was born in Texarkana, Texas, in l94l and was educated at Exeter, Yale, the University of Arkansas, Harvard Law School, and the University of London. He was first in his class at the University of Arkansas Law School and was editor-in-chief of the law review and earned LL.M. and S.J.D. degrees from Harvard Law School. He has taught at numerous American law schools, including Indiana, Stanford, Texas, Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania where he also served as a vice president of the university and was a professor of law and history. Judge Arnold has published ten books and numerous articles, mostly on the subject of legal history and the history of colonial Arkansas. His latest book is The Arkansas Post of Louisiana, which includes photographs by his wife, Gail Arnold. In 1994 the French government named him a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques for his work on eighteenth-century Louisiana, and he is a member of the American Antiquarian Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He served as a United States District Judge for seven years before being elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on May 26, l992. He also served as a judge and presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court of Review from 2008 to 2013.

is a resident of Texarkana, Arkansas where she was born and raised, graduating from Arkansas High School in 1991. She graduated of the University of Arkansas in 1995 with a degree in Political Science and graduated from the Robert A. Leflar School of Law at the University of Arkansas in December of 1997. She started her career serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Judge Terry Crabtree before returning to Texarkana to begin a private law practice in 2000. In 2007, she began working as a deputy prosecuting attorney until she was elected prosecutor in 2014. She was elected to the Arkansas Court of Appeals and took office January 1, 2021.

is a nationally-known appellate lawyer based in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. He frequently works on cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Pennsylvania’s state appellate courts. Bashman has been profiled by The Associated Press, The ABA Journal, Legal Times of Washington D.C., and The Daily Journal, a California-based legal newspaper. As an appellate commentator, he has been quoted or mentioned by The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Detroit News, The Seattle Times, The Christian Science Monitor, Wired News, Salon, and Reuters. And he has published appellate-related essays in the Journal of Appellate Practice and Process, The Los Angeles Times, online at Slate, ad in the Appellate Issues publication of the ABA Council of Appellate Lawyers.

In addition to practicing appellate law, Bashman is the author of the “How Appealing” blog, a daily collection of links to appellate-related legal news and interesting new appellate rulings. That blog is read by thousands of lawyers and judges each day and is hosted by Breaking Media online at howappealing.abovethelaw.com. Bashman also writes a monthly column on appellate issues for The Legal Intelligencer, Philadelphia’s daily newspaper for lawyers. Before opening his own appellate boutique in 2004, Bashman headed the appellate litigation practice at one of Pennsylvania’s largest law firms.

is a solo practitioner who focuses on appellate practice and complex legal research, writing and advocacy for the plaintiff’s bar. He is also counsel for the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association, amicus curiae counsel for the Tennessee Association for Justice. His office is located near Pickles Gap, just between Conway and Greenbrier Arkansas.

is a graduate of The University of Virginia School of Law, a law professor at Brooklyn Law School, and a former litigator in the construction industry. Professor Brown is the author of Untangling Fear in Lawyering: A Four-Step Journey Toward Powerful Advocacy (ABA 2019), The Introverted Lawyer: A Seven-Step Journey Toward Authentically Empowered Advocacy (ABA 2017), and a two-volume legal writing book series entitled The Mindful Legal Writer. Professor Brown champions the importance of openly discussing stressors, anxieties, and fears in lawyering, and helping quiet and anxious law students and lawyers become profoundly effective advocates, in their authentic voices. Professor Brown just released her third well-being book entitled, The Flourishing Lawyer: A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Performance and Well-Being (ABA 2022). Her companion website is: www.theflourishinglawyer.org.

joined the UA William H. Bowen School of Law faculty in 2007. Between 2004 and 2007, he taught Employment Discrimination and Civil Liberties as an adjunct instructor. He currently teaches Civil Liberties; Conflict of Laws; Criminal Law; Criminal Procedure; Employment Discrimination; Research, Writing, and Analysis; and Remedies. While a law student, Professor Cain served as the associate notes editor of the UALR Law Review and graduated with honors.

