Summary: The University of Arkansas School of Law will have two directing their competitions program and student Board of Advocates members.
The University of Arkansas School of Law appointed two faculty members as co-directors of the school’s competitions program. Dean Stacy Leeds announced that associate professor Danielle Weatherby and visiting professor Amanda Hurst will work together in their new positions. The women will also serve as faculty advisers to the law school’s Board of Advocates, a student-run organization that organizes all of the school’s intramural advocacy competitions.
Hurst and Weatherby both teach Legal Research and Writing for first-year students, including instruction in oral advocacy. They have helped coach a number of the school’s teams to regional and national competitions in Chicago, Las Vegas, New York City, Seattle and Washington D.C., according to the press release.
Before joining the University of Arkansas, Weatherby clerked for Chief Judge Gary L. Sharpe of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. She also practiced with Whiteman, Osterman and Hanna LLP in Albany, New York where she focused on labor, employment and education law. She now serves on the Legal Writing Institute’s “Faces of LWI” committee.
Hurst clerked for Judge Bobby E. Sheperd of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. She has served as a special justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court and is a member of the State Board of Election Commissioners. She now teaches various courses on federal courts and research and writing.
In their new position, Hurst and Weatherby will coach the students who compete in regional and national teams as well as guide Board of Advocates members in their responsibilities. They are taking over for Kathryn Sampson, who has served as the director of competitions and capstone courses since 2013. She has retired after spending 25 years as a faculty member with the law school.
The Board of Advocates organizes and conducts multiple internal competitions during the year, hosts regional competitions for the American Bar Association, administer tryouts to find team members for national competitions, and choose national ad-hoc competitions for the school to compete in.
These intra-school events give students an opportunity to improve their public speaking and writing skills with mock trials, moot court, negotiation, mediation, and client advocacy competitions. These events help students develop their abilities so they can compete in external contests, where they are able to earn academic credit for regional and national competitions.
The two main competitions at the law school are the William H. Sutton Barrister’s Union Trial Competition held in the fall and the Ben J. Altheimer Moot Court Competition held during the spring. They also have a third competition held in the spring, either a Client Advocacy or Negotiations competition.
Do you think have two directors can cause problems or does it help to be able to share the responsibilities? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
To learn more about the University of Arkansas School of Law, read these articles:
- University of Arkansas Law Finds New Dean
- Two University of Arkansas Law School Student Groups Compete at Nationals
- ABA Regional Competition Hosted at University of Arkansas School of Law
Photo: uark.edu