Brand New TRIAL HANDBOOK FOR ARKANSAS LAWYERS By John Wesley Han Jr., Member of the Arkansas Bar When you have questions of evidence and procedure at trial.. need well-organized access to the principles of both civil and criminallaw... or want an effective aid in trial preparation, turn to the leading authority available to Arkansas practitioners. TRIAL HANDBOOK FOR ARKANSAS LAWYERS takes you from the calling of a case to the entry of a judgment Reliable treatment of OVER 1.000 TOPICS includes: • Principles of Law. Conduct of the Trial Jury Selection, Examination of Witnesses. Redirect and Re-Cross Examination, Judicial Notice, Verdic~ Mistrial Damages. and more. ,.. • Principles of Evidence: Presumptions and Inferences. Burden of Proof. Admissibility, Hearsay, Confessions, Real and Demonstrative Evidence, Expert and Opinion Evidence. Parol and Extrinsic Evidence, and more. • Supporting Case and Statutory Authority • Local Court Rules. including the Arkansas Uniform Rules of
• Advice on preparing Motion, Trial and Appellate Briefs • New Rules of Professional Conduct • Fast-Access Index .16 Reference Tables of Statutes, Rules, and Other Authorities • Annual Supplementation At the beginning of each chapter. you'll find references to the publisher's Total Client-Service Library (TCSI.: ) system, including ALR and Am Jur 2d All of the cases have been checked for parallel references and later history through the use of AUTO-CITE"'. a feature of VERALEX·, the ... publisher's computerassisted research system. John Wesley Hall Jr. is an experienced trial lawyer and author of Search and Seizure (1982). 1 vot. 1.274 pg£: °1986: ljC -85·82390. Updated bv annuaL pocket supplements and new or revised editions as required. Upkeep issued wilhin 6 monrhs of order shipment will be sent or no exlra charge. Price: $7750. VERA LEX and A UTO· CITE are trademarks of VERACORP. INC.. a subsidiary of The Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company and Bancroft- Whitney Company.
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July 1986 Vol. 20, No. 3
ARKANSAS
LCI
OFFICERS Don M. Schnipper, President Richard F. Hatfield. President-Elect Annabelle D. Clinton, Sec.-Treasurer Philip E. Dixon. Council Chair Wm. A. Martin. Executive Director Judith Gray. Assistant Executive Director
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL jack A. McNulty Bobby E. Shepherd
130 131 133
A Look at Richard F. Hatfield
Beyond the Traditional: Alternative Careers in Law, by Ruth M. Williams
Robert S. Hargraves
john D. Eldridge III joe Reed David Solomon Stephen M. Reasoner David K. Harp EX-OFFICIO Don M. Schnipper Richard F. Hatfield William R. Wilson. Jr. Annabelle D. Clinton Richard L. Ramsay Philip E. Dixon
Law. Literature & Laughter
139
Gary Nutter
William Russ Meeks III Robert R. Wright III Tom Overbey
The President's Report
146 Representing Farmers in Financial Distress, by Janet Flaccus. J. W. Looney, Donald B. Pedersen and Mary Davies Scott The Workers' Compensation Law, 1986 Revisions, by james E. Youngdahl and jay Thomas Youngdahl Review of the Workers' Compensation Law Desk Book, by Thomas H. McGowan
Generations in the Law: The Sharps of Brinkley. by Phillip Carroll
150 159 163 164 166 167 168 170
EDITOR Ruth M. Williams
Disciplinary Actions Executive Director's Report Young Lawyers' Update
judicial Department Report In-House News
The Arkansas Lawyer (USPS 546-040) is published quarterly by the Arkansas Bar Association. 400 West Markham,
Little Rock. Arkansas 72201. Second class postage paid at Little Rock. Arkansas. Subscription price to nonmembers of the Arkansas Bar Association $15.00 per year and to members $10.00 per year included in annual dues. Any opinion expressed herein is that of the author, and not necessarily that of the Arkansas Bar Association, or The Arkansas Lawyer. Contributions to The Arkansas Lawyer are welcome and should be sent in two copies to the Arkansas Bar Center. 400 West Markham. Little Rock, Arkansas 72201. All inquiries regarding advertising should be sent to The Arkansas Lawyer at the above address.
ON THE COVER: Richard F. Hatfield of Searcy assumed the position of Arkansas Bar Association president at the close of the Association's 88th An+ nual Meeting on June 7. Hatfield heads an association with 3200 members, a budget of $415,000 and the prospect of the upcoming session of the Arkansas Legislature. Hatfield, in an interview on page 131. says c: "dealing appropriately with tort reform legisg lative proposals" will be the focus of his ~ presidency. "We've got a voice in the Legisla~ ture through a paid lobbyist and we're out _ there every session. We've been out there for ~ the subcommittee hearings that relate to tort oS reform legislation and we'll continue to be o out there," he said.
~ july 1986/Arkansas Lawyer/l29
THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT
A Year
of Enjoyment By Don M. Schnipper This will be my last opportunity to express my thoughts to you (rom a forum provided me during the past year. While the passage of time may only allow the opportunity to gage the effectiveness of one's work, I can say no two people have ever enjoyed their job any more than Don and Mary Ann Schnipper. During our travels and meetings
with the bar leadership of many o( our sister states, I have learned
much of our own organization. Foremost (rom these discussions, I very early on learned that the Arkansas Bar Association was highly thought of. even though numerically we are one o( the three or four smaller, voluntary associations. Our accomplishments over the past years compare favorably with those of much larger and better financed organizations. In fact. in some areas such as the Arkansas Bar Foundation and the adoption o( the Model Rules o( Pro(essional Conduct. we are well ahead of many larger bars. It is sometimes hard to understand how we accomplish what we do. In truth, it is only because of a devoted and energetic staff - not the officers. Without doubt, Bill Martin, Judith Gray, Ruth Williams, Barbara Tarkington, Virginia Hardgrave and Joyce Bobbitt, do a marvelous job on and for the limited financial resources available to them. Il you have not done so lately, I urge you to personally thank them. At the same time, I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you who so freely volunteered your
time to chair and serve our committees and undertake chores which quite often were neither fun nor rewarding - just necessary. It would be unfair to list each of you at this time and I know I would omit some o( the most important. I will try to do this personally as time goes by, but for now, I only
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130/Arkansas Lawyerlju1y 1986
hope you will accept my most sincere thank you. Our association can only work if you continue this course. Beginning on June 8, 1985, it was my plan and hope the association would be able to complete its part in the IOLTA and mandatory CLE projects, and turn our major attention toward the organization of the District Trial Practice Committees. of the Judicial Compensation Committee and other projects which are very much needed, but have simply had to take a back seat to the more urgent matters. I will not find that all these matters have reached their goals by June 7, 1986. I do, however, feel the Per Curiam Order of the Arkansas Supreme Court on May 5. 1986, has resolved the client notice provision problem of the IOLTA plan allowing its Board o( Directors to proceed in marketing the program among our membership. The attention o( our members toward the improvement of our profession was given a rousing start
at the recent Long Range Planning Conference in Hot Springs. It is my hope the subject of "professionalism" will continue to receive the appropriate attention at every institute and seminar sponsored by the association. By the time these comments are distributed, Dick Hatfield will have assumed his leadership role. I urge you to be as quick to offer assistance and as efficient with your
service to Dick as you have been to me. The 1987 Legislative Session, with the attendant screams of tort reform and, indeed, the plain attack on Qurentire system of justice,
mandates your help. I know Dick and the stall will do the jobs assigned to them. The membership simply cannot wait to be asked, but must volunteer. I know you will. The 1985-86 Bar year was exciting, thought provoking, informative, fun. frustrating and rewarding. Mary Ann and I thank you for the privilege and honor o( serving as president. 0
Q What will be the focus of your A Essentially, dealing appropriately with tort reform legislative year as president?
proposals. Proposals have been discussed both in the United States Congress and the Arkansas House and Senate for legislation to change the tort system as we know it. The bar association needs to deal with these proposals and make suggestions for improving the administration of justice.
Q Do you think we have a tort reA Premiums for liability and fire
their obligations to the community in terms of service -
serving on
boards, of course, without pay, United Way and various organizations in the community - just because they feel they are uniquely qualified to contribute in certain
areas and they do. We are basically tooting our own horn and this goes against the grain of a lot of lawyers. Frankly, though, the public does not know and no one else is going to tell them.
Q
Do you hope to improve our
relationship with local bar associations?
form crisis?
A An objective I have this year is to expand the partnership that the
and casualty insurance are get-
bar association has with the local bar associations and the regional
ting higher. Insurance companies have said tho t the reasons for the
bar associations to make them a
high premiums are big verdicts, pain and suffering and high lawyer fees and any number of items, Whether it's a crisis is hard to say
greater part of the state bar association. We're going to survey the membership's needs - get their comments - and find out what the local bars feel we're doing well and what we can do better. We'll
but the insurance premiums for
practically everybody have increased dramatically in the last year or two.
Q What should the bar association do to deal with that? A Well first of all. the bar association's position will be taken by the House of Delegates, our governing body. We are a democratic
organization and this body will decide what position the bar association will take on these tort reform proposals which seek to limit contingent fees, limit liability and change joint and several liability laws. Through this organization we can take a position and go out and lobby with effectiveness, whereas individual memherscan't
do this on their own, We've got a voice in the Legislature through a paid lobbyist and we're out there every session. We've been out
there for the subcommittee hearings that relate to tort reform legislation and we'll continue to be
out there.
Q A It's got to be by publicity from the local lawyers. Lawyers in
How can the image of lawyers be improved?
every area should let the public know what they're doing to satisfy l32/Arkansas Lawyerlluly 1986
use that information to provide
support back to the local bar associations. The local bar is the key to future support and expanding support in the areas like IOLTA and mandatory continuing legal education. They are the key to informing the local lawyers on the status of activity in these areas.
Q
How will Randy Ishmael. appointed by you to chair the Executive Council. assist you this year?
A It's a partnership. We're working together. Randy and I've been friends for years. I practiced law in West Memphis and he was in Jonesboro and we got to know each other then. We worked through the Section of Taxation, I was on lhe Foundation board while he was chair and I have great respect for him because he's a person who uses good judgment. He's enthusiastic, is very business-oriented and he's already contributed a
great deal to the process and will help in terms of working with legislation. He's the chair of the Legislative Oversight Committee by definition in the Constitution and Bylaws of the Association and has the leadershi p abilities and the confidence and judgment to do an outstanding job.
Q
Having chaired the Supreme Court Committee on Legal Specialization. what are your
thoughts on specialization?
A Legal specialization is here.
It's the way people practice. The question is how do you advertise a specialty. There are the Rules of Professional Conduct saying you can't advertise an expertise, a
specialty. The Supreme Court Committee on Specialization has set standards in certain specialty areas. The bar association has ini路
tiated this and done so to protect the public and to be informative. People need to know how to find a lawyer in the area in which they have a problem, and lawyers need to know how to find a lawyer if they don't do certain work. That's becoming more and more a fact of life. It essentially recognizes the real way the law is practiced. It's coming from the people and after all. this was for the people. It's not for the lawyers.
