- University News Archive - 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock /news-archive/tag/legal-aid-of-arkansas/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Tue, 09 Jul 2019 12:53:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Bowen Law Student uses legal knowledge to serve others with Legal Aid of Arkansas internship /news-archive/2019/07/09/caleb-conrad-internship/ Tue, 09 Jul 2019 12:53:17 +0000 /news/?p=74682 ... Bowen Law Student uses legal knowledge to serve others with Legal Aid of Arkansas internship]]> You probably recognize Caleb Conrad, a 25-year-old student at the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, as part of a trio of talented Benton natives, aptly named Triple Threat, which made it to the 2015 quarterfinals of 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Got Talent.鈥澛 Now the singing sensation is using his talents to help Arkansans in need of a lawyer through a law clerk internship with Legal Aid of Arkansas鈥檚 Medical-Legal Partnership. The nonprofit partners with health care providers across the state to achieve lasting positive health outcomes for low-income patients and clients. Since 2011, Legal Aid of Arkansas has partnered with Arkansas Children鈥檚 Hospital and Walmart to create the first that integrates a corporate legal department into the service model. The partnership leverages the skills of the health care providers with those of attorneys who can help solve civil legal issues that impact health. Stationed at Arkansas Children鈥檚 Hospital, Conrad handles cases that involve child and adult custody issues, orders of protection, special education plans, supplemental or income benefits, and health-related legal matters. 鈥淚鈥檝e been to court multiple times getting adult guardianships for 18-year-olds with a condition like autism who still need care and supervision for their daily activities. That鈥檚 what the family needs,鈥 he said. 鈥淎 good attorney might charge thousands of dollars up front, and I know many families that cannot afford that much money. We try our best to equip our clients so they can best face their situation. It鈥檚 rewarding to meet these people and get that order of protection or that order of guardianship that will positively impact their lives.鈥 Conrad recalls one case that he feels had a huge impact on a woman鈥檚 life. 鈥淲e had an emergency case with a client who had a child being treated at Arkansas Children鈥檚 Hospital,鈥 Conrad said. 鈥淭he mother had a seizure in her child鈥檚 room. It was found that she had a massive brain tumor. She didn鈥檛 have a living will or power of attorney or guardianship for her children assigned. Sometimes, we do big things. Just being able to step in as a lawyer on that short notice without her having to pay anything was a blessing for her.鈥 Over the course of his internship, Conrad has recognized the void that the nonprofit fills for those who cannot afford a lawyer.
Bowen law student Caleb Conrad is working a summer internship at Arkansas Children's Hospital with the Medical-Legal Partnership offering legal aid to patients and their families. Photo by Ben Krain.

Bowen law student Caleb Conrad is working a summer internship at Arkansas Children’s Hospital with Legal Aid of Arkansas’s Medical-Legal Partnership offering legal aid to patients and their families. Photo by Ben Krain.

鈥淟egal Aid provides direct legal representation to people who can鈥檛 afford it,鈥 Conrad said. 鈥淭hese people wouldn鈥檛 have a voice in our legal system without the help of Legal Aid. It鈥檚 changed the way I look at things. Unfortunately, our system excludes a large portion of our population from getting what they need. We deal with a lot of low-income clients who just really don鈥檛 have a fair shake in our judicial system a lot of times. I鈥檝e always wanted to help people. I think it鈥檚 important to try to use my legal knowledge to walk people through the system since not everyone understands the law.鈥 Conrad traces his strong desire to help people to the women in his family who served as his role models for public service.聽聽 鈥淢y mom is a public school teacher for K-5 students, and she grew up working at Camp Aldersgate and has always had a heart for working with people with physical and mental disabilities,鈥 said Conrad. 鈥淕rowing up with her students and seeing her having this role of stability and positivity in their lives has been very inspiring to me. My love of public service has evolved from the strong women in my life who have inspired me to take a step in that arena. Even my grandmother is off on mission trips all the time.鈥 When he鈥檚 not pursuing justice for others, the law student is lifting up spirits as the director of praise and worship at Asbury United Methodist Church. Set to graduate from Bowen in 2020, Conrad is also spending the summer as a student attorney at Bowen鈥檚 Delta Clinic and will travel to the state鈥檚 Delta region to provide legal assistance to low-income residents. In the fall, he鈥檒l serve as a law clerk for Friday, Eldredge & Clark in Little Rock. Legal Aid of Arkansas鈥檚 Medical-Legal Partnership will also offer an externship to Bowen students in the spring 2020 semester.聽]]> Bowen Law Students Help Provide Legal Services for Rural Arkansans /news-archive/2019/06/20/bowen-legal-aid/ Thu, 20 Jun 2019 13:41:45 +0000 /news/?p=74521 ... Bowen Law Students Help Provide Legal Services for Rural Arkansans]]> After spending her spring break providing pro bono legal services to rural Arkansas residents, a recent graduate of the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law is more committed than ever to providing legal help for state residents that have restricted access to lawyers.聽 Students from the William H. Bowen School of Law spent their spring break providing legal services on the road to rural communities in Arkansas. Abigail Brenneman, Andrew Rogers, Libby Nelson, and Lisa Roam took part in Legal Aid of Arkansas鈥檚 Spring Break on the Road to Justice program in March. 