Visiting Assistant Professor of Law

Carolyn Ryburn, visiting assistant professor of law at the UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law.

(501) 916-5512 | Room 409
Email: [email protected]
Faculty Assistant: Sam Smith | Room 524 | (501) 916-5440 | [email protected]

Curriculum Vitae

Carolyn Ryburn joined the William H. Bowen School of Law in 2020 as a visiting assistant professor of law in Legal Research and Writing. In addition to a visiting professorship, she has also worked at UA Little Rock as a writing specialist and a professor mentor for the bar examinations PASS program. Prior to teaching, she worked in private practice for the Barber Law Firm in Little Rock. She specialized insurance coverage defense and worker’s compensation litigation where she practiced before Arkansas trial and appellate courts. Ryburn then worked as employment counsel for Simmons Bank, a multi-billion dollar bank with locations in eight states. While in-house, she managed and practiced employment litigation before the Arkansas EEOC, various states’ unemployment agencies, and in courts throughout the company’s multi-state footprint.

Ryburn graduated from Hendrix College with a B.A. in English. While at Hendrix, she studied English at St. Peters College in Oxford, United Kingdom. She then obtained a master’s of public administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where she graduated with honors. Ryburn graduated from the William H. Bowen School of Law with honors, and during law school, she clerked for Jack, Nelson, Jones Law firm, Barber Law Firm, Mitchell Williams Law Firm, and USAble Life Insurance Company.

Education

  • J.D., with honors, William H. Bowen School of Law, 2014
  • M.A., Public Administration, with honors, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2011
  • B.A., English, Hendrix College, 2009

Courses

  • Research, Writing, and Analysis I & II

Areas of Expertise

  • Legal writing
  • Legal research
  • Appellate advocacy
  • Employment law
  • Insurance coverage
  • Workers’ compensation

Featured Scholarship

Teaching Case Law Vocabulary with BINGO, 38 The Second Draft 1 (2025).

Developing Professional Identity in First-Year Law Students Through Oral Arguments in the Courthouse, 38 The Second Draft 2 (2025).

The Transparency of County Websites: A Content Analysis, 37 Public Administration Quarterly 1 (2013).

Honors & Awards

  • We HEART Faculty Award Nominee, UA Little Rock, 2020
  • Graduate Student of the Year, UA Little Rock, 2010-11
  • Jewel Minnis Legal Scholarship, William H. Bowen School of Law, 2011
  • Cy and Bette Carney Scholarship, UA Little Rock, 2009
  • Odyssey Distinction Award, Hendrix College

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