FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Third-year law student, McKinley Groves has won the 2022-23 Arent Fox/Dale Bumpers Excellence in Writing Award. The honor recognizes outstanding contributions to the Journal of Food Law and Policy, a publication of the School of Law. 

The article, "Do States Prefer Alcohol Over Marijuana? A Look at Labeling Regulatory Differences Between the Alcohol and Edibles Industries," was written while Groves was a second-year law student serving as a staff editor of the journal. He now serves as managing editor and the article just appeared in the Fall 2022 issue of the journal.

"I am proud of McKinley's work," said Susan Schneider, director of the LL.M. Program in Agricultural and Food Law, the William H. Enfield Professor of Law, and the faculty advisor for the journal. "The journal is known for publishing insightful articles about current food law issues, and McKinley's article is a great example of that tradition. It's well researched and well written."

Groves, a native of Springfield, Missouri, is a 2019 graduate of Missouri State University. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics while working part-time at Lowther Johnson Law Firm in Springfield.  He began working at the firm in 2014 as an investigator.  He worked his way up through the ranks with a series of jobs and clerkships: head investigator, legal assistant, paralegal, and law clerk.  After sitting for the Missouri Bar Examination in July, he will join the firm as an attorney.

The Arent Fox/Dale Bumpers Excellence in Writing Award was created by ArentFox Schiff LLP, the firm's current name, to celebrate the life and work of former Arkansas Gov. and U.S. Senator, Dale Bumpers. Following his retirement from the Senate in 1999, Bumpers became counsel to the law firm, then known as Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin and Kahn, and worked in its Washington, D.C. office from 2000 until 2010.  His clients included an array of industry leaders in the food, medical and airline sectors.  The firm has given the annual writing award, that includes a cash prize, since the journal's inception in 2005.  It continues to honor students and Bumpers, who died in 2016.   

Lawyers at ArentFox Schiff and the journal's current contact, partner Karen Ellis Carr who co-leads the firm's AgTech Industry Group, reviewed the submissions before selecting Groves for the award.            

The Journal of Food Law and Policy has long been recognized as a leader in publishing articles and essays on food law and its impact on society.  When the journal's inaugural issue was published, no other student-edited journal was devoted to the topic, and few law schools recognized the emerging discipline of food law and policy.  Since that time, the journal has led the nation in recognizing the significance of studying the legal framework of our food system.  It is published twice a year and is edited by dedicated law students at the University of Arkansas School of Law.

About the University of Arkansas School of Law: The law school offers a competitive J.D. and is home to the nation's first LL.M. program in agriculture and food law. Led by nationally recognized faculty, the school offers students pro bono work, live client clinics, public service fellowships, competitions, and much more. Students also benefit from our location in one of the fastest growing, most livable, and economically vibrant regions in the U.S., and from our corporate externship partnerships with Fortune 500 companies. Our alumni have gone on to become judges, senators, and governors, and we serve communities throughout our state and nation through programs such as the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative. Our longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion is exemplified by the Six Pioneers, the first Black students to attend law school in the South without a court order. Follow us at @uarklaw.