Q
What accounts for the public's confusion about the law?
A
Probably just a lack of involvement in the system. I don't know much about how to fly an airplane because I've never flown one. WelL if I'd been exposed to being in an airplane -
being a
pilot or in the service - then I'd know how to fly it. I think it's just not really having been involved in the system - the lack of real involvement in the system of the law. The Public Information Committee, Youth Education Committee, Young Lawyers' Section and grants of the Arkansas Bar Foundation have provided speakers for Law Day, a speakers' bureau for various groups including education classes and film strips, education tapes through the Arkansas Educational Television Network and bar association produced
tapes in various areas. These all contribute to clearing this confusion up. I believe the lawyers in the local area will be more effective in communicating to people
about the system of law than can written documents. I think you need to go out and make the law real for the people. 0
Law, Literature & Laughter
In early April a Little Rock attor-
tral Committee. a Church rector,
ney was one of seven people visit-
and a policeman whose name he
ing Moscow to negotiate a protocol for a delegation of Soviet professional people to visit Arkansas. He had learned some biographical data about his American companions but had not mastered
did not catch. The day was Thursday. April 17. Catlett and Thomas had just finished an extended lunch with their host. They were in Red Square, had just done some shopping. and were walking toward the Kremlin. A limousine was approaching the Kremlin gate. Catlett heard a whistle blowing as he snapped several photos of the limo cruising through the opening gate of the Soviet government headquarters. Turning in the direction of the whistle he encountered one of Moscow's finest. The policeman pointed to Graham's camera. demanding the film. The Little Rock attorney said. "Nyet." The policeman insisted the discussion continue. beckoning toward a less conspicuous site. Again the American protested. handing the Russian his phrasebook and explaining he knew only three words - da. nye\. and pahssesah (yes. no, and thank youl. The patrolman examined the book and pointed to the phrase "Please hurry." Graham grabbed the book and pointed to the phrase "May I buy you a cocktail?" The lawman chuckled and said he would have to write a report. Graham said that was okay by him and, producing his papers. he cooperated fully in having his name inscribed into the annals of Soviet law enforcement. In what may have been an unusual conclusion to a routine occurrence for the Russian policeman. the subject smiled and shook his hand as they parted. There are millions of stories in the Soviet capital city. This has been one of them. 0
their names.
He knew some of the Americans spoke the Soviet language. As he told someone later. "The New York lawyer and I spoke 11 languages between us, and I speak only English." He had bought some tapes on conversational Russian,
however, and thus was not a total stranger to the sounds of the language. As the group deplaned in Moscow. the Arkansas attorney found himself behind a woman he understood to be a labor relations expert. He watched and listened closely as she extended her hand to the Soviet host and warmly uttered what seemed to be a Russian greeting. "Shavonne." Thinking how nice this greeting word sounded. he followed suit. extending his hand and warmly saying, "Shavonne." The greeter's face took on a look of international puzzlement that needed no translation. The labor lady leaned back to the attorney and said. "My name is Shavonne." Missing only half a beat. the attorney grinned broadly at his host and said, "My name is Graham." The Little Rock attorney, who has consented to the retelling of this true story. is S. Graham Catlett. a partner in the Little Rock firm of Catlett & Stubblefield and campaign treasurer for Arkansas
Senator David Pryor. The other members of the American delegation were Frank Thomas, an administrative aide to
Senator Pryor; Shavonne Perpena of the Institute of Labor Relations
By Vic Fleming
at the University of Michigan; Dr. Allen Lynch of the Institute for East-West Security Studies in New York; Kansas City public relations man Arnie Sherman; George D. Moffett 111. diplomatic correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor; and New York attorney Mark Vecchio. Governor Mario Cuomo's nephew and an international law expert. The American group was in Moscow for five days. While there, Catlett had opportunities to meet or otherwise visit with a KGB agent. a member of the Soviet Cen-
Š1985 by Vic Fleming July 1986/Arkansos Lawyerll33
Computers weren't made for lawyers. The legal business is different. Every law firm is different. We have too many variables. No two cases are the same, We have different rates for different clients. We have different rates for different kinds of work, Computers cost too much. Way too much, All our records would be lost if the computer breaks. We're lawyers, not computer operators. We don't have time to learn computers, We don't have time to change our system. Our clerical staff would walk out if we brought in a computer. Nobody understands computer reports. Nobody in our office is interested. Computers can't do paralegal work. Computers can't read. Computers can't do research. Computers just won't work for me. Forget it. No way, Absolutely, no way,
Meet LOGG. And forget everything you think you know about computers. LOGG is for Arkansas lawyers, (maybe like you), who are loaded with skepticism about the usefulness and value of computers in their practice. LOGG will quickly turn you into a believer. By saving you time, money, paperwork, and frustration. And by making you more productive. LOGG is extremely flexible, extremely sophisticated, easy to use, all encompassing. and low in cost. Plus, LOGG is your "key" to the famous WESTLAW路 computerized legal research library that lets you accomplish a day's worth of research in a matter of minutes. LOGG is actually a family of computer services. designed solely for Arkansas lawyers and law firms. LOGG comes at a price that a one-lawyer firm can easily justify. Yet LOGG is more than powerful enough to accommodate a firm of up to 15 lawyers. With litigation support, time posting, billing, income statements. balance sheets ... all kinds of reports on virtually anything and everything that's happening or has happened in your firm. All up-to-the-minute and instantaneous. All at the touch of your fingers. A few days with LOGG and you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. Sound interesting? Well, it's easy to find out more. Just call (501) 224-8814 and ask for The LOGGBOOK. With fairy tale simplicity, it'll take you step by step into the wonderful world of LOGG. And show you how to live happily ever after.
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Send to: Editor The Arkansas Lawyer 400 W. Markham Little Rock, AR 72201 RESPONSES WILL BE PUBLISHED IN OCTOBER, 1986 ISSUE. 138/Arkansas Lawyer/July 1986
eyond raditional Non-Legal Careers By Ruth M. Williams lternative careers . .. as one A lawyer put it, "Some people make the jump and other people just
daydream about it and do that the rest of their lives'" Nonlegal Careers for Lawyers in the Private Sector, by Frances Utley and Gary A. Munneke, reports that the
J
I'
average lawyer will hold five to eight jobs in the 40 years between law school graduation and retirement. and a high percentage will make at least one major career change in their lives.
Recently, seven persons discussed their career changes.
I 111:i i.
Juty t9B6/Arkansas Lawyerll39
Beyond the Traditional
•
1. Scott Stafford Law Professor
I I Isuspect everybody, about the time they get to be 35 or 40, starts to think do I really want to do this for the rest of my lile and they start to think about alternative careers," said L. Scott Stafford, acting associate dean and associate professor 01 law at the University 01 Arkansas at Little Rock School 01 Law. Stafford, age 40, left private practice in 1982 to take a teaching post at the law school. "I didn't like private practice because it's impossible to schedule your workload when you work lor a number 01 clients at the same time," he said. (Stafford had entered
uneasy and I need to work a little harder next time. But, it's very satisfying," Stafford said. Stafford notes that in the part-time division at the law school. many students are there because they want to change careers. "I also get the impression that a lot of those people may stay in their present jobs and continue what they're doing and a law degree may help them do that," Stafford sdid. "Law is a good bockground - a good, generalized bockground," he said. "When I was in private practice I just wasn't - I don't want to say I was unhappy, but I didn't really feel like I wanted to do this the rest of my life," Stafford said.
II
private practice in 1979 in
Little Rock with former Congressman Jim Guy Tucker after a period of service on the Arkansas Public Service Commission.) ''I'd thought about this a lot. It's one of those things you think you'd like to do. Teaching is not an alternative in the sense that you're completely out of the legal field and occasionally applying your legal talents. It's a more intense application of your legal talents in certain respects."
Stafford said. Teaching is one of eleven
L. Scott Stafford
major job categories listed by Utley and Munneke as alternatives to private practice. Included in the listing are jobs involving administration and management.
money management, planning and organization. insurance. the
administration of justice, real estate, legislative work. communications and entrepreneurship.
"I like teaching. It's funny, you never know belore a class whether it's going to be a good class or a bad class. When you come out 01 it you know that was a good session or you come out of it and say something wasn't right - I just felt off balance,
140/Arkansas Lawyer/July 1986
Editor's Note: Ruth M. Williams is communications director of the Arkansas Bar Association and edi tor of The Arkansas Lawyer.
Dr. Vic Snyder First Year Law Student
D
r. Vic Snyder, a first year law student at the UALR Law School, admits he enjoys doing things a lot of people would just as soon not do. A 1979 graduate of the Oregon Health Sciences Center, Snyder, age 38, finalized his decision to attend law school after spending three months last year as a physician in refugee camps in the Sudan, just off the Ethiopian border. He decided the problems he encountered required a public policy solution rather than a medical one. "We all know there's enough food in the world and we all know that probably enough food has gotten over there and yet, a lot of people have questions about whether it went where it was supposed to. I think those are legitimate questions. It's really not a starvation problem or a medical problem - it's an allocation 01 resources problem," he said. Snyder recalls being asked by a faculty member at a recent law school party, "Well, now tell me exactly what first year property and torts has to say about public policy questions?" "I think that's a bit sarcastic, but there's some truth to it. Obviously a lot that I'm learning doesn't relate to the stated reasons I'm in law school, but you pick up a lot. I have a lew more tools as far as being able to learn about specific areas and if I didn't go back to class this afternoon and never looked a law class in the face again, I certainly feel it has been
a worthwhile experience," he said. Snyder said public policy decisions affect medicine and, more importantly, education. "You know that socio-economic status is a factor in disease and all. So, in a way, public health demands a good, sound educational system, even though we don't really phrase medical questions that way. Arkansas has an incredibly high teenage pregnancy rate. To me, that's a question of public health and that relates directly to the kinds of upbringing and opportunities that we give," he said. Snyder currently works as a part-time physician at the Wrightsville and Tucker Units of the Arkansas Correctional System. He's not sure what the future holds in store.
