/news-archive/tag/pro-bono-work/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Thu, 20 Jun 2019 13:41:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /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�]]> /news-archive/2019/05/30/terry-associate-dean-bowen/ Thu, 30 May 2019 16:01:33 +0000 /news/?p=74459 ... Terry named new associate dean for experimental learning and clinical programs at Bowen Law School]]> 鈥淭his is a new deanship at Bowen,鈥� said Theresa Beiner, dean of the law school. 鈥淲hile our clinical and experiential programs have always been vital to the law school, this new position strengthens Bowen鈥檚 commitment to our students, the legal community, and our core values of public service, professionalism, and access to justice.鈥� The legal clinic at Bowen is one of the most visible aspects of the law school鈥檚 commitment to access to justice and public service. In addition to the Public Service Externship Program, there are seven legal clinics, two practica courses for part-time students, and the Rural Practice Incubator Project. Experiential learning programs include Professionalism and the Work of Lawyers and the law school鈥檚 award-winning lawyering skills program. 鈥淏owen has a rich history of providing its students with rigorous and meaningful learning opportunities to prepare them for the practice of law,鈥� said Terry, who began the new position on May 1.聽鈥淚 look forward to working with my colleagues to build on that well-established foundation and enhance our existing experiential-learning programs so that our graduates enter the profession ready to serve their clients with the utmost proficiency, skill, and professionalism.鈥� Terry, who previously served as director of the Public Service Externship Program and pro bono opportunities, teaches the Public Service Externship course, which places students to work for a semester with federal, state, and local government agencies and judges, as well as local non-profit organizations.聽She also co-teaches Professionalism and the Work of Lawyers, a required class for first-year law students that is designed to develop their skills in a range of areas relating to the day-to-day practice of law. Terry also serves as co-director of the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning, a national organization focused on best practices in law teaching, curriculum design, and assessment. Bowen, along with the law school at Washburn University, sponsors the organization. Her expertise includes legal education, externship pedagogy, assessment, and access to justice.聽She is a co-editor of聽鈥淓xperiential Education in the Law School Curriculum鈥� and has three upcoming publications. Terry has also published articles in the聽Clinical Law Review, the聽Journal of Legal Education, and the聽Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy. Prior to becoming a law professor, Terry practiced law for 12 years in a variety of settings, including private practice and state and federal government.聽She started her legal career as a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. After that, she served as an assistant attorney general in the Criminal and Civil Departments of the Arkansas Attorney General鈥檚 Office.聽Terry was also a partner in a mid-sized commercial law firm in Little Rock, where she focused on business litigation and supervised associate attorneys. 鈥淭hroughout her career at Bowen, Dean Terry has been dedicated to training students in what it鈥檚 like to be a lawyer and to improving their learning experiences,鈥� Beiner said. 鈥淪he has been an active member of the faculty and has worked with fellow professors to improve assessment and outcomes for law students as a whole. She will make an excellent associate dean.鈥漖]>