After graduation, he began a solo appellate practice, primarily before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the Supreme Court of Arkansas, and the Arkansas Court of Appeals. His practice areas consisted chiefly of employment discrimination, domestic relations, and criminal defense.

is the newest Associate Justice on the Louisiana Supreme Court. Prior to joining the Supreme Court, she spent almost 20 years as a judge on the Orleans Parish Civil District Court, distinguishing herself as a Judicial Pacesetter, leader and scholar among the bench and bar. A frequent speaker, Justice Griffin is a member of many professional organizations including the American and National Bar Associations. She serves as the Secretary of the Louisiana Judicial Council Foundation/NBA, Executive Board member of the American Judges Association and has previously served as President of the Louisiana Judicial Council/NBA, President of the 4th and 5th Circuit Judges Association and Second Vice President of the Louisiana Association of District Court Judges. She is a member of the Louisiana Law Institute and is active in many civic and community organizations. Justice Griffin received her J.D. from LSU’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center and her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame.

is head of the litigation department at Rainwater, Holt & Sexton, a position she has held since 2013. She has litigated cases since 1984 when she received her license to practice law after graduating with a juris doctorate from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Bowen School of Law.

Denise comes from a military family background and came to Arkansas in the 1970’s when her father was stationed at the Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville. She graduated from Jacksonville High School at then obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Arkansas State University. Through high school and college, Denise worked as a reporter and editor for her student newspapers. Upon graduation, she joined the Arkansas Democrat as a newspaper reporter and was assigned to the police and courts beat. While writing about trials, she fell in love with the law and saw how attorneys help people tell their stories and find justice. Being raised in a military family, she was committed to serving and defending others. She worked her way through law school and has worked in a trial practice since.

She has also been very involved in serving in the legal profession as President of the Arkansas Bar Association, President of the Arkansas Association of Women Lawyers, as a mentor to new attorneys, and as an adjunct instructor at the Bowen School of Law. She has a strong understanding of courts and because of these skills, she was referred by senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor as a candidate for appointment to the federal bench.

Denise joined Rainwater, Holt & Sexton because she shares the same passion for providing clients with the best possible representation. She shares the vision to advocate for clients zealously and make sure they receive the best possible results. She works daily with the team of attorneys to make sure they deliver for the clients and serve their interests. One reason she came to Rainwater, Holt & Sexton is the way it provides a large support staff and commits resources to benefit clients. She is tenacious and tireless as a trial attorney fighting for her clients.

Another great joy for Denise is the way Rainwater, Holt & Sexton works to serve others in the community. She works to support those charitable and professional efforts. It’s important to her that she be part of a workplace that gives back to others.

In May of 2010, she won her first statewide election at age 38 to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Two years earlier, she was elected to serve as a judge on the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

For the past several years, she has served as the supervising justice for the Office and Committee on Professional Conduct, which is charged with the discipline of lawyers throughout the state. She has also served as the supervising justice for the Client Security Fund, the Arkansas Code Revision Committee, and the Committee on Security and Emergency Preparedness. Justice Hudson also directs the payment of funds to court-appointed appellate attorneys.

In 2014, the Women’s Law Student Association at the University of Arkansas awarded her the Gayle Pettus Pontz Award for best representing the accomplishments of women in the legal community, helping women thrive in law school, and advancing women in the legal profession. After serving her first eight-year term on the Court, Justice Hudson was reelected in 2018.

In 2021, Justice Hudson spearheaded the Court’s effort to create the Office of Ethics Counsel, which she now supervises. Ethics counsel provides valuable assistance and resources to practicing attorneys by advising them on ethical dilemmas. This service further enables them to maintain the highest ethical standards while providing legal services to their clients. In addition to her official duties on the court, Justice Hudson devotes her time to mentoring law students and speaking to civic groups across the state. She and her three children live in Fayetteville.

received her Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude in 1987 from Duke University. She received her Juris Doctorate cum laude in 1991 from Harvard Law School. In 1991, she was a law clerk to Judge Donald J. Porter of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota. She then was a clerk to Judge David R. Hansen of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. After a working as a visiting instructor at the University of Illinois College of Law, she became an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Northern District of Iowa in 1994, serving as Supervising Attorney in the Cedar Rapids office from 1999 to 2013.

President Barack Obama signed her commission as Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on April 25, 2013.

In 1995, at the age of 38, Justice Holly Kirby became the first woman in Tennessee history to serve on the Tennessee Court of Appeals. In 2014, after she had served on the intermediate appellate court for almost 19 years, Justice Kirby was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Justice Kirby received her undergraduate degree from the University of Memphis with high honors in mechanical engineering, and then graduated from the University of Memphis School of Law with high honors. After law school, she clerked for Judge Harry Wellford on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Justice Kirby then joined the Memphis law firm of Burch, Porter & Johnson, where she specialized in employment law and especially sexual harassment, and in 1990 she became the firm’s first female partner. Since her appointment to the bench, Justice Kirby has won 6 statewide retention elections.

