Students and Programs

Diversity

The School of Law has a diverse student body. Each year, the School of Law offers a Wal-Mart Legal Diversity Scholarship to a first-year law student whose presence adds to the diversity of the law school. The scholarship was established in 2004 through collaboration between the late Dean Richard B. Atkinson and Thomas Mars, ’85, then senior vice president and general counsel for Walmart Stores Inc.

Student Organizations

Student organizations are vital to the School of Law. Whether the Black Law Student Association, the Women’s Law Student Association, the Student Bar Association, or any of the myriads of other organizations, incoming and upper level students will find a group that suits their interests.

Publications

Arkansas Law Review

The Arkansas Law Review is a legal periodical published quarterly by the students of the School of Law, in cooperation with the Arkansas Bar Association. Candidates for the Arkansas Law Review are selected from second-year law classes by the Arkansas Law Review editorial board on the basis of academic qualifications and writing ability.

The Arkansas Law Review offers an excellent opportunity to students with the ability and industry to do legal research and writing. All material published in the Arkansas Law Review is edited by a student board of editors, and some is written by students.

Arkansas Law  Review articles and student notes and comments have been relied on by Arkansas courts, courts in other jurisdictions, and legal scholars. Previous issues of the Arkansas Law Review include contributions from by former President Bill Clinton, (then) U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Justice Antonin Scalia.

Journal of Food Law & Policy

The first issue of the Journal of Food Law & Policy was published in July 2005 and signaled the inauguration of the country’s first student-edited legal journal devoted to the study of relationships that exist among food, law, and society. The first issue featured articles by several prestigious authors, including renowned food law expert Peter Barton Hutt. Other issues have featured articles on a variety of topics, such as the Fourth Amendment and the FDA’s authority to take photographs under FDCA, a comparison of the American and European approaches to beef regulation, and the legal effects of food technology. In October 2006, the Journal of Food Law & Policy was recognized by the American Agricultural Law Association for the best scholarly article published on agricultural law.

Arkansas Law Notes

Arkansas Law Notes is a student-edited online publication that strives to publish practice-oriented and shorter scholarly works that will have an immediate and lasting impact on the Arkansas legal community. Arkansas Law Notes emphasizes timely publication on cutting edge legal issues, thereby enabling authors to reach a broader audience more quickly than a traditional print publication.

Arkansas Law Notes encourages submissions from local practitioners, law professors, judges, and law students.  Submissions are published on a rolling basis, and may include shorter pieces than traditional law review articles.  Completed works receive an individual cite and are published on the Arkansas Law Notes website.