I returned to Fayetteville for a very full day on Wednesday. The first thing in the morning Asia Diggs, a 3L student, interviewed me for Professor Steve Sheppard’s legal history class. As an assignment the students are required to select a lawyer of historical significance in the state of Arkansas and conduct and interview with that person. I am really honored that Asia selected me, and we visited for about an hour and a half.

At noon I had lunch with Read Hudson and Chris Daugherty, both of them are alumna of the law school and counsel for Tyson Foods. During lunch and we talked about ways lawyers at Tyson Foods could become more involved with the law school. We came up with a few ideas, including an interesting course that would provide hands on experience in a number of the areas encountered by corporate counsel. They also suggested the possibility of a summer clerkship. Both are exciting possibilities.

Our lunch took place at Mama Deans. Don’t worry, foodies, I haven’t forgotten you! Read had chicken friend steak with mashed potatoes and black eyed peas, Chris had friend chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes, and I had the pork chops with greens and macaroni and cheese. Chris and I both had the peach cobbler, and Read had the carrot cake. Thanks Read and Chris for a great lunch, and for taking time out of your day to brainstorm with me about how we can work together to create opportunities for our students.

That afternoon Dan Worrell, the Dean of the Walton College of Business, came for a visit. We toured the building and brainstormed ways that our two schools might collaborate. He got to meet a number of our faculty and staff and they shared their good ideas and suggestions with us. Dean Worrell is a good friend, and it was a pleasure to visit with him. As you know from the earlier blogs, I am working this semester to get around campus to visit with all the deans. Dan beat me to the punch! I promised him that I’d soon visit him at the Walton College of Business to take a tour and to learn more about his college. Thanks for coming to visit, Dan! I’m looking forward to developing new initiatives with you.

Wednesday evening, I attended two fun events. The first was the Kappa Iota Switch Step Show. Kappa Iota is the undergraduate chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) sorority on campus. A switch step show is a neat idea. Each of the Greek organizations participating in the step show had to “switch” identities with another organization. Which group they had to impersonate was determined by drawing the other group’s name from a hat. For example, AKA drew Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, so their step show had to mimic the step show of the Sigmas who performed as AKAs. It was a really different type of step show and good fun.

Before I left to go to SBA auction, I saw the Phi Beta Sigmas step as the Alpha Kappa Alphas, and that was hilarious! Thanks a lot guys. They came out in pink wigs and were pretty funny. . Also, the Delta Sigma Theta sorority drew the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, so they stepped as the Alphas. The ballroom at the Union was completely full—it looked as though all the Greeks on campus were there. In fact, each of the campus fraternities and sororities gave a shout out at the start of the event. The emcee would say for example, “Are the Chi-O’s in the house?” And the Chi-O’s would represent. It was definitely fun and high energy.

After that, it was off to the faculty auction. Thanks to Professor Circo for attending as well, and also to his daughter Rebecca, who donated her original painting of a Razorback with a scale of justice for the auction. It was a popular item. My auction item was a brunch for six at Copelands of New Orleans, won by Kelvin Stroud, the SBA president. I’m looking forward to brunch with him and his Fab 5. Seriously, thanks again to Kelvin for organizing the Faculty Auction, and a big thank you to all the faculty members who donated items. The proceeds of the auction are being donated to Legal Aid of Arkansas to support its programs. Legal Aid serves those who are least able to afford legal representation. Congratulations to the SBA for a wonderful event in support of such an important cause.

Tuesday morning, Little Rock had its first snow. There didn’t seem to be much on the road, but NPR was urging caution, so I got an early start to Arkadelphia, Ark.. The drive was a safe one and, thankfully, uneventful.

Anyway, I arrived in Arkadelphia in plenty of time for the Sidney S. McMath Pre-Law Conference at Henderson State University, which I was attending as a speaker. 150 students attended the conference which began with lunch. The President of Henderson State, Charles Dunn, attended as well. Dr. John Graves, the chair of the social sciences department, gave the welcome. Phillip McMath spoke about his father, Sid McMath, who is a 1936 School of Law graduate.

