Second-year U of A School of Law student Kathryn Totty has been selected to serve as editor-in-chief of the Arkansas Law Review for the 2025-26 academic year. The outgoing executive board chooses the incoming editor-in-chief and editorial board.

Current editor-in-chief Payton Flower stated that Totty was selected because of her leadership skills and outstanding contributions to the Arkansas Law Review as a staff editor.

"She has demonstrated a clear commitment to excellence and hard work that both inspires and motivates her peers," Flower added. "I have no doubt that she will be an incredible editor-in-chief and is the perfect person to advance the state's flagship legal journal."

Amanda Hurst, associate professor of law and faculty adviser, reflected on her selection, saying, "Kathryn is the full package — incredibly capable and diligent and a joy to collaborate with. She has distinguished herself amongst even our top students, and I am so excited to see what is in store for the Arkansas Law Review under her leadership."

Totty said she looks forward to continuing the Arkansas Law Review's legacy as a commitment to legal scholarship, professional development and collaboration. She considers it a privilege to be selected for this leadership role.

"I am incredibly honored to be selected as the next editor-in-chief of the Arkansas Law Review," Totty said. "Before starting law school, I wrote down a list of goals, and at the very top was 'join Arkansas Law Review.' Many of my legal mentors played a significant role in ALR, and stepping into this position feels like a full-circle moment — one where I now have the chance to contribute to the publication with the same enthusiasm and dedication they once did. I look forward to working alongside my peers to uphold the journal's tradition of excellence."

A Camden native, Totty graduated summa cum laude from Ouachita Baptist University in 2023, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and communications and media with an emphasis in strategic communications.

During law school, Totty has received the Judge Thomas Butt Award for Legal Excellence in Legal Research & Writing and the CALI Excellence for the Future Award for Legal Research & Writing II. She was named to the dean's list for fall 2023, spring 2024 and fall 2024. In addition, she is a founding member, treasurer and incoming president of the School of Law Rural Law Association. She also serves as a teaching assistant for Professor Danielle Weatherby in Legal Research & Writing.

Last summer, Totty was an administration and intergovernmental affairs law clerk for the Office of the Arkansas Attorney General and a law clerk for Murphy USA Headquarters in El Dorado. She currently clerks with Friday, Eldredge, and Clark, LLP in Rogers. This summer she will clerk at Rose Law Firm and Gill Ragon Owen, P.A. in Little Rock.