Justice Kirby is the first graduate of the University of Memphis to serve on the Tennessee Supreme Court. She has been recognized as Outstanding Young Alumna by the University of Memphis, Outstanding Alumna by the University of Memphis College of Engineering, and Special Distinguished Alumna by the University of Memphis School of Law. Justice Kirby has received the Marion Griffin-Frances Loring Award from the Memphis Association for Women Attorneys, the Distinguished Leadership Award from Women in Numbers, and was named Community Mother of the Year by the Tennessee Justice Center. She and her family live in Memphis.

is a law clerk to Arkansas Court of Appeals Judge Raymond Abramson. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Davidson College, a Master of Public Service from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Arkansas William H. Bowen School of Law. Molly has taught as an adjunct professor at the Bowen School of Law. She is active in her community, serving on several different non-profit boards and is the current Membership Chair of the Rotary Club of Little Rock. Molly received the Davidson College Alumni Service Award in recognition of her commitment and service to her alma mater. She is a graduate of the Arkansas Bar Association’s Inaugural Public Service Academy and the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Greater Little Rock Class XXXII, currently serving as the Vice Chair of the LGLR alumni board. Molly is an active member of the Arkansas Bar Association Board of Trustees and is the 2023 co-chair of the 125th Annual Meeting.

is the founder and president of the Center for Constitutional Litigation, PC, a Washington, DC appellate law firm with a nationwide practice. Peck has argued precedent-setting civil rights and civil liberties cases in courts through the Nation, including in the U.S. Supreme Court and 23 state supreme courts. He has taught advanced constitutional law seminars at the law schools of George Washington University and American University. He serves as a member of the advisory committee of the Civil Justice Research Institute at UC Berkeley Law School. He is also a past chair of the Board of Advisors of the RAND Corporation’s Institute for Civil Justice, past president of the U.S. Supreme Court Fellows Alumni Association, past president of the Freedom to Read Foundation, and a former board member for the National Center for State Courts.

He is a co-author of a forthcoming book, The Temple of Karnak and Other Stories from the Supreme Court (TouchPoint Press 2023). Among his other books are The Bill of Rights and the Politics of Interpretation (West 1991); To Govern a Changing Society (Smithsonian 1990); and We the People: The Constitution in American Life (Abrams 1987), companion volume to the award-winning PBS documentary series he helped produce. He is a contributing editor to the Appellate Advocacy Blog of the Law Professor Blog Network. He is also a co-author of Democratic Renewal and the Civil Jury to be published by the Georgia Law Review in 2023.

is a Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He joined the court in May 2018, filling the vacancy created upon the retirement of Judge Richard Posner. From 2009 until confirmed in 2018, Judge Scudder was a partner in the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he practiced complex civil litigation and white collar defense.

From 2007 to 2009, Judge Scudder served in the White House as General Counsel of the National Security Council. He also previously served at the United States Department of Justice on a national security team in the office of the Deputy Attorney General and for four years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York. He is a former law clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Paul V. Niemeyer of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. For the last ten years, Judge Scudder has taught National Security Law at the University of Chicago. Judge Scudder also teaches a course in Advance Federal Jurisdiction at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit by President George W. Bush on September 4, 2001, to a seat vacated by Richard S. Arnold. He was confirmed by the Senate on July 15, 2002, and received his commission on July 19, 2002.

Chief Judge Smith is a lifelong Arkansan. He was born and raised in Hope, Arkansas, and graduated from Hope High School in 1977. Chief Judge Smith earned his bachelor and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1981 and 1987, respectively. He is the son of Cayce B. (deceased) and Olee M. Smith (deceased). He is married to Trendle Smith, and they have two children.

Before joining the federal bench, Chief Judge Smith worked in both private practice and public service. From 1987 to 1991, he served as a staff attorney for Ozark Legal Services. In 1991, he opened a law office in Springdale, Arkansas. He practiced primarily civil law, including domestic relations, probate, workers’ compensation, commercial transactions, and real estate. While in private practice, Chief Judge Smith also did civil liberties work through the Rutherford Institute. Additionally, he taught business law as an adjunct professor and later as a full-time assistant professor at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, from 1994 to 1996.