The keynote speaker was Deputy Attorney General De Priest whose topic was ”When Your Reality Check is Returned for Insufficient Funds.” Previous keynote speakers for the McMath Lecture have been the Honorable Judge Henry Woods; the Honorable Sidney Sanders McMath, former governor and the namesake of the event; the Honorable W.H. “Dub” Arnold, former Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court; the Honorable Wendell Griffen, Arkansas Court of Appeals; Honorable Ray Thornton, former Associate Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court; and retired member, U.S. House of Representatives and the Honorable Dale Bumpers, a former U.S. Senator.

After the keynote speaker there was a panel, consisting of Aaron Taylor, the assistant dean of the William H. Bowen School of Law at UALR, Attorney Don Cheney, our alum from Chaney Law Firm in Arkadelphia and me. We were introduced by Ivy Kelly, President of the Henderson State student body. Aaron spoke about the nuts and bolts of law school admissions and gave some very technical and helpful pointers to students. I introduced them to the University of Arkansas School of Law and shared a PowerPoint presentation containing pictures of the new building and slides describing our many programs. Don Cheney talked about practicing law, being a tort lawyer and how he helps plaintiffs who’ve been injured recover so they are able move on with their lives. Afterwards the panel fielded a number of questions from the audience.

An additional pleasure was the opportunity to visit with our alumna Elaine Kneebone, who is currently serving Henderson State as University Counsel. Many thanks to Dr. Larry Monet, the gracious host of the conference, for the invitation to speak as well as his hospitality. We certainly look forward welcoming students from Henderson State to the University of Arkansas law school community!

After attending Attorney Wolfman’s talk it was off to a meeting with everyone involved in the courtyard project, including the artist, Jesus Moroles; representatives from Nabholz Construction and Cromwell Architects Engineers Inc.; Professor Flaccus (as a representative of the faculty committee concerned with the project); Dan Street from facilities management; Michael Holloman and Archie Shaeffer. The meeting was very productive. We were able to work through a number of issues concerning the plans landscaping of the courtyard.

Almost before I knew it, it was time to go to Little Rock, where I stopped for the night on my way to Arkadelphia. To my delight I had dinner with Russell Gunter of Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus that evening. We had dinner at 1620 restaurant, and the meal was terrific. Okay, foodies, get ready for this one. My meal began with a goat cheese tart that was topped with crispy apple-smoked bacon and lump crab served with a spicy tomato puree and a cilantro emulsion. The entree was even better, believe it or not. I had Rush’s Seafood Pasta, a combination of pan-seared scallops, crawfish and crab tossed with fresh veggies and a spicy creole crème over rigatoni. The meal ended with a delicious three-chocolate medallion dessert. Russell had a really delicious hazelnut crusted grouper, and an appetizer of escargot. It was a really fabulous meal and I would highly recommend 1620 if you happen to be in the Little Rock area. Thanks to Russell Gunter (even though he’s a management lawyer! Just kidding, Russell) for a lovely evening.

I woke up Monday morning to a huge crash—actually, a series of crashes—only to find out that my neighbor’s very large, very old redbud tree had fallen over onto her house and car! What a bad start to the week for Mrs. Pilcher, who’s a real sweetheart and helpful neighbor. After checking on her to make sure that she was okay, it was off to Pilates with the torture mistress Claudia (who actually gives a very good workout, but it’s fun to tease her).That afternoon the law school community was pleased to host Brian Wolfman, the Director of Litigation for the group Public Citizens. The courtroom was packed. A number of members of the legal community joined us for his talk. We were pleased that Conrad Odom, Jason Hatfield, and Paul Bird could join us. Director Wolfman spoke about the work of Public Citizen’s litigation group as well as a number of the cases the group has argued before the Supreme Court. He discussed the idea of the “cost of litigation,” and pointed out that most people think narrowly about litigation costs. But, he suggested that if the corporate malfeaser doesn’t pay for the harm caused, then there is still an additional cost—the cost that the individual bears in terms of the injuries suffered. Wolfaman encouraged us to think about “cost” more wholistically. He stressed the point that the issue isn’t if there is a cost, it’s who will really pay that cost, the wrongdoer or the injured plaintiff.

