I had lots of fun spending time with Carol Gattis last night. We started with dinner at AquaFire, a newish Fayetteville restaurant. If you’re local and haven’t tried it, you’re missing a treat. My meal consisted of rainbow trout cakes with red pepper remoulade, mixed greens and house vinaigrette, as a starter and honey plum glazed salmon with crawfish fried rice as the main course. Delicious! Carol’s meal began with spring rolls, which were followed by jumbo sea scallops, sautéed, creamed corn risotto with fire roasted red pepper puree. She enjoyed her meal as well. We complimented the meal with a bottle of Barefoot bubbly, which was just perfect. I should’ve taken pics, but forgot. When I return I’ll add pics to this post.

After dinner we headed down Dickson Street to the Walton Arts Center, for a the most anticipated part of our evening, a concert by Kool and the Gang. The concert was great. They really put on a good show and had folks on their feet and dancing in the aisles. Ok, this folk maybe a bit more than others, but I wasn’t alone. We had a great time for a good cause.

Kool and the Gang was here as part of an annual event. The Washington Regional Foundation sponsors a gala even every year, to generate support for the benefit of our local hospital, Washington Regional Medical Center. The proceeds from this year’s event will be directed to support the hospital’s Critical Care Units, which provide intensive care to the most ill and fragile patients. The event also provided an opportunity to recognize recipients of the Eagle Award for Outstanding Health Leadership. The Eagle Award is given to individuals or organizations that make outstanding contributions to the improvement of healthcare in Northwest Arkansas.

Students in my Torts, Poverty Law and Workplace Legislation are required to write either short policy papers or letters to the editor (depending on the class). Under the title Thoughts on the Law, I’ll share some of them with you.

Today’s post is on the subject of wage theft. Wage theft  is an important problem that disproportionately impacts low wage workers. One of my new colleagues at the School of Law, Annie Smith,  has developed a legal clinic to help low wage workers recover unemployment and back wages. It’s an exciting development for the law school, a wonderful service for folks who would otherwise have difficulty obtaining representation, and a great experience for out students.

The issue of wage theft is  a timely topic in Arkansas as two Northwest Arkansas legislators are sponsoring a bill to put an end to the practice. You can read today’s Thoughts on the Law by Brandon Maxey here.

Before I get to the legal education update, I just want to say it’s my goal from this point to keep the blog up and running. The transition back to the classroom this year has been a bit hectic, along with new responsibilities in the ABA and state. I’ll bring you up to speed on it all, but I really want to share with you the news from the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. I am now a member of the Section’s Council, having been elected last August, and as you might know, this is a time of uncertainty and transition in legal education.

The Council met in Tempe Arizona recently, and had before it a pretty full  agenda. The Section of Legal Ed. is responsible for th  I want to call your attention though, to the notice and comment period for promulgating the ABA Standards and
Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools. The Section’s accreditation authority is granted by the U.S. Department of Education. The Standards Review Committee of the Section has been conducting a comprehensive review of the Standards. As part of that review, the Committee considered multiple drafts and received informal comments from many interested persons and entities. The proposed revisions and accompanying explanations are attached below and published on the Section’s website.  At the March 2013 meeting, the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar approved for Notice and Comment proposed revisions to Chapter 2 (Organization and Administration) and Chapter 5 (Admissions and Student Services). If you are interested, I encourage you to review and submit your thoughts to us on the proposed revisions.

There is also important news in terms of Section leadership. The Consultant on Legal Education is ABA staff member who leads the Section staff. That positions has undergone a name change and Barry Currier has been named the managing director of accreditation and legal education at the American Bar Association.

That’s just a bit about what’s going on, but you can read the most recent newsletter here.

Stay tuned. More news and info to follow….