'Tm not contending the medical professional has played out. I think there's probably unlimited kinds of possibilities but I don't have those very well defined for me," Snyder said. "When you get into lamenting about all the ills of the world ... "
Dr. Vic Snyder with African macrame
•
Robert M. Ford Dallas Cowboys' Scout
R
obert M. Ford, of Wynne, decided in 1966 at the age of 33 to turn in his whistle and enter law school - the coaching of college football was just too traumatic. He'd coached a dozen seasons in the Southeastern Conference - three of those with Paul "Bear" Bryant of Alabama - and was assistant head coach at Mississippi State when the
head coach and athletic director were both fired at the end of the season. "When the head coach is fired you're just kind of out," he said. Ford called Arkansas Razorbacks' head coach Frank Broyles to ask for a coaching job while in law school at the University of Arkansas School of Law. He was hired from 1967-69 to help coach the freshman team and scout the Razorbacks' Saturday opponents. He sees the correlation between law and football being that- they both operate on an adversary system. "They're both preparation for a contest." he said. Big Shoot Out Number One in 1969, between the Razorbacks and the Texas Longhorns, was Ford's last responsibility as an active coach. According to Broyles in Hog Wild. "I don't want to fall in the trap of comparing individuals and teams but our defensive unit of 1969 was ... a serious candidate for the best we ever had. Charlie Coffey and Bob Ford scouted Texas ... and they did a magnificent job of plotting a defense for the wishbone that looked unstoppable... For eight months prior to entering law school Ford worked for the Dallas Cowboys, having accepted the position from his good friend Gil Brandt, director of player personnel and Cowboys' vice president. "All through the years since law school and even before, I've helped sign free agents for the Cowboys and occasionally I will help with a draft choice, even now," Ford said. He particularly remembers Toni Fritsch. "I went to Europe for that one," Ford said. The Cowboys were looking for a soccer style kicker. Fritsch was on the National Soccer Team from Austria, practicing on a Mediterranean Island off the coast of Spain. He asked Toni to kick the football over the 10 foot high soccer net and provided him with a tee. "He wanted to kick from the mid-field stripe ... his first kick! And then he asked me which foot I wanted him to kick with. I said to myself. 'If he can kick with either foot that's fantastic.' He kicked with his right foot first and the ball travelled, got up high and went over the goal and I was excited. He turned around and kicked it left-footed. I knew after he kicked 15 to 20 times he was strong enough to learn the technique," Ford said. Ford entered law school much older than the average student and with a
Beyond the Traditional
July 1986/Arkansas Lawyer/141
Beyond the Traditional
wife and three children. He established a trial practice in Wynne after admission to the bar in 1970 and served one four-year term, beginning in 1971, as mayor. "Many times, the only person a guy has to lean on is his lawyer. His family abandons him many times and the public does, obviously. Friends become very skeptical and if he'll have a lawyer there to stand up in battle with him, that's sometimes his only chance," Ford said.
because "I needed more knowledge in the realm of law to do a good job in the company." When Frank Whitbeck started the American Foundation Life Insurance Company in 1955, he asked Woolfolk to be one of the co-founders and run the inside of the operation.
Jean Woolfolk "It doesn't take long to figure out Landry, head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. that there are people who are not so thrilled that you're a female and on a board or anything else in business," Woolfolk said. "But I operate on the premise that until they told me out and out that it couldn't be, welL it Trailblazer was gonna be and that was the way ean Woolfolk and Beverly Roachell it was," are two Little Rock pioneers who Woolfolk's father sold life insurance have set standards for excellence for the Equitable Life Insurance In the insurance and real estate Company. Her parents raised their worlds, and in Woolfolk's case the four children in the Christian Church, world beyond. which "fit my make-up totally," since Woolfolk has served as belief in Christ as the Saviour is their secretary-treasurer, vice president only test of faith, she said. But, she and senior vice president of the felt there had to be a "practical. American Foundation Life Insurance down-to-earth" application of Company and as moderator of the Christianity. Christian Church Disciples of Christ "In law school I discovered all of the United States and Canada - a kinds of things that helped me first for women in both instances. understand a whole lot more about "I had enough confidence that I the teaching of Jesus and it all just always believed that if they didn't went zoom, That understanding want me around that was their helped me in the office and misfortune," Woolfolk said. everywhere and I very definitely had She was admitted to the bar in 1947, what I guess people would call an even though she received her law unorthodox style of administration," degree in '48 from the Arkansas Law she said. School. "In 1947, Judge Carmichael From 1973-75, Woolfolk served as said, 'Why don't you go out and show the first woman elected moderator of them how little you know?" I did and I the church - the highest non-staff lucked out and passed the bar. So, I position one can hold in the Christian was licensed my last year in school," Church. She's currently president she said. emeritus of the Church Finance Woolfolk was an assistant secretary Council and is in her final year as a at Union Life Insurance Company at member of the board of directors of the time and attended law school the Ministers Life Insurance Company
II Jean Woolfolk
J
1421Arkansas Lawyer/July 1986
of Minneapolis, Minn. "It's a whole lot easier to follow a blazed trail than it is to be a trailblazer. And a tremendous responsibility lies on the shoulders of trailblazers. They can close the door for a long time for people who follow if they're not careful. I hope I have not done that." she said.
II
Beverly Hoachell RPM Officer, Director
B
everly Roachell at 34 has worked her way up to become an officer and director of Rector, Phillips, Morse, Inc., a rea] estate and property management firm. She's the first female vice president at RPM and to a certain degree carries the title of house counsel. Roachell is primarily involved in property management with 1600 apartment units and 400 condominiums under her administration, but ''I'm very much a lawyer. ] use the legal background too much not to call myself that," Roachell said. Roachell was admitted to the bar in 1978 after attending the UALR Law School. Her involvement in property management began after acceptance to law school. "I was just looking for a job and answered an ad was the crazy thing! It was for an on-site manager of a small property and I said, 'Oh, this is fantastic!: " Roachell said.
Beverly Roachell She managed a 72-unit apartment complex for four months using her apartment as an office. "So, when]
didn't have any calls or any people, and I was caught up with my work, I could study:' she said. That lasted four months. She was promoted to another complex and after that. another. and so on. "By the time I got out of law school. I'd been at complexes as a kind of trouble-shooter. Then the company promoted me as a supervisor over resident managers. I've been with RPM the whole lime," she said. While in law school, Roachell took any courses relating to real estate. "Of course, you can't specialize in a particular area, but I took as much as I could," she said. After receiving her degree, Roachell was promoted again - this time to the home office. In 1983, she was named manager of the year by the Arkansas chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management, an affiliate of the National Association of Realtors, and this year was elected their president. In 1985, she was named a director and stockholder of RPM. "I probably used to be more concerned about property
Beyond the Traditional
management in our particular
department (RPM Management Company, Inc.). Being a director, I have to be concerned with the company as a whole," she said. Roachell doesn't actively practice for RPM, but "just being there reduces legal costs for the company, because I can recognize, 'Yes, this is a lawsuit matter: or, 'No, we've lost. Settle!' Many times I just know where to go with it. Our residential salesmen haven't had this exposure," she said. More and more companies are looking for this type of trouble-shooter, she added. Roachell was tempted a few years ago to enter private practice, but says "I love the job I'm in." "I think the thing that tickles me the most when I'm dealing with people is they always say, 'Well, I'm gonna call my lawyer.' And I can totally, without any fear whatsoever say, 'Go right ahead. Do whatever you feel you need to do.' And occasionally they'll look up at the wall and see the law degree and you can just see them shrink. I guess, because I'm in management more than I'm in law, they don't realize they're dealing with an attorney:' she said. Being a woman hasn't made her success harder or easier. nor does her
law degree take all the credit. "It's the knowledge that degree gave me
Iuly 19861Arkansas Lawyerll43
Beyond the
that went so well with my job and helped me be the producer I am and got me where I am," Roachell said.
•
Traditional
William J. Wynne Entrepreneur
H
e grew up on the east side of Little Rock, where people worked with their hands, carried a lunch sack and went to work at age 10. When he was 23 years old, he met his father for the first time. But William J. Wynne - lawyer, minister, entrepreneur, author and father - was not defeated. He met the challenge. 'Tve got an insatiable curiosity and poverty gives you an incentive:' he
1978, "probably the last independent air separation plant in the nation: "We supplied welding companies with their oxygen and acetylene requirements, had all the contracts to supply military aviators with breathing oxygen within a six or
seven state radius and supplied a great number of hospitals in Arkansas, north Louisiana and east Texas with pxygen for their inhalation therapy:' Wynne said.
said.
Wynne became a teletype operator at 17, then a male secretary, assistant labor superintendent. and then gravitated toward being an aircraft parts inspector before entering the Navy. After the Navy, he attended Little Rock Junior College and then law school at the University of Arkansas. 'Td wanted to go into a profession since before I was 10 years old. I knew I didn't want to go into engineering because I don't find a degree of fascination or challenge in an exacting science:' Wynne said. "I found the study of law the most versatile, professional background you could have." Six months after he graduated, Wynne was hired as H. L. Hunt's executive secretary and moved to Dallas, but it didn't fit his objectives. "So, I came on back home, back to Arkansas," he said. He headed for an interview in Crossett, stopping in EI Dorado on the way. Murphy Oil Corporation hired him, and 35 years later he still calls EI Dorado home. He is currently state counsel for nearly 25 corporations involved in oil and gas, petrochemicals, large timber operations and several
William]. Wynne He extended his interests to leasing and packaging before a collapsed lung slowed him down, but he found one more mountain to climb in polyethylene extrusions. He established Polyethylene Products, Inc.. to provide the petroleum industry with extruded pipe of various sizes and wall thicknesses. In addition to these activities, Wynne is an ordained minister and currently serves as full-time pastor of the St. Andrew Cumberland Presbyterian Church in EI Dorado. "The successful completion of a legal course of school. I think, inevitably achieves not simply the license to practice but the capability to think and this is critical to whatever you're doing:' Wynne said. ''I'm really nothing more than a country lawyer with an insatiable curiosity. That's about it."
intercontinental pipelines. His
practice, however, is just one facet of his life. In 1966, he formed Southern Nitrogen - a nitrogen liquification facility downstream of a basic air separation plant. (The plant ingests atmosphere through a process of heat extraction and compression to reduce 1441Arkansas Lawyer/July 1986
air back to its principle liquid elements.) He sold the company in
•
C. Randolph Warner
I
Co-founder, Fairfield Communities
I I
was planning on practicing law, which I did for about 23 years. In fact, I still do a little bit, but not much," said C. Randolph Warner, of Fort Smith, co-founder and chief executive officer of Fairfield
Communities, Inc. There's no way around it. As one observer puts it, "Warner's a tremendous succes~."
