Visiting Assistant Professor of Law
BA, Ouachita Baptist University, 2009; MA, University of Arkansas, 2012; JD, Harvard Law School, 2017
Laura E. Bates joined the faculty at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law in 2022. She teaches Research, Writing, & Analysis and Law & Literature.
Before teaching at the law school, Professor Bates clerked for Judge Bobby Shepherd on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and practiced law at Paul, Weiss in Washington, D.C. and at Wright, Lindsey, & Jennings in Little Rock, Arkansas. She is an experienced litigator, who has served as trial and appellate counsel in bench and jury trials. As an appellate advocate, Professor Bates has successfully argued before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and prepared petitions for certiorari and merits briefs for the United States Supreme Court, including the winning petitioner’s brief in Seila Law v. CFPB.
Professor Bates graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she served on the Executive Board of the Harvard International Law Journal and on the Board of Directors of the Harvard Women’s Law Association. Prior to law school, Professor Bates earned an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Arkansas. She taught literature courses, including a Jane Austen course, at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and at Biola University in California. She also taught English in Pristina, Kosovo; Riobamba, Ecuador; and Stuttgart, Germany. Professor Bates graduated summa cum laude from Ouachita Baptist University and later received the Ouachita Alumni Milestone Award in 2019.
Professor Bates currently sits on the Board of Directors of the American Red Cross Serving Greater Arkansas. She received the Distinguished Board Member Award from the American Red Cross in 2023.