Attorney Wolfman also gave an overview about the other work of the litigation group. The attorneys in the group testify before congress and administrative agencies, and take cases involving open government issues, challenges to regulation, consumer justice, first amendment law and internet free speech (he gave an example of fighting for an individual’s right to post anonymously in internet chat rooms). The group brings a number of class action suits and has extensive experience arguing before the United States Supreme Court, litigating 55 cases since 1972. Public Citizen has also created a Supreme Court assistance project that will conduct mock arguments for attorneys who have trials in the Supreme Court, provide help with Supreme Court briefs, and help attorneys litigating cases who wish to avoid having their cases heard by the Supreme Court.

Check out Brian Wolfman’s news article on the School of Law website.

I know I’ve started writing posts event by event, but this week was slow enough that I thought it would be best to just write one long entry.

Monday began as each Monday does with a trip to Studio Pilates here in Fayetteville where I meet with my Pilates instructor Claudia Smith. She seems pleasant and cheerful until we begin our lessons, at which point she becomes a torturess extraordinaire. Seriously, all joking aside, she is definitely working to help me meet my goal of Fabulous at Fifty…if I can survive!

Monday, February 25th was full of meetings one to consider faculty appointments and another with Colleen Williams, the chair of our Community Life Committee to plan details. The highlight of the day was that Dr. Collis Geren, the Dean of the Graduate School came over to visit the law school. We went for a tour and I was able to show him our new facilities. Anyway, it was a pleasure to have him come over and see the new space. As you know if you’re an avid “bloggie,” one of the things I need to do more often is visit other deans around campus and learn more about their schools. Dean Geren is now one of the first on my list since he was kind enough to visit me.

Dinner was with Myra McKenzie, who you’ve read about before. She’s becoming the “Mysterious Myra”—I’ll remember next time, bloggies, to get a picture of her so you can see who she is.

Tuesday was fantastic! It was the BLSA Soul Food Supper. It was fabulous! I must say it was inconsistent with being Fabulous at Fifty, but the meal was great. I did pass up the desserts and the bread, but I think the macaroni and cheese probably did me in. BLSA had set up an extensive—and delicious—menu. A big thanks to Dean Miller for treating me to this great lunch, and to BLSA for hosting a lovely event.

Wednesday was an early morning faculty meeting, and later in the day, we celebrated our February birthdays: Mike Mullane, Jo Anna Collins, Sharon Foster, Colleen Williams and Carlton Bailey. We had two special guests who came to help us celebrate, Lieutenant Colonel Clark Taylor—who you’ve seen mentioned before in the blog—as well as our alum, Katherine Shurlds (’94), from the University’s Journalism department who is teaching Media Law this semester.

Thursday morning I noticed something exciting in my office. My orchid, sent to me by Stacie Walters when I came into the deanship, is blooming! It is so beautiful and so exciting, first of all that I kept the orchid alive, and to have it bloom again. Thanks for documenting this little miracle, Michele.

Thursday afternoon, Professor Judges gave a presentation on emotional intelligence. He addressed the concept of emotional intelligence, how emotional hijacking interferes with relationships at home and in the workplace, and how that hijacking compromises performance and robs life of pleasure. The room was completely full—standing room only. Professor Judges also told us how to reprogram ourselves to deal with challenges and frustrations in a much healthier manner. Many thanks to Professor Judges for such an interesting talk.

Later that afternoon there was a farewell reception for Kay Fairchild, the assistant director of the Office of Affirmative Action, who is retiring. Her friends and fellow members of the University community came to say their farewells to Kay. We will certainly miss her greatly. She has been a true friend to the law school and also a personal friend of mine. I do wish her well, but I’ll certainly miss her presence on campus.

Thursday ended with the University of Arkansas Inspirational Singers Gospel Feast, which I attended with my mom and Bob Moberly. For anybody who missed it, you missed a treat! It was both a feast of food and a feast for the soul. What a wonderful event! Guests were served four courses while being entertained with music, dance, drama and step. The program was separated into four scenes based on different eras in the history of black Americans; each segment then was accompanied with a meal course. And the end of the meal there was a short concert of more modern gospel music, and it was fan-tastic! I’m not kidding you, it was just an amazing, amazing event. A bonus was a chance visit to the event of my favorite UAPD officer, Sid Ramirez. Thursday ended with us being very well fed in every way.