He and a couple of clients developed Fairfield Bay in 1966, a resort community in north-central Arkansas, with $150,000 in borrowed money. That in turn became Fairfield Communities, with 28 active developments from California to Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Last year it boasted earnings of $16 million after taxes. and revenues in excess of $300 million. "I don't know how I got into this thing or why I'm good at it, if I'm good at it. I've always liked real estate and I used to dabble in it when I was practicing law. There are a lot of opportunities like that when you are practicing law," Warner said. Warner is a 33-year partner in the Warner and Smith firm. Like his father, grandfather and uncle, Warner "really" wanted to practice law when he graduated from the Harvard Law School at Cambridge, Massachusetts. "It's a very respectable occupation and you can make a very decent living practicing law if you just work at it, use your head and do the right things," he said. But, law doesn't give you much control over your time. "The busier you get, the harder it is to keep track of it. You sort of get driven by this obligation you've created in accepting somebody's case or somebody's business affair," Warner said. "Some lawyers are a lot better at managing that than others. If I ever go back to practicing again, I'm gonna do it a lot differently," he added. On the other hand, "The practice of law is a very intellectual pursuit and I enjoyed that a great deal because you're always into different things," he said. "I think that's extremely interesting and challenging and it really develops the person a lot." Entering the business world was "sort of a funny thing" for Warner to do and not what he expected. "When I practiced law, it didn't really malter what happened in the economy. Our business got better every year. Some years it got a lot better, some years it got a little belter, but it always got better," Warner said. Several years after he started Fairfield Communities, a "depression" hit. "That business didn't always go up was a real shock and surprise to me," he said. They survived the crisis of 1974-75.
Now headquartered in Little Rock, Fairfield Communities offers resort communities and boasts at having been the 23rd largest homebuilder in the United States last year. Warner's job involves financial and legal dealings and public company acquisitions, among others. "I don't really know one end of the hammer from the other," he said. "I think the financial opportunities in Arkansas are substantially better in business than they are in the legal practice and obviously that depends on 18 million different factors," he said. "Business is just a question of what your talents run toward."
Beyond the Traditional
C. Randolph Warner
III Poor's Directory of Corporations and Moody's Transportation Manual . ..
F
or information on companies offering non-legal positions, consult Poor's Directory of Corporations and Moody's Transportation Manual, for a start. Poor's provides an alphabetical listing of 18,000 corporations throughout the u.s. and provides the address and phone number for each, a listing of directors and executives, annual revenue, products produced, etc.... Moody's provides similar information.
Utley and Munneke also suggest consulting the Guide to American Directories, Encyclopedia of Associations. Business Periodicals Index, The Foundation Directory and Washington Lobbyists and Lawyers,
July 1986/Arkansas Lawyer/145
The Bogle-Sharp law office, 1916 - Bank of Brinkley
-
•
---...
(From left) George Otis Bogle, Fred Vining, William Wilson Sharp and Frank Federer.
Generations in the Law: A Series 1461Arkansas Lawyer/July 1986
The Sharps of Brinkley:
A Sharper Image eorge Otis Bogle descended from the train that had brought him from Kenton, Tennessee. Sleepily, he looked up at the sign swinging from the edge of the station roof, "Brinkley, Arkansas." It was a Sunday in 1908 and Bogle, fresh out of Cumberland University Law School, was forced to check into the nearby hotel for the night. Tomorrow, he would board a Cotton Belt train headed south to EI Dorado where oil flowed and where he would soon bring his bride, Callie Sharp Bogle, who was waiting back in Obion, Tennessee. EI Dorado was a place where a smart lawyer could build a fortune, and George intended to have his share. Checking in the hotel, he left word for an early wake-up call, commenting to the desk clerk that he was on his way to EI Dorado to open up his law office. The clerk nodded and said, "Why go all the way to EI Dorado? H. C. Strong, the president of the Bank of Brinkley and this town's leading lawyer is headed out west for his health, and his law office equipment and library are for sale." Bogle soon learned that Strong's law office was located on the upper floor of the Bank of Brinkley Building which had only been constructed three years earlier.
G
•
By Phillip Carroll
July 19BB/Arkansas Lawyer/t47
The hotel was a friendly place and there was time to look around since the Cotton Belt didn't arrive until almost noon on Monday. Bogle arose early the next morning, and soon he found himself seated across the desk from Lawyer Strong. Strong was obviously prosperous, and he painted a rosy picture for an ambitious lawyer in eastern Arkansas. Bogle was soon convinced that a fortune could be made in cotton, land and banking. A bargain was struck, and Bogle threw away his train ticket to EI Dorado. Callie arrived a few days later, noting the blooming cotton and wondering where the oil wells were that her husband had talked about so excitedly. Thus was the beginning of a law office that 78 years later remains in the same
building. The bank has moved away, and the law firm is now downstairs.
hen Callie's mother died, her younger brother, William Wilson Sharp, was sent to high school at Castle Heights in Lebanon, Tennessee, but he often had occasion to visit in Brinkley. He came under the influence of his brother-in-law who had developed a lively law practice and was rapidly becoming a leading political figure in the state. After graduating from Dickson College in Tennessee, Wilson Sharp obtained his law degree from Cumberland and promptly became a member of the firm of Manning, Emerson & Sharp in Clarendon. In 1916, however, the levee broke and Clarendon was flooded. Wilson sought refuge with his sister and her husband in Brinkley. The crafty Bogle put his brother-inlaw to work, and soon the firm of Bogle and Sharp was born. For 15 years William Wilson Sharp was Democratic central
W
Editor's Note: Phillip Carroll is a member of the Rose Law firm in Little Rock. He is president of the Commission on Uniform State Laws. a former president and secretary of the Arkansas Bar Association and a former president of the Pulaski County Bar Association. He is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, American College of Trial Lawyers and American Bar foundation.
148/Arkansas Lawyer/July 1986
Baxter. ennie V. Sharp married john B. Moore, jr. While john Moore was a student at the University of Arkansas and a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity, he brought his hunting dogs to school with him, housing them in a doghouse on the Iront lawn of the fraternity. He there acquired the name of "Coon Dog" Moore. He was the inspiration for the campus cheer, "Who Broke the Lock on the jail House Door, 'Coon Dog' Moore, 'Coon Dog' Moore!" Following graduation, 'Coon Dog' Moore served as chair of the Democratic Central Committee of Monroe County for over 20 years, was on the Board of Trustees for AM&N College at Pine Bluff, was elder in the Presbyterian Church at Clarendon, was president of the Clarendon School Board, was chair of the Clarendon Levee District and served on numerous other civic committees. His dogs won national championships in the Fox Hunter Shows at Roanoke, Virginia, in North Carolina and in Kansas City. He has long been an avid hunter and fisherman. His friends have jokingly said that he thought more of his hunting and fishing licenses than he did of his law license. He is now the retired chair of the Board of the Bank of Holly Grove. james Baxter Sharp has followed in his father's footsteps. He served as president of the Arkansas Bar Association in 1974 to 75. He has served as chair of the investment committees for the Arkansas Bar Foundation and the bar association. While enrolled at the University of Arkansas, he was a member of Sigma Chi and Delta Theta Phi Fraternities. During World War II, he served in the Air Corps patrolling the coast of South America in search of German sub-
J
William Wilson Sharp
•
committeeman for Brinkley town-
ship. For 25 years, he was city attorney, a founder of the Southern Farm Bureau Insurance Company, first attorney for the Cache River Production Credit Association, president of the Brinkley Rotary Club, director and president of the Brinkley School District. director and founder of the Chamber of Commerce, first chair of the Mercy Hospital Board of Directors, deacon in the Baptist Church, teacher of Men's Bible Class and president of the Brinkley Country Club. Twice he was the keynote speaker of the Arkansas State Democratic Convention, twice a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. For many years, he was chair of the Monroe County Democratic Central Committee. He was a director of the Bank of Brinkley for more than 30 years and was its president. He was a trustee of the University of Arkansas for 11 years and served as its vice chair. As chair of the Athletic Committee, he was instrumental in bringing john Barnhill to Arkansas to lay the foundation for a sports dynasty. The Wilson Sharp House at the University of Arkansas was named in honor of him. He was president of the Arkansas Bar Association in 1947. That year, the association won the American Bar Association award
for the best small bar association in the United States. Wilson married Carrie Louise Rusher in 1916 and they had two children, jennie V. and james
marines. He re-entered the service
during the Korean conflict as an officer in the judge Advocate General's Corps. In 1948, he married Ann McShane Luckinbill of Fort Smith. They have three children, Madolyn Gretchen Sharp Neumeister now of Baltimore, Maryland; William Wilson Sharp, II who presently serves in the U.S. Air Force in Germany, and james Baxter Sharp, III. a student at the law
school of Washington and Lee University. He has one grandchild. Carrie Elizabeth Neumeister of Baltimore. ames Baxter Sharp served as municipal judge of Brinkley from 1956 to 1974. He has been president. vice president and secretary of the Arkansas Municipal Judges Council. He is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. the Arkansas Bar Foundation and the American College of Probate Counsel. In 1984, he was given the Lawyer-Citizen Award of the Arkansas Bar Foundation. Sharp has served as president of the Brinkley Industrial Development Co.. Inc. for over 25 years. Under his leadership, the Wagoner Electric Corporation (employing approximately 200 people) and Gilford-Hill Corporation (about 50 employees) were brought to Brinkley. He is the chair and lifetime trustee of the Jewell Minnis Trust of which the University of Arkansas Foundation is the primary beneficiary. He has served as president of the Arkansas Endowment and Trust Fund. Inc .. and chair of the Projects Commi ttee of the University of Arkansas Foundation, Inc. He is a lifetime trustee of the Folsom Memorial Library and has been its chair. He has been a director of the Bank of Brinkley for over 25 years and chair of the Board of Directors of the Merchants & Planters Bank in Clarendon for 20 years. He has served as trustee for the First Baptist Church in Brinkley and has been a teacher of the Men's Sunday School Class for over 30 years. He is secretary-treasurer of the Cache River Insurance Company and chair of the board of the Clarendon Holding Company. He has been involved in numerous charitable and civic organizations. He is the past director and chair of the Industrial Committee of the Brinkley Chamber of Commerce and a charter member of the National Development Council of the University of Arkansas.
J
A personal note by the author: The remainder of the space allotted for this piece could easily be consumed with a listing of more of the honors and achievements of Jimmy Sharp. His unique personality is better described in different terms.
James Baxter Sharp
•
immy Sharp has lived the good life and has enjoyed every minute of it. He married one of e world's most beautiful and gra-
l
dous women. I know - she was my childhood sweetheart in kindergarten back in 1931. Ann and Jimmy live in a magnificent home built in a field of cotton just south of Brinkley. There they entertain their friends with warmth, joy and generosity. Jimmy is a strange mixture of conservative-liberalradical. His roots are found in staid banking practices, strict construction of the law and an orderly routine. He insists that every meal must be served on a white tablecloth. His dining is carried out with dignity. On the other hand. he is no stuffed shirt. He can spring on a new idea and carry it out with all the enthusiasm of a school boy. His loyalties are to his family, his faith, his profession and his friends. He has shared with others a considerable portion of his good fortune. Ann and Jimmy are the salt of the earth! George Otis Bogle would be proud to know what he started that day in 1908 when he stopped over in Brinkley to change trains. It was a lucky day for Brinkley and for Arkansas. D
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July 1986/Arkansas Lawyerll49
Jon Plafcan, age 32, of Carlisle, facing "farmer's woe."
