The primary goal of the University of Arkansas School of Law is to prepare lawyers who will render high-quality professional service to their clients, who are interested in and capable of advancing legal progress and reform, and who are prepared to fill the vital role of the lawyer as a community leader.
The School of Law has certain widely shared objectives for its educational program. There are a number of important skills and qualities every lawyer should possess. The major objectives of legal study are to see that graduates possess these skills and qualities upon completion of their legal studies.
These objectives can best be realized by a competent and dedicated full-time faculty working in partnership with an interested and involved bench and bar. The faculty and administrative staff at the Law School strive to maintain mutually beneficial relationships with judges and practicing lawyers. Appellate courts regularly schedule cases at the Law School. The judges meet with students informally after the arguments.
While only full-time faculty members teach first-year courses and other required substantive law courses, practice skill courses such as Legal Clinic and Trial Advocacy and activities such as Client Counseling depend on the assistance of the practicing bar.
The Law School's educational program is directed to lawyers and judges as well as to law students. The study of law cannot end with the receipt of a diploma. Significant and rapidly changing developments in substantive and procedural law and in the way that law is practiced has created the need for a quality program of continuing legal education. Recognizing this need, the University of Arkansas School of Law, in cooperation with the organized Bar, provides lawyers and judges with the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and skills through seminars, summer workshops, short courses, audio and video cassette programs, and publications. These programs attempt to blend practical considerations in the solution of legal problems with policy, theoretical, and ethical considerations.
The University of Arkansas School of Law also has a strong sense of responsibility to the people of Arkansas. Thus, members of the faculty and student body are active in numerous public service activities. Legal counsel to the indigent is provided through the Law School's clinical education program and by special court appointments from time to time. Students and faculty also serve on bar, civic, and legislative committees and task forces. A number of faculty and students contribute time and expertise to state agencies and law reform groups. All of these activities offer to students a laboratory of legal work that is eminently real, while at the same time enabling the University of Arkansas School of Law to be of service to the people of Arkansas.
[Table of Contents] - [Search] - [Comments]