William H. Bowen School of Law
| William H. Bowen School of Law | |
|---|---|
| Parent school | University of Arkansas at Little Rock |
| Established | 1975 |
| School type | Public |
| Dean | Michael Hunter Schwartz |
| Location |
Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. 34°44′09″N 92°15′47″W / 34.73583°N 92.26306°WCoordinates: 34°44′09″N 92°15′47″W / 34.73583°N 92.26306°W |
| Enrollment | 338 (full-time), 152 (part-time) |
| Faculty | 108 |
| USNWR ranking | 136 |
| Website | www |
The William H. Bowen School of Law is a public law school and part of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR). UALR Bowen School of Law is both American Bar Association (ABA) accredited and a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). The school distinctly maintains highly competitive admissions standards.
The school awards the Juris Doctor (JD) degree in its full-time and part-time programs. The school follows a traditional doctrinal curriculum while also blending hands-on practice into the student experience. The first year begins with the Bowen Expert Skills Training (BEST) Program and the Professional Mentor Program where students are matched with a practicing lawyer or judge in the area of law in which they would like to practice. Before graduating, students are required to take skills courses such as Evidence and Lawyering Skills I & II, required to participate in an externship or clinic, and are encouraged to participate in the Bowen Concurrent Bar Preparation Program.
For the sixth time in seven years, the Bowen School of Law was ranked in the top 25 law school writing programs in the U.S. News and World Report and for the last six years as a Best Value Law School by the National Jurist. Bowen's legal writing program was ranked as a tie with the University of Michigan.
The first law school established in Arkansas was in Little Rock. However, politics caused the school faculty to reform themselves as a private law school in the 1910s. Subsequently, the state law school in Fayetteville was established. The private law school disbanded in the 1960s. The latest incarnation of the law school started as a part-time program that was an extension of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville School of Law, and by 1975 was given autonomy and became a unit of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
The school resided in various locations, primarily the old Federal Courthouse in downtown Little Rock. The building was adjacent to the Pulaski County Courthouse, which afforded students the chance to see law in action. However, the facility was plagued with poor parking and was insufficient to handle the growing student population.
The law school's current campus is located adjacent to MacArthur Park, near the Arkansas Center for Fine Arts. The historic building was originally built for the medical school of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and was extensively renovated in 1992 for the law school.
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