/news-archive/tag/university-of-arkansas-at-little-rock-william-h-bowen-school-of-law/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Wed, 30 Jan 2019 15:59:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2019/01/30/annabelle-imber-tuck/ Wed, 30 Jan 2019 15:59:32 +0000 /news/?p=73243 ... Law degree leads to history-making career]]> Annabelle Imber Tuck has had a history-making career and is one of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law鈥檚 most high-profile graduates. She went to law school in the 1970s, not too many years after law schools began to expand the number of women being admitted in each class and eventually was the first female justice elected to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Along the way, she handed down an order that reshaped the way Arkansas鈥檚 public schools are funded. She attributes some of her success to the legal education and training she received from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 William H. Bowen School of Law, where she graduated in 1977 and where she continues to serve as a Public Service Fellow and Jurist-in-Residence. Like many of the current students in Bowen鈥檚 part-time program, Tuck pursued a legal education after getting a few years of work experience and life experience. She graduated in 1971 from Smith College magna cum laude with a degree in political science. She was accepted to the University of Arkansas鈥檚 law school but decided she needed to take a break from academic studies and work a while. 鈥淲hen I finished college, my dad had just died in 1971. I really didn鈥檛 know anything about the law in terms of a career. My mom was a teacher, and my dad was an extension agent. There were no lawyers in our extended family.鈥� Instead, she enrolled in a paralegal school in Philadelphia because at that time, paralegal work was an entree into law firms. 鈥淭hey had a great deal. They would find you a job in the city of your choice, and if they couldn鈥檛, they would refund your tuition,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 picked Little Rock, but they had trouble placing me because there were no paralegals in Arkansas. There were secretaries with secretarial pay. They found me a job in Houston, Texas, and I said, 鈥楥lose enough.鈥欌�� In Houston, she worked at a patent, trademark and copyright law firm. Because she spoke two or three languages (due to living abroad as a child while her father worked overseas for the U.S. Agency for International Development), she helped with translations of foreign patent and trademark applications. 鈥淚 really liked the job, but what I really wanted was to be a litigator,鈥� she said. She enrolled in the evening law program at Bates College of Law at the University of Houston, working during the day and going to school at night. After two years, her husband, Lee Clinton, wanted to move back to Little Rock. When they returned in 1975, Tuck quickly found a job as a litigation paralegal at . She also looked to the University of Arkansas to complete her law degree. At that time, 糖心Vlog传媒 had a night division in Little Rock, which would soon become part of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. Tuck met with the dean who admitted her on the spot. 鈥淥f course, that would never happen today,鈥� she joked. At the time, the law classes were taught in a downtown Little Rock building that lacked women鈥檚 restrooms on the law school level. To this day, Tuck remembers her professors and which classes they taught. 鈥淚 just kept my eye on the ball and went to school and work and then studied on the weekends,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had family obligations, but we managed.鈥� After paying her way through school, she graduated in 1977. She wanted very much to work at Wright, Lindsey and Jennings, which at that time had one female lawyer and had never hired a graduate from the 糖心Vlog传媒 night division. 鈥淚 knew the Saturday when they would be discussing the next group of new associates, and I was waiting,鈥� Tuck recalled. Then she got a call from Edward L. Wright, asking her if she鈥檇 like to meet at the Capital Club for a drink. 鈥淚 knew at that point I was going to be an associate,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 never asked what my salary would be. I was just so glad I was going to be with a law firm that I trusted.鈥� Tuck had worked in general practice as a paralegal, but as an attorney, she wanted to be a great litigator. 鈥淚 wanted to be in the courtroom, and I wanted to be in front of juries,鈥� she said. 鈥淯p until that point, women were not in jury trials. I didn鈥檛 want to be pigeon-holed. I wanted to be in the hot areas. I wanted to be in business litigation because that got me into complicated things, and I would get my trial experience in tort litigation. l lived and breathed law, and then I would go home and watch Perry Mason so I could see something solved in one hour.鈥� Six years later, in 1983, she made partner at the law firm, though at one point she tried to talk herself out of a promotion. 鈥淚 had just had a baby, and my marriage was breaking up, and I went to my senior partner and told him he might want to take me off the partner list,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e was understanding and told me that their considerations for partnership status were much broader than one particular year鈥檚 performance.鈥� In 1984, then Gov. Bill Clinton appointed Tuck to a vacant criminal division judgeship on the Pulaski County Circuit Court. She took a one-year leave of absence from the law firm to serve. 鈥淥nce I got into that position, I started delving into the ability to really listen,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat I determined from my experience was that I was a good decision-maker. I loved advocacy, but I thought I could do more as a decision maker.