I went to Little Rock to attend a meeting of the Lawyers Helping Lawyers Committee, a group I’ve been privileged to be a part of for a number of years. In its former iteration it was known as the Arkansas Lawyer Assistance Committee. The current chair is Alice Lightle. The committee is an Arkansas Bar Association committee that supports the work of the Arkansas Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program (AJLAP) which was established by the Arkansas Supreme Court. The AJLAP is dedicated to providing non-disciplinary and confidential assistance to any member of the Arkansas bar whose professional performance is being impaired by mental illness, emotional distress, substance abuse or any other disabling circumstance.

This purpose of this particular meeting was the that the AJLAP has been selected by the American Bar Association’s Commission On Lawyer Assistance Programs (ABA COLAP), as the location for its 2009 Annual Meeting. The meeting will be held from October 21-24 at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock. In addition, the conference of the International Lawyers in Alcoholics Anonymous will be held in conjunction with the COLAP conference. Our committee has the unique opportunity to host and provide support for these two important conferences. As you might imagine, hosting the two conferences is a big honor for the state of Arkansas, but it’s also a big responsibility, so the LHL Committee met to begin planning.

COLAP Schedule

We discussed three things that the committee needs to assist with in addition to finding volunteers to be present during the meetings. The first is quite a bit of fun. The Arkansas LHLCommittee is planning a photo rally for the first two days of the COLAP Conference. Participants who sign up will have to follow clues and photograph different items around Little Rock, like the pin map in the Clinton store or the Peabody Duckmaster’s hat. They will upload their photos, which will be displayed throughout the conference, and the first team to complete their list wins.

Committee members were also asked to help with the Dine Around by signing up to serve as hosts and hostesses for convention attendees to dine at area restaurants. Not only will they serve as meal-time companions, but also be responsible for helping participants get to their restaurants. The third need begins with the start of the ILAA conference. Volunteers are needed to register participants.

At the end of the discussion of the conference, there were a couple of business items. As I mentioned above our committee assists the AJLAP. One of the agenda items was the need for Gail Harber, the director of the AJLAP, to be invited to speak at county bar meetings. She’s has spoken at a few local bars meetings, but unfortunately, there are many places around the state where lawyers aren’t aware of the AJLAP. We also watched a video of a lawyer who shows up to court drunk. It was a real train wreck, and it supports the need for Judicial and Lawyer Assistance Programs.

When the meeting adjourned, I visited with Denise Hoggard in her new law firm. She is in the Regions Bank Building on 1st Street and has a beautiful office on the 28th floor. Before I made it up to her office, I ran into another of our alums, John Harriman. I had a good visit with Denise, and it gave me the time to thank her for being such a good friend of the law school and for her support of the scholarship programs of the Arkansas Association of Women Lawyers.After leaving Denise’s office, I ran into none other than Phillip Hood, who I’ve mentioned in earlier blogs. He’s a member of the Arkansas Workers Comp Commission (I got a picture of him and I asked Nirmal to put that in the earlier blog post about him, and then there’s a picture of us together). As it turns out, he was in the office of Rickey Honorable, a mortgage loan originator for Regions Bank, who is married to my sorority sister Colette Honorable. Collette was recently appointed to the Arkansas Public Service Commission by Governor Beebe. I visited with Rickey and with Phillip, and then said “farewell” to Little Rock and headed back up the hill to Fayetteville!

Thursday was supposed to be a law school strategic planning meeting, but because of the crazy weather it was postponed. However, I did get to meet with Tom Black, our webmaster, on the migration of the Web site to our new Red Dot system. He has done a great deal of work to prepare for the migration and the changes look great. He has some neat features planned for the new law school site so stay tuned—you heard about it here in the blog first!

We’re still looking for outside input, too. Do you have any suggestions about how we can make the webpage better? If you’d like to, feel free to leave a comment right here on the blog; we’d love to hear it.

