Legal Education Advancement Project

LEAP is not a stand-alone program you can apply for independently. It is only offered to applicants who are denied admission to the Bowen JD program prior to the LEAP application deadline (typically in mid-April).

Eligible students will automatically receive an email invitation from the Bowen Admissions Committee to apply for LEAP. If you do not apply to Bowen’s JD program or if your admissions decision is still pending after the LEAP deadline, you are not eligible for the program.

Here is how the process works:

1. Apply for admission to the JD program at the UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law.
2. If you are denied admission prior to the LEAP deadline, you will receive an invitation to apply to LEAP.
3. Submit a LEAP application to the Admissions Office.
4. The LEAP Committee reviews applications.
5. Interviews are conducted if the Committee deems it necessary.
6. The Committee selects applicants and notifies them of their acceptance to the program.
7. Decisions of the Committee are final and non-appealable.

LEAP is a competitive program. The Committee typically admits only 10–15 students each year. Individuals who have previously participated in LEAP or who have attended any law school in the past are not eligible.

The LEAP faculty review participants’ performance in the program and assess whether the applicant exhibits the team-building, leadership, drive, and academic skills necessary to complete law school and pass the bar examination. Upon completion of the program, the LEAP committee then recommends individuals to the law school’s admissions committee for admission to the entering J.D. part-time program. The Admissions Committee reviews the recommendations and makes a final determination of admission.

1. Attending weekly group meetings led by LEAP faculty;
2. Attending bi-weekly individual meetings with the LEAP advisor throughout the summer and throughout the first year of law school and monthly the 2nd and 3rd year;
3. Building a team requires trust. Trust requires team members to be open and honest in both group and individual meetings about what is happening in their personal lives that may interfere with them doing their best, for example a family illness or death, financial problems or other significant family and individual issues. Also, participants are expected to share any concerns about classes;
4. Timely responding to all correspondence, including emails, and any requests made by LEAP faculty; and, if you have a concern about the request, raising that concern directly with the LEAP faculty rather than ignoring the request;
5. Being punctual to class, individual and group meetings;
6. Attending all classes and activities as scheduled;
7. Attending any supplemental programs recommended by the LEAP faculty;
8. If there is a reason for not being able to attend a class, group or individual meeting, or supplemental program, advising the LEAP director or, in the fall, the chair of the Diversity and Excellence Committee of this prior to the scheduled class or activity and discussing options for attending unless a family or medical emergency. If it is an emergency, notifying the appropriate person as soon as possible of the need to be absent and discussing it after the emergency is addressed; and
9. LEAP summer participants who are admitted to the law school will not be able to work during their first semester of law school

LEAP is not just a performance-based admission program. LEAP students function as a collaborative team throughout their entire law school career; studying together and supporting each other, while mentoring the LEAPers that come after them along the way.