Representing Farmers In Financial Distress By Janet Flaccus, ]. W. Looney, Donald B. Pedersen and Mary Davies Scott ISO/Arkansas Lawyer/July 1986
Attorneys with farm clients must deal with a new range of legal issues including not only the unique aspects of farm bankruptcies but the extensive regulatory programs of FmHA as well.
I
n March 1930, a sharecropper in western Arkansas signed a chattel mortgage wIth a local bank in which he used as collateral the following property: -
"1 - bay horse, 12 years old, Weight 1000, 15 hands high, Name "Frank," Worth $50.00; I - bay horse, 10 years old, Weight 950, 15 hands high, Name "Fred:' Worth $50; 1 - red cow, 6 years old, Marked swallow fork in each ear, worth $50; I - red cow, 4 years old, Name "Jersey:' Worth $45; I - John Deere Wagon, 3 inch, Worth $25.00; 1 - set of chain harness with leather breaching. complete with bridles, lines and
collars, Worth $15.00; together with all increase of she livestock. and all of the crop of cotton, corn and other produce which the said party of the first part may raise. or in which he may have an interest for the year 1930. said crop to be not less than 6 acres planted in cotton, 15 acres planted in com."
The interest rate was 10 percent and the total amount of the loan was $54.70!' It was three years later, on May 12, 1933, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Emergency Farm Mortgage Act.' designed to provide assistance to financially distressed farmers. This act. along with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933,' was only part of the early New Deal efforts to provide some relief to the troubled farm sector. The present crisis in agriculture is in some ways similar to the situation of the early 1930's. Farm debt has increased dramatically with nearly $215 billion outstanding at the end of 1984.' Particularly disturbing is the fact that debt-to-asset ratios have continued to rise and at the end of January 1985, approximately 22 percent of farmers had debt-to-asset ratios of greater than 40 percent.' When income levels are low, high debt-to-asset ratios make it difficult for farmers to service debt. The farm income situation, coupled with declining farmland value.' has made lenders reluctant to extend additional credit to farmers with high debtto-asset ratios and uncertain income. As commercial lenders and cooperatives, such as the federal land banks and production credit associations, become more restrictive in their loan policies more farmers must turn to the government for assistance. That assistance is
available, at present. only through the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) which has indicated an intent to proceed with actions against borrowers who are seriously delinquent in loan payments. Attorneys with farm clients must deal with a new range of legal issues including not only the unique aspects of farm bankruptcies but the extensive regulatory programs of FmHA as well. The FmHA is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture charged by Congress to keep existing family farms operating. Given its mission, to provide management assistance and lending to family farmers unable to obtain credit elsewhere, the FmHA has been characterized by the courts as a social wellare agency.' The primary sources of law governing FmHA-borrower relations include: 7 C.F.R. pts. 1804-2045 (l986)(updated by 1986 issues of the daily Federal Register), 7 U.S.C. §§ 1921-1993 and a rapidly growing number of reported court decisions.' July 19SG/Arkansas Lawyer/l5l
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Borrowers In Monetary Default Monetary default on an FmHA loan eventually results in adverse agency action against the borrower including pressure to liquidate voluntarily, cut off of releases of income security so that there is insufficient money to pay essential household and farm oppersonal property, loan acceleration and foreclosure. In recent years, FmHA, ignoring a statutory deferral provision and behaving much like a commercial lender, began to move against large numbers of delinquent
nity to apply for deferral and other relief must precede the cutting 0(( of planned releases of collateral under the Farm and Home Plan (FmHA Form 431-2). The Coleman injunction halting adverse actions - pending agency reform - was extended to a national class of FmHA borrowers in 44 states (including Arkansas) on November 14, 1983. As an outgrowth of these and other cases, FmHA on November 1. 1985, issued new regulations describing the rights of delinquent borrowers." Now, before FmHA can take adverse action against a
borrowers. Foreclosures were oc-
borrower, several steps must be
curring without horrowers having
taken beginning with the mailing of FmHA Form 1924-25 (Notice of Inten t to Take Ad verse Action). FmHA Form 1924-26 (Borrower Acknowledgement of Notice of Intent to Take Adverse Action) and FmHA Form 1924-14 (Farmer Program Borrower Servicing Options Including Deferrals and Borrower's Responsibilities). Borrowers who receive these forms have 30 days in which to respond, using Form 1924-26. On this form the borrower may agree to liquidate, ask for an immediate administrative appeal
erating expenses, repossession of
been given notice of and an opportunity to apply for deferral and other loan servicing relief. In certain instances FmHA summarily was refusing to release proceeds from the sale of crops and livestock, thus "starving out" borrowers and pressuring them into "voluntary" liquidation. Litigation erupted and the federal courts began to articulate the rights of FmHA borrowers. Beginning with the initial decision in Curry v, Block, supra, footnote 7, FmHA was characterized as a social welfare agency. Accordingly, the Curry court liberally construed the agency's statutory mission and established that before taking adverse action against a farmer hor-
rower, FmHA must give notice of the right to apply for deferral relief and have an active consistently administered deferral program.' In Coleman v. Block, supra, footnote 7, a constitutional dimension was introduced. Due process considerations were found to require
the agency to perform as directed in Curry, and in addition, the court held that notice and an opportu-
Editor's Note: J. W. Looney is dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law; Donald B. Pedersen is director of the Graduate Program in Agricultural Law at the U of A School of Law: Janet FJaccus is assistant professor at the U of A School of Law; and Mary Davies Scott is with the Ramsay, Cox, Lile, Bridgforth, Gilbert. Harrelson and Starling law firm of Pine Bluff and Little Rock.
or request consideration for
deferral and other servicing relief. Most borrowers will want to ask to be considered for all of the servicing options. If deferral relief is granted, payments of interest and principal on deferred loans will not be collected during a period of from one to five years. Deferred obligations
lower L.R. interest rates. Other servicing options include consolidation of existing operating loans with resulting easier payment terms; re-scheduling of operating loans at the lower of the original or current interest rates; re-amortization of real estate
loans at the lower of the original or current interest rates; subordina-
tion of FmHA liens to liens of certain other creditors; and approval of sale of a portion of assets and restructuring the remaining debt. 12
fn addition, new opportunities for relief have emerged in the 1985 farm bill." Section 1318 allows an FmHA borrower to grant the Secretary of Agriculture a conservation easement over certain wetland.
upland or highly erodible land. The purchase price of such easement will be paid to the farmer by cancelling the appropriate amount of the FmHA loan. Under §1253 a borrower may agree to put at least 50 acres of existing cropland or pasture into a softwood timber crop and get an appropriate portion of existing loan reamortized and deferred until the ·timber is harvested or 45 years have passed, whichever comes first. For those borrowers who have loans from a third party that are guaranteed by FmHA, §1320 provides an interest buy-down program. Denial of loan servicing can be appealed within the agency, and the appeal decision is subject to administrative review. Adverse
are not forgiven, however, and
actions by the agency must be delayed until the borrower ex-
both principal and interest eventually must be repaid. A number of
remedies.
hausts or waives administrative
requirements must be met in order
to qualify for deferral, the toughest being proof that with the benefit of deferral the farming operation will "cash flow" - that it will generate enough cash receipts to pay essential family living and farm operating expenses, loans for operating expenses made during the deferral period, installments due to other creditors and payments on FmHA loans not deferred. Some low-income and beginning farmer borrowers may be able to shift to the Limited Resource Program. II If so, their in-
sured operating and farm ownership loans will be rewritten at the
Release of Normal Income Security As a result of the Coleman injunction, the November I. 1985, FmHA regulations and §1315 of the 1985 farm bill, it was thought that the problems with "starve outs" were resolved. However, FmHA took the position that the Coleman injunction did not prohibit summary agency refusals to release income security to borrowers whose Farm and Home Plan had expired. In its order of March 3, 1986, the Coleman court further enjoined FmHA from refusing to release liens on normal income security to provide for necessary July 19B6/Arkansas Lawyer/153
Jon Plafcan: Taking a Chance "I may still not be up/ront enough with myself to see that I'm lighting an uphill battle:' said Jon Plafcan. who. at age 32. after larming for nearly 13 years. liquidated his lamily's 640-acre larm to save the land. ''['ve had a friend tell me that he hated to see me get out of farming more than anybody else because I loved larming so much:' he said. Plalcan. who grew rice. soybeans. wheat and milo. lound himself at a "crossroads" late last year with his bank wanting more collateral to "get the debt down" on his lamily larm and reports showing a bleak future for
larming due to the high value 01 the dollar. In March. he took a "chance" and sold all his rice and equipment to save the land. But. "I was unable to free myself /rom the bank." "I may come to the point that I'll have to lile bankruptcy." he said. On the other hand. "I have a chance il the opportunity arises to get back into larming." Plalcan inherited a larming debt in 1977 when named executor 01 his lather's estate. His lather purchased the larm near Carlisle in 1950. By leasing the land to a neighboring larmer Plalcan can make the loan payments on the land while he looks lor another job. He and his wife and three daughters live off "a little bit 01 savings" and her salary as a sixth grade teacher at Lonoke Elementary School.
and unplanned family living and farm operating expenses. unless notice of reasons is given and the borrower is given a chance to
apply for deferral and other servicing relief. In another development. FmHA has started to use FmHA Form 1962-1 (Agreement for the Use of Proceeds/Release of Chattel Security). Disputes between a county supervisor and a borrower over
amounts and pace of release of income flow are appealable. During the appeal. FmHA must make releases for basic family living and farm operating expenses. 14 154/Arkansas Lawyer/ju1y 1986
Conversion Claims
FmHA may claim that a particular farmer has made unapproved sales of hypothecated crops or livestock. or applied proceeds from such sales contrary to the security agreement. the Farm and Home Plan or Form 1962-1. Many such cases have been turned over
for prosecution under 18 U.S.C. ยง658 (a federal criminal statute). It should be noted that FmHA has post-sale approval power that can be used if promptly requested and the sales proceeds properly accounted for. On the other hand. if a criminal or civil suit ensues, the
farmer borrower might be able successfully to defend if the collateral was disposed of in the normal course of farming operations and
the proceeds applied to necessary family living and necessary farming expenses." See. Higby. FmHA Conversion Actions: Farm and
Home Plan Defense. 3 Agricultural Law Update 4 (April. 1986). But see. U.S. v. Garth. 773 F.2d 1469 (5th Cir. 1985). Borrowers with Damage Claims
Suing the United States or individual FmHA oflicers for money damages is theoretically possible. but the cases are difficult to win.