鈥淭his program definitely increased my awareness of the lack of access to legal services in rural areas of Arkansas and reinforced my decision to try to make my services accessible to folks in some of those underserved areas,鈥 said Brenneman, 25, of Hot Springs. In partnership with students from the University of Arkansas School of Law, they provided estate-planning services to elderly residents under the supervision of Legal Aid and volunteer attorneys. “With the Road to Justice Program, we wanted the students to get practical experience as well as understand the importance and the need for pro bono service,” said Greneda Johnson, director of pro bono for Legal Aid. “The students helped ease the burden of 74 individuals by helping them to plan for their future and save their family from having to make difficult decisions in the event that they become incapacitated or after their gone.” While traveling the state, the students volunteered in Flippin, Newport, Jonesboro, and Brockwell. The first day took the group to a wills clinic at Marion County Senior Activity Wellness Center, where they worked with 30 clients to produce 84 documents. Next, the students helped 24 people and drafted 73 documents in Newport and Jonesboro. On the third day, the students served 20 clients and created 50 documents in Brockwell. 鈥The key take away from my experience is that it is not an attorney鈥檚 job to tell a client what to do, even if they literally say, 鈥楾ell me what to do.鈥 Instead, It is the attorney鈥檚 job to explain to them, efficiently and effectively, the consequences and implications of the client鈥檚 various options and then allow them to make their choices,鈥 Brenneman said. Access to legal services is a problem for many Arkansans living in rural areas with low income. The Spring Break on the Road to Justice program is one of many initiatives by Legal Aid of Arkansas to address access-to-justice issues in Arkansas, which has the fewest attorneys per capita in the country with approximately one attorney for every 400 residents in the state. Brenneman will take the bar exam in July and eventually wants to open her own law firm in Montgomery County. The skills she learned during her spring break experience has helped prepare her for the future. 鈥淚 decided to participate in the program because I wanted to gain practical knowledge about estate planning and client interviewing in general,鈥 Brenneman said. 鈥淢ost memorable to me, were the amazing people at Legal Aid of Arkansas. They were so patient and encouraging.鈥]]> Health Care and the Law symposium will discuss cost of health care in Arkansas /news-archive/2017/10/13/health-care-law-symposium/ Fri, 13 Oct 2017 20:22:29 +0000 /news/?p=68258 ... Health Care and the Law symposium will discuss cost of health care in Arkansas]]> The second symposium of a three-year series on health care policy and law in Arkansas will be held at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law Friday, Oct. 20.聽 This year鈥檚 Health Care Policy and the Law Symposium will focus on the cost of health care in Arkansas. Speakers will include local and national health care professionals and policy makers who will discuss factors that drive the cost of health care in the state. These topics include health care payment reform and how socioeconomic factors like income and county of residence affect a person鈥檚 health care and health behaviors. The symposium will also cover the, where health care and legal professionals work together to promote a healthy population. “Bowen is excited to host this second symposium focusing on addressing Arkansas鈥 significant health care challenges, many of which do not lend themselves to easy answers,鈥 said John DiPippa, dean of Bowen School of Law. 鈥淲e believe that our second topic, the cost of health care in Arkansas, will demonstrate the opportunities possible when we collaboratively look for solutions.鈥 The keynote speaker is Michael Chernew, the Leonard D. Schaeffer Professor of Health Care Policy and the director of the Healthcare Markets and Regulation Lab in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. His speech is entitled, 鈥淧ayment Reform: Evidence and Future Directions.鈥 聽 Featured speakers include Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Vic Snyder, former Arkansas state senator and U.S. congressman. 鈥淏y bringing together some of the most sophisticated health care and legal thinkers in the state as well as experts from elsewhere in the country, we hope to promote an informed discussion and to serve as a source of information and ideas for Arkansas鈥 policymakers,鈥 DiPippa said. Additional speakers include:
  • 听听听听听Joseph Bates, senior public health advisor for the Arkansas Department of Health
  • 听听听听听Lori Chumbler, senior associate counsel for Walmart on the employment legal team
  • 听听听听听Marcy Doderer, president and chief executive officer of Arkansas Children鈥檚 Hospital
  • 听听听听听Mary Claire Hyatt, staff attorney with Legal Aid of Arkansas working with the Arkansas Children鈥檚 Hospital Medical-Legal Partnership
  • 听听听听听Judge Mary Spencer McGowan
  • 听听听听听Josh Rosenthal, co-founder and chief scientific officer of RowdMap, Inc.
  • 听听听听听Anna Strong, executive director of child advocacy and public health at Arkansas Children鈥檚 Hospital
  • 听听听听听John Tilford, professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
The symposium series, sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield, is designed to foster thoughtful, intellectual debate about health care issues in Arkansas. The goal is to promote informed policy making and to establish a platform for generating research projects. The event is also sponsored by University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Clinton School of Public Service. Attorneys, physicians, pharmacists, and nurses have the opportunity to earn professional development credits through the conference. Registration is $20 . Students may attend the event for free. Lunch and snacks will be provided. For more information, call 501.324.9973 or email tmmedlock@ualr.edu. ]]>