Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens will offer the keynote address at the close of a two-day conference on poverty in Arkansas taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, May 29 and 30, and co-hosted by the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law.

Stevens will deliver the closing keynote at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 30, at the Statehouse Convention Center. All other conference events will be held at the Bowen School’s Friday Courtroom.

“Representing Hope: New Paradigms for Access to Justice Conference” – also co-hosted by the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission and the Clinton School of Public Service – will bring together members of the legal, medical, education, business, government, and nonprofit sectors to develop strategies for how the legal system can address issues that perpetuate poverty.

The conference will include speakers and work groups that will focus on such topics as education, health, housing, and hunger. There is no cost to participate, but registration is required.

With more Arkansans than ever before living in poverty, courts are seeing steady increases in the numbers of individuals who are unable to afford attorneys to help them navigate legal issues involving basic human needs. The conference seeks to take a multidisciplinary approach to address the intersection of these issues and reduce poverty in Arkansas.

More information about the conference, including registration, agenda, and conference workgroups, is available at the conference’s website.

The Arkansas Access to Justice Commission and its sister nonprofit organization, the Arkansas Access to Justice Foundation, work to provide equal access to justice in civil cases to all Arkansans. The commission’s major projects include educating the public about poverty in Arkansas, recruiting pro bono attorneys, supporting courts and self-represented individuals, and soliciting contributions for legal aid.

The UALR William H. Bowen School of Law provides a high quality legal education that equips students with the knowledge, skills, and ethical concepts, not only to function as competent attorneys, public officials, and other professionals, but also to think critically about the efficacy of the law and legal institutions and to work for their improvement. Bowen is a community of scholars committed to professionalism, public service, and access to justice in the heart of Little Rock.

The Clinton School of Public Service is the first graduate program in the nation offering a Master of Public Service (MPS) degree. The program is designed to help students gain knowledge and experience to further their careers in the areas of nonprofit, governmental, volunteer, or private sector service work. Applicants are drawn from a variety of disciplines that are relevant to public service. The Clinton School also partners with other UA institutions to offer the MPS degree concurrently with degrees in law, public health, and business administration.