Southland Park’s games of skill, and overturned precedent with regard to the State’s tax and suit immunity.  As the State’s lead counsel in Arkansas’s largest and longest-running, class-action lawsuit, he secured the Supreme Court’s declaration that the State’s public education system is constitutional.
McCoy initiated the UA System’s annual legal seminar and campus training program, reformed many of its employment and contracting practices, and spearheaded the drafting and implementation of its Title IX policies and education initiatives.  He served on the Attorney General’s Legislative Affairs Team, advised the House and Senate Joint Education Committees from 2006 to 2008 on matters related to education policy and adequacy, and regularly presents at legal education seminars and conferences around the country on higher education issues. Prior to his service in the Attorney General’s Office, Matt was a litigation attorney with the law firm of Hilburn, Calhoon, Harper, Pruniski & Calhoun.McCoy was born and raised in North Little Rock, Arkansas and has been a life-long Razorback.  He is a 1997 University of Arkansas graduate, receiving his BS/BA in International Business and Economics from the Sam M. Walton College of Business.  As an undergraduate, McCoy was Vice President of the Associated Student Government and President of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.   He also received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 2001, where he met his wife, Summer.  Matt and Summer have two children, Parker and Cannon.

Speaking at 12:45 on Friday: One-on-one with Speaker of the House Matthew Shepherd 

Matthew J. Shepherd is the current and longest-serving Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives serving his third full term as Speaker. He represents District 97 which includes El Dorado and portions of Union County. He is serving his seventh term in the House. Shepherd lives and practices law in El Dorado at the law firm of Shepherd & Shepherd, P.A.

He was born and raised in El Dorado and graduated from El Dorado High School in 1994. Shepherd went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in History and Political Science from Ouachita Baptist University in 1998 and received his J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 2001. He is a member of the Union County, Arkansas, Louisiana Bar Associations, and is licensed to practice in the state courts of Arkansas and Louisiana; the United States District Courts for the Western and Eastern Districts of Arkansas, and the Western District of Louisiana; and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Shepherd is the former two-term Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and is a member of the Joint Budget Committee, the House Public Transportation Committee, the House Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development Committee, and the House Management Committee. Additionally, he serves as Chairman of the Arkansas Code Revision Commission. Shepherd has received a number of awards and recognitions for his legislative service. Shepherd is a member of the First Baptist Church of El Dorado, where he is a Deacon and Sunday School Teacher. He is currently a board member of the Arkansas Baptist Foundation, the Boys and Girls Club of El Dorado, and El Dorado Fifty for the Future, and serves as President of the El Dorado Boys & Girls Club Alumni Association and the Murphy USA Classic football game. He formerly served in the Arkansas Bar Association’s House of Delegates, and on the boards of Union County Habitat for Humanity, Hope Landing, the Union County Community Foundation, the United Way of Union County, and the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, and is a former member of the El Dorado Civil Service Commission, the El Dorado Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Union County Election Commission.Shepherd and his wife, Alie, have three children.

Brian C. Smith, Friday Eldredge & Clark, LLP

Speaking at 8:30 on Wednesday: Q.D.R.O. Q-dro, Quad-ro, I dunno…

Brian C. Smith is a partner at Friday, Eldredge & Clark and practices in the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Group. His practice includes experience in the design, implementation and administration of tax-qualified retirement plans including defined benefit pension plans, profit-sharing plans, 401(k) plans and ESOPs. He also works with nonqualified deferred compensation plans and health and welfare plans for financial institutions, regular business organizations, professional corporations and governmental and non-profit organizations.

Brian assists plan sponsors and fiduciaries with regulatory compliance with ERISA, with state and federal tax issues and with local legislation affecting retirement and welfare plans. In addition, he acts as counsel to plan sponsors and fiduciaries with respect to ERISA controversies and litigation.

Cathy L. Underwood is a legal editor and college instructor from Little Rock, Arkansas. She has served as a consultant to the Arkansas Bar Association for over 30 years, editing the Association’s handbooks and providing Fastcase and ArkBar Docs training to the membership. She is co-author of Arkansas Legal Research, 2d edition (Carolina Academic Press 2016). Ms. Underwood is a 2002 graduate of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. She is a member of the Arkansas Bar Association, the American Association for Paralegal Instructors, and American Mensa.