The University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law and a national judicial organization are collaborating to improve the legal system.

Through a recently signed agreement, Bowen Law School and the National Center for State Courts will jointly fund an employee at the UALR location who will direct the collaboration’s efforts.

The National Center for State Courts is an independent nonprofit court improvement organization dedicated to helping courts plan, make decisions, and implement improvements that save time and money while ensuring judicial administration that supports fair and impartial decision-making.

Mary McQueen, president of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), said Bowen Law School seems like a perfect partner.

“The NCSC has long admired and collaborated with the law school’s Journal of Appellate Practice and Process,” McQueen said, “and the law school’s co-sponsorship of the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning creates an opportunity for the law school to assist the NCSC in continuing to create and deliver world-class training programs for judges, judicial administrators, and to judicial leaders in other countries.”

The National Center for State Courts addresses challenges as disparate as:

• Improving how courts treat jurors through the promotion of innovations in jury system management
• Promoting the use of technology to improve court operations
• Developing standards for evaluating how well courts serve the public
• Working with court associations, such as the Conference of Chief Justices and National Association for Court Management, to improve public trust and confidence in the courts
• Working with courts in other countries to improve the rule of law

Bowen School of Law faculty and students will benefit from participating in the national organization’s research and outreach initiatives and will assist in designing and delivering the center’s training programs.

“This contract with the National Center for State Courts is a big deal,” said Bowen Dean Michael Hunter Schwartz. “We are proud of our service to the county and state bar associations and the 20,000 hours of community service our students do each year, and we believe Bowen is a hub of the legal community in central Arkansas.

The UALR law school’s new relationship with the national organization builds on Bowen’s long-term service to and interest in serving the courts through its highly-regarded Journal of Appellate Practice and Process and the work of Bowen faculty on issues of judicial decision-making and criminal sentencing.

“This collaboration will bring new opportunities, allow the law school to better serve the Arkansas legal community while creating new research learning experiences for the students and faculty at Bowen,” Schwartz said.

The relationship will also allow the law school to expand the service work of the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning. The institute is a

collaboration of law schools from UALR and Gonzaga and Washburn universities designed to help students achieve the highest academic standards and prepare future graduates to assume responsibilities as effective, moral attorneys.