Breach of contract actions may be pursued under the Tucker Act. 28 U.S.C. §1346, and tort claims that
would be actionable under state law can be pursued, with some strictures, under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. ~2671-2680. The most interesting cases against FmHA officials have been the so-called Bivens constitutional tort actions." When an FmHA official has committed acts in contravention of a borrower's due process rights. an action for money damages may be successful if the official's activities occurred after the courts had clearly delineated borrower rights. 17 Liquidations For some FmHA borrowers, liquidation is inevitable. Here, the lawyer's role is critical because decisions must be made as to whether to liquidate voluntarily in bankruptcy, voluntarily out of bankruptcy or to allow foreclosure to take place. Federal income tax consequences must be taken into account. In connection with liquidation outside of bankruptcy, a borrower should work toward a release of all personal liability to FmHA. Such
releases are now authorized at §1309 of the 1985 farm bill, even
when no payment is made in addition to surrender of collateral. Also, when liquidation occurs the borrower should consider applying for the new Homestead Retention Program. Section 1321 of the 1985 farm bill allows certain FmHA borrowers undergoing liquidation to retain possession of their principal residence and a small adjoining acreage for up to five years. At any time during the lease period, the homestead can be acquired by the former borrower, probably at no down payment and on an installment land contract. This program appears to be available to borrowers who were foreclosed on prior to the enactment of §1321, but who remain in possession of the homestead and meet other requirements. Pertinent regulations appear at 51 Fed. Reg. 9174 (1986). Bankruptcy Code Provisions Affecting Farmers The Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978" (herein the "Bankruptcy Code") made a number of significant changes in the substantive law of bankruptcy. While these
changes generally affect any debtor facing bankruptcy, there are a number of provisions that directly affect the farmer-debtor. General definitional provisions in the Bankruptcy Code relating to farmers include 11 U.S.C. §IOI(l7). which defines a "farmer" as a person who received more than 80 percent of his total gross income from a farming operation during the taxable year immediately preceding the filing of a bankruptcy petition; II U.S.C. §IOI(l8) which defines a "farming operation;" and 11 U.S.C. §10l(30) which defines a "person" to include partnerships and corporations. as well as individuals. The importance of the definitional provisions is due to special treatment afforded farmers related to involuntary bankruptcy. A farmer may voluntarily seek the protection available under the Bankruptcy Code, where, as under prior law, farmers continue to be exempt from involuntary petitions and may not be forced into bankruptcy." The rationale for the retention of this exception is clearly set out in the legislative history which recognizes the special. cy-
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clical and unpredictable nature of the farm business. '" Note, however, that the relevant code sections discussed above do not prohibit the filing of a liquidating plan against a farmer. In fact. the code specifically provides in 11 U.S.C. 搂1I21 that a creditor may file a plan and that a plan may provide for liquidation of all of the property of the bankruptcy estate with the subsequent distribution of proceeds to creditors. 21 An important question, therefore, exists as
to whether a farmer-debtor who has voluntarily filed under Chapter 11 but fails to submit a reorganization plan within 120 days from filing is, thereafter, subject to a creditor's liquidation plan. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed the question and reached the same decision in two similar cases decided on November 2, 1984." In In re Button Hook Cattle Co. and In re Cassidy Land & Cattle Co, Inc, the court indicated that farmers are to be treated the same
as other Chapter II debtors in determining who may file a reorganization plan." Button Hook, on behalf of a family cattle and farming business, filed a Chapter II petition in bankruptcy court on July 19, 1982. Although the petition indicated an intention to file a reorganization plan, Hook failed to do so within 120 days after filing the petition and did not seek an extension. In December, Commercial National Bank and Trust Company, the appellee and Hook's principal creditor, filed a creditor's plan of reorganization which called for the sale of all the debtor's assets. Hook filed an objection to the proposed liquidation plan, arguing that the
Tax Considerations I t may come as a surprise to some that an involuntary transfer of property will generate the same tax liability as a voluntary transfer. Liquidating through bankruptcy may reduce the amount of taxes the farmer must actually pay. Capital gains can generate substantial tax liability if the farmer's basis in the property is low, even though 60 percent of the gain is excluded. Moreover, if the liquidation generates substantial
code exempts farmers from involuntary liquidations under Chapter
liability to the extent of the
II. The court concluded that under 搂1I21 (c)(2), if the farmer fails to propose a plan within the first 120 days, any interested party may file a plan, including a liquidation plan, that may be confirmed over
transfer. The law is retroactive to transfers of real property made after Dec. 31. 1981; so farmers may want to file amended returns. Recapture of depreciation and
the farmer's objection. 24
deductions and governmental payments turn capital gains into ordinary income, thereby eliminating the 60 percent exclusion. If no gain is realized, there can be no recapture. If the basis of the depreciable property is sufficiently low, however, that "gain" is a distinct possibility. Equipment and breeding stock and certain types of depreciable real property used by farmers, such as single purpose agricultur-
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capital gains, alternative mini-
mum taxes may be due. However, due to a law enacted in 1986, capital gains generated by transfers by an insolvent farmer will no longer generate alternative minimum tax farmer's insolvency prior to the
soil and water conservation
al structures, some grain bins,
fences, inground irrigation systems and fruit trees are subject to
full recapture." Certain buildings, like a barn, if put into service before 1981, will be subject to full recapture only if "accelerated" depreciation has been taken." The amount recaptured declines over time and is eventual-
ly eliminated." If such building was put into service after 1980 and the straight line method of depreciation was used, no recapture will occur. 28 Recapture rules can also turn capital gains into ordinary income
to the extent that the farmer previously deducted soil and water conservation costs, if the land is held for fewer than 10 years." In addition a farmer who receives cost
I56/Arkansas Lawyer/July 1986
sharing payments under some government programs,30 such as for soil and water conservation,
and has excluded such from income, will suffer recapture of such payments in full if the property is held fewer than 10 years. The amount recaptured declines, eventually to zero, for each year after 10 years the property is held." Recapture of the investment tax credit is more costly. It does not change capital gains into ordinary income. The amount recaptured is added directly to the farmer's tax liability." Fortunately, this recapture declines relatively rapidly over time. Recapture on three year property, such as light vehicles, is decreased by approximately one third per year." Recapture on five year property, such as equipment and heavier vehicles, declines by 20 percent per year, ~ The filing of the bankruptcy petition is not a taxable transfer. ~ The
are the first debts to be paid after secured parties are paid. ~ Thus, there is a reasonable likelihood these taxes will be completely paid. Moreover, even if they are not paid, they are dischargeable." On the other hand, if the farmer liquidated outside of bankruptcy, any taxes generated would have to be paid by the farmer. Thus,
bankruptcy should be considered if these types of taxes will be generated. There is one type of tax which may not be treated as an administrative expense, however. One
case has held that recapture of investment tax credits are not administrative expenses because
they were not a tax incurred by the
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FOOTNOTES I
From a chattel mortgage. 1930. signed by the author's father with a bank in Mena.
estate." If it is not an administrative expense it will be given a seventh priority for payment." Thus. it too would be paid before nonpriority unsecured debts are paid. If it is not paid of I. however, such taxes are not discharged. Even if recapture of investment tax credit liability is not an administrative expense, however, bankruptcy may still reduce the amount of taxes owed after bankruptcy. Taxes generated when debts are discharged are also given special treatment in bankruptcy." When all or a portion of a loan is discharged there is taxable income to the debtor to the extent of the discharge. In bankruptcy, this income is not recognized. 43 This nonrecognition is not without cost, however. To the extent the farmer has tax attributes, like net operating losses, credit carry-overs, capital loss carry-overs and basis in property retained after bankruptcy, the discharged indebtedness will reduce these." If the farmer does not have any or enough tax attributes to offset the discharged indebtedness, however, the tax liability is still not recognized. Thus, bankruptcy may be a way of avoiding tax liability arising on the discharge of indebtedness as well.O
Arkansas. and preViously related in Looney. The Future of Government Regu· lotion of Agriculture: Finance and Credit 3 N. Ul. L. Rev. 263 (1983) and in Looney. Agricultural Law and Policy: A Time for Advocates 30 S.D. L. Rev. 194 ()985). 1 Federal Emergency Relief Act, Ch. 30. 48 Stal. 55 (1933). 3 Agricultural Adjustment Act. Ch. 25. 48 Stal. 31 (19331. 4 Harl. "The Architecture of Public Policy: The Crisis in Agriculture." Presented at the 1985 Educational Conference and Annual Meeting of the American Agricul·
tural Law Association. Columbus, Ohio, Octaber 3, 1985. ~ Id. & "Farm land value in U.S., stale falls, reports say." Arkansas Gazette. Friday. April II, 1986. 1 See. e.g.• Curry v. Block. 541 F. Supp. 506 (S.D. Ga. 1982). alfirmed. 738 F. 2d 1556 (11th Cit. 1984); Coleman v. Block. 562 F. Supp. 1353, 580 F. Supp. 194 (D. N.D. 19831: Allison v. Block. 556 F. Supp. 400 (W.O. Mo. 1982). affirmed 723 F. 2d 631 (8th Cil. 1983). • FmHA appeal regulations appear at 7 C.F.R.!.t. 1900 (1986). Secondary sources inclu e: Agricultural Law Update (monthly. American Agricultural Law Association); J. Davidson. The Farmers Home Administration. in 2 Agricultural Law § 11.1·11.41 (1981 and 1985 Supp.l: FmHA Farm Loan Handbook (1983 revised ed .. supplemented by Small Farm Advocate. Center lor Rural Affairs). , U.S.C. §198Ia. "50 Fed. Reg. 45740 (1985). " 49 Fed. Reg. 16983 (1984). " 7 U.S.C. §198Hd). 13 Food Security Act of 1985. P.L. 99-198. 14 FmHA Admin. Notice No. 1355 (March 6. 1986). I~ See, Higby. FmHA Conversion Actions: Farm and Home Plan Defense. 3 Agricultural Law Update 4 (April. 1986). But see. U.S. v. Garth, 773 F. 2nd 1469 (5th Cir.
