Blogs

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Click the link below to view the extended version of the "Members' Jam: How Music Interacts with Life and Law" feature that was included in the Spring 2023 issue of The Arkansas Lawyer magazine that focused on Music and the Law. https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/ARKBAR/4b5fe0df-58a5-4fa3-b7ab-bf92deabb907/UploadedImages/Music_Feature.pdf
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President Joe Kolb has called a Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees for Tuesday, May 9, 2023 at 12:00 via Zoom. The purpose of the Special Meeting is to consider and act upon a recommendation of the Association's Bar Center Task Force for a "firm proposal" relating to the Association's use and rental of the Bar Center to be presented to the Foundation per its request. The Board will further consider and act upon the recommendation of the Program Review Task Force to adopt an amendment to the Association's Bylaws for the purpose of creating and constituting the Program Review Committee as a standing Committee of the Association. The Board will also consider ...
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Today's (April 28) Coffee Chat that was scheduled for this morning at 10:00am has been cancelled. We will reschedule soon! #News
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New Laws Now

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The 94 th General Assembly adjourned on Friday, April 7 th and will reconvene on Monday, May 1 st to officially adjourn sine die. Over the last three months, the Arkansas Bar Association worked full time to monitor legislation impacting the administration of justice and the legal profession. The Legislation Committee met every Friday to review bills of interest on your behalf. Thank you to our Legislation Committee for all your hard work this legislative session. The Legislation Committee consists of David Bingham, Taylor Chaney, Margaret Dobson, Glen Hoggard, Scott Irby, Anton Janik, Joe Kolb, Alan Lane, Cliff McKinney, Kristin Pawlik, George Rozzell (Chair), ...
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CONTACT: Amanda Brown Disaster Legal Services Program (DLS) Director American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division amanda@lagniappelawlab.org 04/14/2023 – A free legal help hotline is now available for Arkansas Severe Storms and Tornadoes survivors. The hotline is available to connect survivors to free legal services in qualifying counties who cannot afford an attorney. Survivors can call (501) 376-3423 . Hotline callers may get help with legal issues like: ● FEMA and SBA financial benefits ● Home repair contracts and property insurance claims ● Re-doing wills and other important legal ...
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Members, As you all know, many of our fellow Arkansans are still dealing with the damage from the severe storms and tornadoes that hit parts of Central and Eastern Arkansas on March 31st. We need volunteers to assist in free disaster legal assistance for those impacted. In partnership with the Arkansas Bar Association, the Young Lawyers Section of the Arkansas Bar Association, Center for Arkansas Legal Services, and Legal Aid of Arkansas, we are calling on all members to provide free disaster legal assistance to individuals that were affected by the recent storms in the counties of Cross, Lonoke, and Pulaski. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ...
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On March 29, 2023, the schools of Hempstead County sent their Fifth Graders to participate in the Hope Lions Club “Liberty Day” Event hosted by the University of Arkansas at Hope-Texarkana. Throughout the day the students learned about the Constitution and the underlying values of freedom upon which our government is based. The students heard from former Supreme Court Justice Jim Gunter, local Hope attorney Blake Montgomery, professors at UAHT, and teachers. The day started with a viewing of “The Grand Experiment—Democracy in Motion” produced by the Arkansas Bar Association which outlined our State’s government and judiciary. After the viewing, the students ...
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Pursuant to ArkBar's Constitution, on March 18th voting concluded for the 2023-24 Bar Year elections. Two classifications of issues were on the ballot: 1) the entire Association voted on seven separate Constitutional amendment proposals; and 2) voters in District B (Pulaski) elected 11 members of the Board of Trustees. Regarding the 7 proposed Constitutional amendments, all 7 passed and are adopted by the Association. In District B, the following 11 members were elected to the Board of Trustees: Randall Bynum Tom Carpenter Bob Edwards John Andrew Ellis Michael Goswami Jim Jackson Jamie Huffman Jones Victoria Leigh Molly McNulty Meredith Moore John Ogles Thanks ...
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Calling all WordPerfect users! Last month, Affinity Partner Barron K. Henley hosted a webinar for WordPerfect (WP) users who often must (unwillingly) work with Microsoft Word. He provided WP legal users an understanding of how to better control Word - with explanations phrased as much as possible in WP terms. Due to this session's success, we are coming back with a follow-up Q&A session designed to provide even more help to WP legal users. Registrants are encouraged to include their specific questions in the registration form so that Barron can answer as many as possible in this follow up session.
