News

The UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law has announced Attorney Price C. Gardner will be one of the distinguished alumni recognized during the school's Anniversary Gala on Friday, Oct. 22. Price is among three individuals who will be honored for their contributions to the legal community, commitment to legal education and leadership within the state.

Attorney E. Conner McNair has been named to the 40 Under 40 class of 2021 by the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal. The list is comprised of up-and-coming young professionals from the Northwest Arkansas community who serve in the area’s communities, civic organizations and municipal arenas.

Private party wage and hour litigation has increased substantially over the last decade. Our review of court filings indicates that almost one private wage and hour lawsuit per day is filed in Arkansas. If you have not been sued yet, you are likely to be the target of such a suit in the near future. We also note that the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor continues its increased focus into traditional wage hour matters. The slightly good news is that the Wage and Hour Division now has a portal much like the EEOC, which allows employers to upload documents and not have an investigator on site in all circumstances.

Attorney Tyler D. Bone was presented the W. A. Eldredge, Jr. Outstanding Young Trial Lawyer Award by the Arkansas Bar Foundation during their annual meeting on Friday, August 6.

On July 27, 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued new interim public health recommendations for fully vaccinated people to provide guidance regarding mask-wearing for vaccinated individuals in light of the highly-transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19. The updated guidance does not address unvaccinated individuals because the CDC has continued to recommend mask-wearing in most settings for unvaccinated individuals.

Chambers and Partners© has recognized Friday, Eldredge & Clark and all of the firm’s Trust and Estate Planning partners in its 2021 edition of Chambers High Net Worth Guide. The guide covers private wealth management work in key areas around the world, and its rankings are based on extensive research and in-depth interviews with clients and industry leaders. In addition to the individual attorneys recognized, the firm received the highest ranking awarded by Chambers.  The attorneys named “leaders in their fields” are: W. Thomas Baxter, Katie Watson Bingham* J. Lee Brown Allison J. Cornwell Byron M. Eiseman Jr.** Sarah Cotton Patterson K. Coleman Westbrook Many of the attorneys in the Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group are Certified Public Accountants (inactive) and all have Master of Laws in Taxation. The group works with individuals and businesses to address the important aspects of their financial situation including personal tax planning, business planning, retirement planning, planning for disability, risk management, asset protection, family legacy and philanthropy. *Up and Coming; Senior Statespeople**

Defense attorneys in Arkansas are, not infrequently, called upon to defend religious institutions from tort suits brought against them for a variety of reasons. Such claims may arise out of a motor vehicle accident involving a church bus, a slip and fall accident on church premises, a claim of sexual molestation on the part of a church employee, or another type of claim. In defending claims against religious institutions, it is imperative that the defense of charitable immunity and, where applicable, the Ecclesiastical doctrine, be raised in the first responsive pleading to the Complaint, be that an Answer and/or a Motion to Dismiss.