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1985). Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents. 403 U.S. 388119721. 11 See. e.g., Arcoren v. Peters. 627 F. Supp. 1513 (D.S.D. 19861 " Pub. L. No. 95-598, 92 Stat. 2549 (1978) cod· itied as II U.S.C. § § 101·151,326. " U.S.C. §303(a). :Il H.R. No. SS-5SS. 95th Cong., lsi $ess. 322. re-printed in 1978 U.S. Code Congo & Ad News, 5963, 6278. " II U.S.C. §1I23(bX4). zz In re Bulton Hook Cattle Co.. 747 F. 483 (8th Cir. 1984) and In re Cassidy Land 81: Cattle Co.. Inc.. 747 F. 2d 487 (8th Cir. 19841. n See 727 F. 2d at 1382. "See llU.S.C. § 1123(a)(5)(D)(b)(4): Sen. Rep. No. 989. 95th Cong.. 2d Sess. 119. reprinted in 1978 U.S. Code Congo & Ad News 5785m 5905. "LR.C. §1245(a): §1245(aX3XB). (f). "l.R.C. §125O(al. :n When the property has been fully depreciated. total deductions will be the same whether straight line or accelerated depreciation is used. There would thus be no "additional depreciation" at that time. " l.R.C. §1245(aX5XC) would make the bam "section 1245 recovery property" and subject to full recapture unless a straight line election is made. If the straight line election is made, the barn would be subject to recapture of only the "additional depreciation under section 1250(0)" - but there would be none. " LR.C. §1252(a). '" LR.C. §126{a) (bl. " LR.C. §1255(al. n l.R.C. §47(aXIi. n l.R.C. §47(aX51. 34 Id. " LR.C. §1398(IXIi. :l& This tax analysis involves a liquidation, so the bankruptcy would be a Chapter 7 liquidation. It would also apply if the farmer were liquidated under a creditor's plan in Chapter II. It should be noted that if a farmer does not file a plan within 120 days after filing the bankruptcy petilion. the farmer may have his farm liqUidated under a creditor's plan. The Eighth Circuit in Bulton Hook Cattle Co. v. Commercial Nat'l Bank. 747 F. 2d 483 (8th Cir. 1984) held that such was permissible even over the farmer's objection and even though farmers cannot be brought into bankruptcy involuntarily. 31 Lambdin v. Commission. 33 B.R. 11 (Bkrtey. Tenn.. 1983) held that capital gains generated in a Chapter 7 liquidation were administrative expenses under §503 (bXIXB). " II U.S.C.A. §.507(aXIi. :J!l 11 U.S.C.A. §S23 includes all the debts which are not dischargeable and only §507(aX21 and (6) (should read 507(aX7)) taxes are not dischargeable not §507 (0)(1) taxes. ~ In re Higgins, 29 B.R. 196, 201 (Bkrtcy. Iowa. 1983). This case is questionable. however. because it came down prior to the Bankruptcy Tax Act of 1980. Prior 10 this act the IRS took the position that the filing of the bankruptcy petition was the transfer which generated taxes. This is no longer the law. 41 II U.S.C.A. §S07(0)(7). This includes many re-petition taxes. 42 Y .R.C. §108. This same nonrecognition benefit is given to nonbankruptcy discharge of indebtedness if the farmer was insolvent at the time of the discharge and remained insolvent after the discharge. The tax bill currently being discussed in the Senate would broaden §108 treatment to include even solvent farm transfers. "LR.C. §108(aXIXA). .. l.R.C. §I08(bX2). 1&
The Workers' Compensation Law 1986
REVISIONS On May 12. 1986. Governor Bill Clinton signed into law
Act 10 0/ 1986 0/ the Second Extraordinary Session. 75th General Assembly: "An Act to Amend Various Sections
oJ the Workers' Compensation Law." For the first time in the almost hall路century existence of the Arkansas workers' compensation system a major
revision was enacted directly through the legislative. as distinguished Irom the initiative. process.
Effective in the main lor injuries or deaths occurring on or alter July 1. 1986. almost two dozen significant changes were made in areas ranging from benefit amounts. through claim
-
procedures. to rule making obligations of the commission.
By James E. Youngdahl and Jay Thomas Youngdahl
From its inception in 1939 through most of its major amendments. the development of workers' compensation legislation in Arkansas has been through the initiative process. Historically. polarization of opinion in the General Assembly has made change there difficult. and the requirement that a two-thirds vote be secured to amend an initiated act allowed either employer or employee advocates to stalemate the normal amendment process. The last major initiated change. sponsored by organized labor. was in 1968. Since that time. relatively small alterations have been made by some process of agreement. Beginning around the mid-1970路s. that process became more formalized. Shortly belore each session of the General Assembly. representatives of the Chamber of Commerce/Associated Industries and the AFL-CIO began a series of hargaining meetings which. through 1981. resulted in "agreed bills" which subsequently passed the General Assembly without significant opposition. Generally. these changes made moderate increases in weekly benefits but narrowed claim procedures. July 19861Arkansas Lawyer/IS9
The dynamics of these successful negotiations were several. Both sides knew they probably could not get through the General Assembly any proposal with only unilateral support. Both knew that the voters of Arkansas
changed in 1983. For the first time, the employer group entered the discussions not merely with the intention of holding down benefit increases or making "housekeeping" adjustments, but with a determination to change
never had voted down an em-
the workers' compensation sys-
ployee-oriented workers' compen-
tem in fundamental ways. The employee response was predictable: their affirmative proposals sought sweeping benefit improvements. As a result, there was no "agreed bill" in 1983, or in 1985 when the same polarization prevailed. The last employer demands were encompassed in Senate Bill
sation measure, but neither
wanted to undertake the expense of an initiative campaign. Both knew that some increase in ben-
efits was almost mandated by in!lation. and that some mechanics of the system needed adjusting from time to time.
The tenor of the negotiations ISO/Arkansas Lawyerljuly 1985
405 that passed in the Senate with the necessary margin during the regular session. The Arkansas Bar Association, Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association
and Arkansas Injured Workers Editor's Note: James E. Youngdahl, the senior partner in the Youngdahl & Youngdahl law lirm of Little Rock, represents the state AFL-CIO and labor unions throughout the country. Jay Thomas Youngdahl, the managing
partner in the firm, also represents labor organizations and served as chief negotiator for the AFL-CIO in drafting Act 10 of 1986.
Association participated to some degree in the negotiations prior to the session and in the debate over SB 405 during deliberations in the General Assembly. The bill was stopped in a committee of the House of Representatives. At the request of the legislature, Governor Clinton then appointed a commission to study workers' compensation issues.
No progress was made in resolving differences in this forum, and the Arkansas AFL-CIO prepared another initiative proposal which focused on benefit increases; ballot title approval was obtained on December 6, 1985. As its circulation for signatures he-
gan, meetings between the two sides were resumed. After con-
siderable effort and compromise, an "agreed bill" was drafted and presented to the 1986 special session. It passed without dissenting vote, and the initiative effort has been abandoned. Maximum Weekly Benefit Increases
The central compensation benefit is a weekly amount of money; outside of medical costs and a few incidentals, the weekly rate is the critical concept. Such rate is computed for each individual worker - 66% percent of his or her average weekly wage for disability, for example - but with a maximum or cap. Periodic statutory adjustments in benefits usually increase that maximum.
Since March 1. 1982, the weekly maximum has been $154, meaning that injured workers averaging more than $231 per week have not received 66% percent of their earnings when disabled. The 1986 legislation provides for increases in the maximum in
several different ways, becoming effective at several different times. First, benefits will be classified into "the total disability rate" (which includes death benefits), and "the permanent partial disability rate." Increases are applied with different formulas for each. The maximum total disability
rate will be increased from $154, for disability or death due to an injury occurring on or after July 1. 1986, to: Effective
Maximum
Date
Weekly Benefit
7-1-86 7-t-87 t-I-89
$175 $t89
t-I-90
66% percent of state average weekly wage
70 percent of state average weekly wage
The average weekly wage will be that determined by the director of the State Department of Labor pursuant to a similar formula in the Arkansas Employment Security Law. Introduction of the average weekly wage concept, used by most state workers' compensation systems, should make unnecessary the biennial Arkansas
conflicts between employee and employer groups over appropriate amounts of increases to be considered at regular legislative sessions. The maximum permanent par-
tial disability rate also will be increased. but under a more
moderate formula. Although the $154 weekly maximum is restated for such benefits, if the employee's total disability rate exceeds $205.34, then his or her permanent partial disability rate will be 75 percent of that total disability rate. For example, if the state average wage is $345 in 1989 (the rough economic projection), the maximum total disability rate will be $230. A worker who, say, earns $324 when injured on January 2, 1989, will be entitled to a $216 total disability rate and (since the $216 exceeds $205.34) a $162 permanen t partial disability rate. Other Benefit Increases For the first time in the history of the Arkansas system, the numbers of weeks of benefits for "scheduled injuries" - 17 most discernible physical losses were also increased, by 5 percent for each. For example, an arm amputated between the elbow and the shoulder will produce 210, rather than 200, weeks
of permanent partial disability benefits. Disability benefits attributable to certain safety law violations by the employer will be increased by 25 percent, as contrasted to 15 percent in the current law. Similarly, a failure to make timely benefit payment will result in an additional 18 percent (up from 10 percent) award. The discount for lump sum settlements, however, was
increased from 7 percent to 10 percent. and may be blocked altogether by an employer who can prove "substantial adverse effect on the continuing viability of the employer." The minimum weekly benefit, probably not much in use, was also increased, from $15 to $20. The maximum funeral expense
benefit was increased from $1.500 to $3,000. Safety Provisions Two elements of the 1986 legislation were ineluded in response
to safety considerations. First, the commission is directed to allocate $100,000 for fiscal 1987 to a special project designed to identify high risk jobs and the causes of high incidence injuries, and to educate and advise employers and employees about reduction of such injuries. For subsequent years, the commission shall determine the extent of such funding. Second, the safety violation benefit increment mentioned above has been strengthened in two ways: the percentage has been increased, and the amount is paid to the employee (as under original 1968 language) rather than to the Second Injury Fund. Presumably both new provisions will encourage claimants to investigate hazardous conditions which cause injuries or death, and will furnish additional incentives to employers to make their workplaces safe. Interpretive Explanations Several provisions deal with the interpretation or construcJuly 1986/Arkansas Lawyer/16t
tion of existing concepts of the system. The amendments codify longstanding case law to the effect that the employee's age, education, work experience and other matters reasonably expect to affect his future earning capacity may be taken into account (along with physical impairment) in determining the degree of permanent disability. As a proviso, however. if the earning capacity of a particular employee has in fact not been affected by the additional factors. he or she shall not be entitled to benefits over those for the physical impairment, for so long as the earning capacity remains unaffected. A tightening of the obligation to support claims of physical impairment is apparent from the new requirement that the existence or extent of such impair-
ment "shall be supported by objective and measurable physical or mental findings." While the value of "objective" evidence is thereby emphasized, the inclusion of "mental" findings probably continues to allow a physician to base a disability judgment on subjective complaints by a patient. General construction statements also have been inserted. although they may not change existing case law. The act shall be construed "liberally. in accordance with [its] remedial purposes." In determining whether a burden of proof has been met, however, the evidence shall be weighed "without giving the benefit of the doubt to any party." Procedural Changes Several provisions make substantial changes in commission and claim procedures.
Most significant, a new "preliminary conference procedure"
is made available to avoid. if possible, formal litigation. The commission is instructed to establish the procedure: (I) to give the claimant an opportunity to confer with a legal advisor 1621Arkansas Lawyernuly 1986
from the staff of the commission and to participate in a conference. and (2) to provide an opportunity for (but not to compel) a settlement. The rule-making power of the commission. which will be employed in several important ways under the new legislation. has been detailed with expanded due process requirements.
