Law School Celebrates Law Day with Service and Outreach

The University of Arkansas School of Law celebrates Law Day by giving back to Arkansas and celebrating the impact its students make on our community.

Held April 23, the sixth annual Pro Bono and Community Service Awards Luncheon recognized School of Law students for volunteering their time and efforts to worthy causes. Laura Johnson earned the 2012 Bobby Fussell Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award for her tireless pro bono work. In addition to assisting Legal Aid locally, Johnson spent the entire summer of 2011 as an unpaid intern with the Missouri Public Defender’s Office in Springfield, Mo. While there, she assisted on research and drafting, counseled clients and did limited in-court representation of defendants at preliminary hearings, parole hearings, guilty pleas and misdemeanor trials. Johnson also has been active in community service through Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity.

Nancy Hall and Cordell Simmons were named 2012 Outstanding Community Service Award Winners. During her time at the School of Law, Hall volunteered with the Women in Law charity fashion show “Esquire Attire” to raise money for Peace at Home Shelter, assisted the Save our Setters dog rescue group, was a frequent volunteer for the Walton Arts Center and assisted the Arkansas Gravestone Project document thousands of gravestones in Northwest Arkansas to assist people in genealogical research and to preserve a record of threatened burial areas. Simmons volunteered his time to organizing blood drives, the Walk to Cure Juvenile Diabetes and working with the Boys and Girls Clubs. In addition, he worked with Project Transformation, a non-profit in North Texas that counsels disadvantaged children and teens on literacy and life skills. In his third summer with the program, Simmons was awarded a Leadership and Vision award as an exemplary volunteer leader.

Earlier this spring, the annual School of Law faculty auction raised a record $9,000 for Legal Aid of Arkansas. On April 26, a basketball game that pitted the students against the faculty raised an additional $150 for Legal Aid.