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Lawyers must be careful choosing a video conferencing platform. Once again, the practice of law is transitioning as it has before throughout history adapting communication to allow for the use of the phone, the fax machine, email and now extensive use of video conferencing. The increased use and volume of users of video conferencing combined with the addition of social distancing may create issues that have not been considered before. For example, does working from remote workspaces provide clients the same security that is provided when working from an office workspace? Lawyers should check to make sure they comply with ethical rules to protect clients when ...
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Online meeting platforms have been around for 20 years. However, despite having the ability to participate in a meeting from your desk, according to the 2019 ILTA Survey, about 1/3 of law firms with under 50 users did not subscribe to an online platform in 2019. Even if the organization has the technology, less than 15% of respondents say they actually used it as their primary method of meeting in 2019. Now that we must use this technology, adoption has skyrocketed, and most love it. It is saving gas, electricity, travel costs, our environment, and is proving to be a preferred method of meeting. Arkansas Bar Association members will have access to information ...
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The Supreme Court Opinion is found at this link: https://opinions.arcourts.gov/ark/supremecourt/en/item/346182/index.do
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​What is that famous musical city? MEMPHIS
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Artificial Intelligence is improving legal research, document management and now it is bringing change to legal marketing. Read how changes can affect your practice at " Say Yes to Robots: AI in Legal Marketing " by Megan Miller.
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LITTLE ROCK, AR (May 15, 2017) – Today, I notified the association membership that a proposed initiated constitutional amendment will be considered June 16 by the House of Delegates during the 2017 Annual Meeting in Hot Springs. A copy of the proposed amendment is being provided to the membership for its review. The House of Delegates is the Association’s policy making body. The Association’s rules require 2/3rds of the House vote to support or oppose any proposed constitutional amendment. The proposed amendment is comprised of five key provisions on ethics and good government. They are as follows: (1) Requiring standards be adopted relating to establish ...
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My comments are limited to Section 3 of the proposal concerning the rule making authority for the judicial branch. Neither I nor the Supreme Court nor others in the judiciary offer any comment or position on the other sections of the resolution. * One of the grounding principles of our democracy, established at the time of our country's founding, enshrined in our national constitution and replicated in the constitutions of each of our states - including our own - is the separation of powers of each of the branches of government. * Separation of powers was adopted out of a fear of the concentration of power within any one institution or any one person and ...
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As I reflected upon the swearing in of Chief Justice John Dan Kemp, and Justice Shawn Womack in January this year, I wrote that “[o]ur democratic system depends upon all three branches functioning within the proper spheres and subject to the checks and balances put into place by our founding fathers. The legislative branch makes the law, the executive branch enforces the law, and the judiciary applies the law by following the rule of law. . . .[T]he rule of law requires that everyone must be governed by the same laws which are applied fairly, consistently, and equally to all regardless of race, gender or wealth.” A fair and impartial judiciary is a hallmark ...
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News Release For Immediate Release Contact: Denise Hoggard hoggard@rainfirm.com LITTLE ROCK, AR (February 8, 2017) The Arkansas Bar Association is opposed to any attempt to usurp the constitutional authority of the judicial branch. Senate Joint Resolution 8, “A Constitutional Amendment Limiting Contingency Fees and Awards of Punitive Damage; and Changing the Powers of the General Assembly and the Supreme Court Regarding Rules of Pleading, Practice, and Procedure,” undermines the fair administration of justice and threatens our impartial courts. A fair and impartial judiciary is a hallmark of our democracy. The Association’s Legislation Committee ...
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On January 10, 2017, I attended the Arkansas Supreme Court swearing in ceremony for Chief Justice John Dan Kemp, and Justice Shawn Womack. Chief Justice Kemp’s comments have been posted to the Arkansas Supreme Court website and can be found by clicking here . In preparing for attending his swearing in, and as President of the Arkansas Bar Association, I wrote comments to Chief Justice Kemp. Those comments are set out here. “Your swearing in is a landmark event for our state and will usher in a new era punctuated by your remarkable strength of character. Our democratic system depends upon all three branches functioning within the proper spheres and ...
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Goodwill Industries of Arkansas’ mission is changing lives through education, training and employment. In 2016, Goodwill helped over 4,500 Arkansans find a job with local employers. Arkansas Lawyers Spread Goodwill benefits men and women transitioning into the workforce. Your donations of gently worn professional attire will give these individuals a chance to make a great first impression. Please donate! Donations accepted November 1, 2016 thru January 31, 2017. You can help change a life! Simply bring any gently used professional clothing to: Arkansas Bar Association 2224 Cottondale Lane Little Rock, AR 72202 Goodwill Industries of Arkansas ...
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