Chief Judge Smith entered public service in the mid-1990s. In 1996, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee selected Chief Judge Smith to serve as his Regulatory Liaison. Then, in 1997, Governor Huckabee appointed Chief Judge Smith as Chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission. From January 1999 until the beginning of 2001, Chief Judge Smith served as an Associate Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court, completing the term of retired Justice David Newbern. In 2001, Governor Huckabee again appointed Chief Judge Smith to the Arkansas Public Service Commission as a commissioner. He served as commissioner until his confirmation to the federal bench. He was appointed Chief Judge in March of 2017 and now serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. On October 1, 2022, by appointment of Chief Justice John Roberts, Chief Judge Smith became Chair of the Executive Committee. He is the first Chair selected from the Eighth Circuit.

is one of the co-founders of Taylor & Taylor Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas. Andy's practice focuses almost exclusively on appeals and personal injury litigation. Andy has handled numerous appeals before Arkansas's appellate courts and has a keen interest in helping attorneys avoid procedural pitfalls in those courts. Andy is married to Taylor & Taylor Law Firm's other co-founder, Tasha Taylor. Andy and Tasha have three children: a 10-year-old daughter and 6-year-old twin boys.

received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1992 and received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1995. In May 2019, she received her Master’s Degree in Judicial Studies from the University of Nevada at Reno – Trial Judges Major.

After serving as a deputy prosecuting attorney and practicing law in a general practice for a number of years, Judge Thyer was appointed circuit judge by Governor Mike Huckabee in 2005 and again by Governor Mike Beebe in 2007, serving 17 years.

Judge Thyer is an active member of the Arkansas Bar Foundation (serving as President 2020-21) and the American Law Institute (current adviser for Children and the Law Restatement and previously served in Members Consultative Group for Model Penal Code – Sentencing). She also currently serves as Chair of Arkansas Judicial Council’s Trial Court Employee Committee and has previously served on the Specialty Courts, Juvenile, and Bar Liaison committees.

In addition, her service in the Arkansas Bar Association over the years includes: member of the Board of Governors (Chair 2006-2007), tenured member of the House of Delegates, Parliamentarian, Legislation Committee, and Chair of the Young Lawyers’ Section. She has also served by Supreme Court appointment to the Arkansas Judiciary’s Strategic Planning Committee and Civil Jury Instruction Committee.

Judge Thyer ran unopposed for election to Position 2 of the Arkansas Court of Appeals and will began her term in January 2023.

Justice Annabelle Imber Tuck’s contributions to the bench and bar began in 1977 when she graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law (now UALR William H. Bowen School of Law). She practiced law in Little Rock, eventually becoming a partner in the Wright, Lindsey & Jennings law firm. In 1988, Justice Tuck was elected chancery judge for the Sixth Judicial District, where she served until 1996. It was during this time that Justice Tuck presided over the Lake View case and declared that the public-school financing system then in effect violated the equal protection and education provisions of the Arkansas Constitution. In 1997, Justice Tuck became the first woman elected to the Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Tuck has served on several legal committees and boards, including the Continuing Legal Education Board of the Supreme Court, the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, and the Supreme Court Committee on Civil Practice. She is also an active community advocate, having served on the Board of Directors of many non-profit organizations. In 1998, she was recognized by Arkansas Business magazine as one of the Top 100 Women in Arkansas.

Justice Tuck retired from the Arkansas Supreme Court at the end of 2009. She serves currently as a Public Service Fellow/Jurist-in-Residence at the William H. Bowen School of law and continues to work for equal access to justice through the work of the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission. Justice Tuck is a member of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement’s Advisory Board and serves as an officer on the boards of Congregation B’nai Israel, The Interfaith Center, and The Mussar Institute, Inc. Justice Tuck was inducted into the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame in August 2018.

teaches Legal Research & Writing and Bias in Legal Analysis. She also serves as the Director of the Pepperdine-FJC Judicial Clerkship Institute and assists with the Moot Court Board. Her scholarship focuses on appellate practice and bias in appellate writing. She is licensed in California and Illinois, and is a former California Certified Appellate Specialist. Prof. Williams continues to work on pro bono matters in Los Angeles.

Before joining Pepperdine, Williams practiced appeals at Horvitz & Levy and Sedwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold. Williams also clerked for Justice Ferdinand Fernandez of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as for the District of Connecticut and the Illinois Appellate Court.

Williams has written briefs for the California Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, the Illinois Appellate Court, the Seventh and Ninth Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court. She has tried cases in Illinois and Ohio. Williams loves teaching law students and mentoring new lawyers, and she has been honored to speak on topics in Appellate Advocacy and Legal Writing at several national conferences.

began her first term serving as a judge on the Arkansas Court of Appeals on January 1, 2023. For the prior sixteen years, Judge Wood served as a law clerk for Court of Appeals Judge Larry Vaught. She began her legal career in private practice at the Barber Law Firm working as a trial lawyer from 1996–2006. Judge Wood graduated from the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law in 1996 and received her B.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1991, where she was an All-American basketball player.