鈥� When the term expired, Tuck returned to Wright Jennings for three more years. In 1988, she was elected chancery and probate judge for Pulaski and Perry counties, where she served for eight years (1989-1996). In 1994, while serving on the chancery bench, Tuck issued an order that would eventually reshape the way public schools in Arkansas are funded. The Lake View School District had sued the state on the grounds that the vastly unequal funding of schools in Arkansas violated the constitutional promise that the state would provide a suitable education for each child and that the educational opportunities would be equal regardless of where a child lived. Tuck agreed and gave the Arkansas General Assembly two years to meet its constitutional obligation. The case – Lake View School District No. 25 v. Huckabee – resulted in sweeping reforms, including school consolidation and changes in tax structures. In 1996, Tuck was elected to serve as an associate justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court, becoming the first woman ever elected to the Supreme Court. She was reelected twice and served a total of 13 years before retiring at the end of 2009. William H. Bowen, a former dean of the Bowen School of Law for whom the school is named, was initially appointed to serve until the next general election; however, his tenure on the court only lasted a short time, so Ronald Sheffield was subsequently appointed and served until Jan. 1, 2011. 鈥淚 learned when I was on the Supreme Court with six other people that you do better when you have more than one person making the decision. The sum of the parts is greater than the individual parts. I feel that way about juries. I never disagreed with a jury鈥檚 verdict while I served on the circuit bench.鈥� When Tuck retired, she didn鈥檛 want to teach full-time, though she has taught classes on contracts, ethics and professional responsibility from time to time at the Bowen School of Law. She also judges moot court, works with students going to competitions, and serves as a judge for the first-year law students鈥� oral arguments. 鈥淚 love working with law students because they have energy to burn and I feed off of that,鈥� she said. She is also a passionate advocate for access to justice, which is one of the law school鈥檚 core values. 鈥淚 have always been concerned about due process,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have to make sure our courts are accessible to anyone and everyone, not just to people with money.鈥� She works with the , which was created by the state Supreme Court in 2003 and tasked with finding ways “to provide equal access to justice in civil cases for all Arkansans.鈥� Though Tuck has an office at the law school, she spends most of her time working out and about in the community. 聽 鈥淚 will go wherever people want to meet me,鈥� she said. Photo by Benjamin Krain]]> /news-archive/2017/04/19/gu272-descendants-2017/ Wed, 19 Apr 2017 13:30:40 +0000 /news/?p=66899 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock professor emeritus works to preserve history of GU272 descendants]]> A retired University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor鈥檚 passion for racial justice led her to work with descendants of enslaved Africans, who were sold to benefit Georgetown University 179 years ago. Dr. Adjoa Aiyetoro, professor emeritus of law, has long worked to end racial inequality in the criminal justice system. In 2011, she served as the inaugural director of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 Institute on Race and Ethnicity and developed the Racial Disparities in the Arkansas Criminal Justice System Research Project. She also served as a professor at the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Bowen School of Law. Aiyetoro is now a member of the legal team that represents the Legacy of , the name given to descendants of the 272 enslaved men, women, and children sold by Jesuit priests to pay off Georgetown鈥檚 debts. The team is working with the GU272 descendants to uncover the history and genealogy of their ancestors and discuss reparations and ways their forefathers should be honored. Aiyetoro was asked to join the legal team by Mary Wagner, a descendant of Isaac Hawkins, the enslaved African whose name is listed first on the ship’s manifest documenting the 1838 Maryland sale and transport to Louisiana plantation owners. Immediately intrigued, Aiyetoro chose to become an advocate for the descendants and work to help them communicate their thoughts, concerns, and desires to Georgetown officials. 鈥淭he most frustrating part of this process is knowing that many of the officials still don鈥檛 get it,鈥� Aiyetoro said. 鈥淚t seems as if they鈥檙e sometimes concerned with getting the issue behind them as opposed to working to find solutions.鈥� Along with helping the Legacy of the GU272 Alliance have its voice heard, Aiyetoro says it鈥檚 important to reach as many descendants as possible to bridge the historical disconnect. 鈥淥ne of our major goals is to educate people and unite relatives who never knew about their biological connection to members of the GU272,鈥� Aiyetoro said. After discussions with Georgetown鈥檚 chief of staff concerning amends for the university鈥檚 role in selling slaves to pay off debt, the university agreed to host events in honor of the GU272. The descendants and advocates looked forward to the event that took place Tuesday, April 18, in Georgetown鈥檚 Gaston Hall. Following a Liturgy of Remembrance, Contrition, and Hope ceremony, the university dedicated a campus building in recognition of Isaac Hawkins. Aiyetoro is excited to see the work that she, her colleagues, and the Legacy of GU272 Alliance have done to bring about change, but she knows there is still a long way to go. She will continue to work with the descendants to reach a full resolution. In retirement, Aiyetoro continues to seek racial justice, working with and helping others along the way. For more information, contact Aiyetoro at aaaiyetoro@ualr.edu. ]]>