That evening I had dinner with Jennifer Taylor, who is the director of the Arkansas Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission. I had been invited by Bob Moberly and his wife, Lynn Webb. Jennifer’s sister, Laurie joined us as well for a lovely dinner at Theos. If you’re a “bloggie,” you know that Theos is my absolute favorite restaurant in Fayetteville, so in addition to the warm company, it was a good excuse to dine there once again.

We were greeted warmly by Jeff, Theo’s manager (by the way, Jeff, you need to come to law school!) before we sat down to a fabulous meal. We talked about everything, from the current Presidential race to the ADR Commission’s work and the fact that mediators are now involved in an increasing number of substantive legal fields. Thanks to Bob Moberly for the invite—it was a wonderful evening—and thanks Jennifer for visiting with our students about the Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission and the opportunities available to them in that area of practice.

The dean of the School of Continuing Education and Academic Outreach, Linda Ballard, invited me to Hugo’s with members of her staff and two representatives from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, Laura Tyree, associate director for planning and accountability, and Christina (Chrissie) Miller, assistant director for planning and accountability. Also joining us from Dean Ballard’s school was Kim Jones, program coordinator, and Cindy Shackelford, Dean Ballard’s executive assistant. Rick and Clair Ramsay (’77), David Vandergriff (’77), and Jim Phillips (’80)—all law school alums—were there, too.

Although I know I’m working on being Fabulous at Fifty, Hugo’s has great burgers so I had a bacon barbeque cheeseburger and we all shared some spinach dip as we visited during the meal.

After dinner we went over to Dean Ballard’s box in Bud Walton Arena to watch the Hogs take on the LSU Tigers. We were joined in the box by Terry Martin, associate dean of academics for the College of Engineering, and his wife, Theresa as well as Mike Johnson, the associate vice chancellor of facilities, and his wife, Terri (who I’ve mentioned in previous blogs). We were also joined by Matt Cashion, the former national president of the National Association of Surety Bond Producers and owner of The Cashion Company, an independent insurance agency in Little Rock.

While walking through Bud Walton, I ran into a couple of our alums, Bill Horton (’01) and Pat Gazzola (’74) (Pat owns The Catfish Hole restaurant in Fayetteville). I also crossed paths with Don Bland of the College of Business who has been very supportive both of the law school. It’s always neat to see everyone out enjoying a great game, especially when the Hogs win like they did that evening! It was an exciting game. Thanks again to Dean Ballard for her invitation. It was an action-packed evening that had Theresa and I on our feet the entire time!

Time out for a shout out: During the course of my thank you calls Wednesday morning, I had spoken to Lee Fincher who was in the midst of making banana pudding. During the course of our conversation, I mentioned how much I enjoy banana pudding, but just can’t seem to make it quite right. Imagine my surprise when the next morning Professor Sharon Foster brought in a big bowl of banana pudding from Lee! Banana pudding is definitely the “breakfast of champions,” (though, maybe not for those trying to be Fabulous at Fifty) and it was delicious! Thanks again, Lee and Sharon!

One of the things I’ve looked forward most is being able to say thank you to our gracious benefactors, so today I spent a lot of time making personal phone calls to a number of our alums and friends who provide the law school with financial support. To all of you who have helped support the law school, thank you so much. Please know how very much we appreciate your support.

Another special thanks goes out to Don Elliott for visiting with the student chapter of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA). We really appreciate him taking time out of his busy schedule to speak with the members of the law school community.

That evening Wright, Lindsey & Jennings sponsored a cocktail party at Ella’s. I forgot to take my camera with me to this event, so thanks to Rachel Rouby for saving me with her cell phone pictures. A number of our alums were there, including Charles Coleman, Adrian Young, Jane Kim, Paul Mores, and Jeff Woods. Many of our students, as well as faculty members Susan Snell and associate dean Judith Kilpatrick, attended as well. I had a really lovely visit with Jane Kim, Adrian Young and Michelle Camerly about life and, more importantly, the best places to eat in Little Rock! Thanks again to Wright, Lindsey & and Jennings for a very pleasant evening