Under other procedural provisions, claims shall be dismissed without prejudice when no hearing has been requested within six months of the filing of the claim, and applications for hear-
$250 for administrative appeals. and from $250 to $500 for judicial appeals. The fee for a change of physician proceeding is set at $200. and no additional fees for uncontroverted charges of the new physician shall be payable. In another provision. the fees payable for controverted medical treatment shall be payable for only two years of such treatment if it is "a repeated and continuing course" rather than. presumably. an unexpected or accelerated medical procedure. If a claim is not controverted, attorneys' fees shall be due for
ings must set forth issues in con-
loss of earning capacity only in
troversy and the contentions of the applicants. Some additional responsibility is placed on the claimant who must promptly report an injury to the employer or be unable to recover for benefits for the period prior to reporting. Such stricture, however. is not applicable if the injury renders the employee unable to report, if the injury is otherwise made known to the employer immediately after it occurs, if the reporting procedures established by the employer are
excess of the disability offered in writing by the employer at the
unreasonable or if emergency
medical treatment is required. Lawyers and Doctors A significant change was made in the fee system for claimants' lawyers. Most of the existing fee schedule (30 percent of the first $1,000, 20 percent of the next $2,000 and 10 percent of the remainder) was retained but only one-half (rather than all) is to be paid by the controverting respondent in addition to compensation due. The other half is to be subtracted from the amounts due to the claimant. and paid by the respondent to his or her lawyer. Undoubtedly this provision will have an effect on employer costs and reduces, to some extent, the value of the benefit increases otherwise obtained. There are several other fee provisions. The maximum additional fee was raised from $100 to
conference.
Doctors' fees also face additional scrutiny. The commission is authorized to establish schedules of maximum fees. "for the purpose of controlling medical and other costs associated with compensable injuries." Effective Dates An emergency clause accompanied the legislation and. in general, its effective date is Iuly I. 1986. Several particular provisions. such as the conference procedure. the safety fund and the medical fee schedule have their own time frames and also will be affected by the ability of the commission to establish appropriate rules. CONCLUSION Strictures and time and space have made impossible a comprehensive and annotated analysis of all the issues presented. Moreover. as primary drafters for labor and employee groups of the initiative act which stimulated agreement on legislation, and the legislation itself. the undersigned are influenced, of course, by the goals of their clients in the process. It is intended. however, that the foregoing discussion objectively identify the principal provisions of the new legislation. 0
Desk Book Remains "Remarkable"
the effects of Social Security law on workers' compensation. The discussion of available benefits, particularly vocational rehabilitation, is illuminating for the lawyer new to the practice. It may also serve to correct misconceptions of the more experienced proch tioner.
By Thomas H. McGowan
The procedures section details the hearing process for adjudication of claims. It includes references to a few of the more important commission rules governing procedures. It also provides the county assignments and names of
Although the state's workers' compensation law was changed significantly by enactment in April of Act 10 of 1986, the Workers' Compensation Desk Book. published in March by the Arkansas Bar Association, remains a remarkable resource to practitioners. A simple review of its content will prove its value.
This publication. the third in a can tinuing series of desk books, could well serve as the model for future desk books. It is well organized; it is concise; it is well annotated. The au thors of the desk book are Norwood Phillips of El Dorado and Bud Whetstone of Little Rock. Editorial contributions were made by Robert L. Jones III and Eddie H. Walker, Jr. of Fort Smith, Mark L. Martin of Fayetteville and Walter A. Murray, Lew Huddle and Zan Davis of Little Rock. Michael Hankins, assistant professor of Law Librarianship and assistant librarian at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law, organized an indexing system for the desk book to provide an excellent explanation of37 issues that may arise in the handling of a workers' compensation case, including extensive cross~ references, pertinent statutes and case law citations on each issue. The desk book is divided into seven substantive sections: an overview of the workers' compen-
sation law; procedures; particular issues; Second Injury Fund; joint petitions; checklist; and forms. The overview section ineludes the history and purpose of the workers' compensation law, a dis-
cussion of available benefits. and
the administrative law judges. The particular issues section by Hankins is the heart of the desk book. It consists of summaries on issues ranging from accidental in-
jury through election of forum and minors illegally employed to subrogation. Each issue includes cross-references to relevant Arkansas law reviews, Larson,
American Jurisprudence. Corpus
Fund as one of the more perplexing issues faced by respondent attorneys. The section contains case
law and commission rulings on the different laws governing second injuries occurring prior to January
I, 1981, and second injuries occurring alter that date. The sections on joint petition, checklists and forms turn the desk book into a means to disseminate
practical materials. A brief summary of the law on joint petitions is followed by a proposed hearing format, a checklist and two styles for joint petitions. The checklists and forms sections also provide valuable guidance in the handling of claims. The Workers' Compensation Desk Book is available for $75 plus $3 handling fee from the Arkansas Bar Association. Quite simply, it is a publication that every workers' compensation practitioner should purchase. 0
Juris Secundum sections. As men-
tioned previously, each issue also has pertinent statute and case law citations. It is a treasure-trove of
Editor's Note: Thomas H. McGowan, a member of the Youngdahl and Youngdahl
titioner.
firm, represents claimants in workers' compensation cases. He is
A separate section of the desk book is devoted to the Second Injury Fund. Experienced practitioners have described the Second Injury
the former director of the Arkansas Legal Services Support Center and an editor of the Poverty Law Practice Manual.
preliminary research for the prac-
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DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS January to April The Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct, from January to April. disbarred one attorney, suspended two attorneys from the practice of law and accepted two voluntary surrenders of license. In addition, four warnings, four letters of reprimand and one letter of caution were issued by the committee. The committee voted "no action" during a hearing on three letters of censure it had previously issued and took no action on 24 formal complaints and 131 informal complaints. (A letter of warning and votes of "no action" during a hearing are not made public.)
or non-lawyer employees in a retirement plan;
DR 5-105(8) - prohibiting a lawyer's multiple employment if the exercise of his independent professional judgment in behalf of a client will be or is likely to be adversely affected by his representation of another client "or if it would be likely to involve him in representing differing interests;"
DR 6-10I(A)(I)(2) and (31 - handling a legal matter which he knows he is not competent to handle without associating with him a lawyer who is competent to handle it and without preparation adequate in the circumstances; and neglecting a legal matter en-
trusted to him; DR 7-102(A)(3)(5) and (7) - concealing
JAMES F. DICKSON Disbarred James F. Dickson, of Fayetteville, was disbarred by order of Circuit Judge John W. Goodson, of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court. on March 24. By letter to Chief Justice Jack Holt, Jr., of the Supreme Court. he voluntarily surrendered
his license in May, as required. Dickson has appealed the disbarment order to the Supreme Court. He was found in violation of the following rules in the Code of Professional Responsibility: DR 1-102(AXIX4X5) and (6) - violation of disciplinary rule and engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud. deceit and misrepresentation and which is prejudicial to the administration of justice and adversely reflects on his fitness to practice law;
or knowingly failing to disclose that which he is required by law to reveal; knowingly making a false statement of law or fact; and counseling or assisting a client in illegal or fraudulent conduct;
DR 9-10I(C) -
prohibiting a lawyer
from stating or implying that he is able to influence improperly or upon irrelevant grounds any tribunal. legis-
lative body or public official: DR 9-102(8)(1)(2)(3) and (4) - requiring prompt client notice of the receipt of his funds, securities or other properties; prompt identification and labeling of a client's securities and properties and placement for safekeeping in a safe deposit box; maintenance of records on all the client's funds, securities and properties and rendering appropriate accounts to the client re-
garding them: and prompt delivery of funds, securities and properties to the client upon request.
ization to recommend or secure em-
The case involved complaints against Dickson by Virgie Smith and Patti Gallman. Smith claimed
ployment by a client or as a reward for
a personal injury claim was set-
employment;
tled for her without her consent and Gallman accused Dickson of mishandling the estate of her late husband. He was found, among other things, to have taken possession of and used a 1981 Mercedes belonging to the Gallman estate for approximately 22 months.
DR 2路103(8) - prohibiting the giving of anything of value to a person or organ~
DR 3-102 - prohibiting a lawyer or law firm from sharing legal fees with a
non-lawyer unless upon his death. to his estate or specified persons; to a deceased lawyer's estate by a lawyer who completes unfinished legal business for the deceased lawyer;
164/Arkansas LawyerJluly 1986
WALl MUHAMMED Suspension of License Letter of Reprimand Wali Muhammed, of Little Rock, had his license suspended for one year on May 3 based on legal testimony by Robert L. Pierce, of North Little Rock, that Muhammed had not split a legal fee with him as they'd agreed. The committee had suspended Muhammed's license in March for one year based on
Pierce's testimony, but rescinded its decision to allow for a rehearing. His license was suspended alter the re-hearing. Muhammed was issued a letter of reprimand in March for violation of DR 7-IOS(A) of the Code of Professional Responsibility, prohibiting a lawyer's presenting of criminal charges solely to obtain an advantage in a civil matter. Muhammed was alleged to have "verbally assaulted" and threalened to file criminal charges against the secretary-treasurer of Walt Bennett Ford because he wouldn't allow Muhammed's client to return to work.
BARRY WATKINS Suspension of License Barry Watkins, of Springdale, was found in violation in February of DR 1-102(A)(4) of the Code of Professional Responsibility, involving dishonest conduct, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation, and DR 6-IOI(A)(3), involving neglect of a legal matter. The committee suspended his license for one year, beginning February 22.
PAMELA D. BAXTER Surrender of License Pamela D. Baxter, of Pine Bluff, voluntarily surrendered her license in February. She submitted a petition for surrender of license
to the Arkansas Supreme Court on February 20, stating that six
complainants alleged. among other things. that she had not done work for which she was paid.
the U.S. District Court over failure to file a federal income tax return in 1979. 1980 and 1981.
R. WAYNE LEE Surrender of License
JACK R. KEARNEY Letter of Caution
R. Wayne Lee. of Little Rock. vol-
untarily surrendered his license in February. He submitted a petition for surrender of license with the Supreme Court on February 5. stating he had violated Rule 8.4 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct concerning misconduct. Lee pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and was sentenced to federal prison.
Jack R. Kearney. of Little Rock. was issued a letter of caution for violation of DR 1-102(A)(5)(6) of the Code of Professional Responsibility. A warrant was issued for Kearney in August 1984 for failure to pay parking fines. The committee's procedure is to
make initial decisions by mail. after reviewing an investigative report prepared by its executive director. Then. a lawyer can appeal to the committee for a hearing. Note: Although the Arkansas Supreme Court adopted an amended version of the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct. effective January I. 1986. any complaint filed prior to that date will be considered under the Arkansas Code of Professional Responsibility. adopted in 1979. 0
TRAVIS MATHIS Letter of Reprimand Travis Mathis. of Arkadelphia. was issued a letter of reprimand in February for violation of DR 6IOI(A)(3) of the Code of Professional Responsibility. neglecting a legal matter entrusted to him. Mathis was paid $750 to represent a client in matters involving her parents' estate but failed to notify her of a public sale held of real property contained in the estate.
SAM SEXTON. JR. Letter of Reprimand Sam Sexton. Jr.. of Fort Smith. was issued a letter of reprimand in February for violation of DR 7108(A) of the Code of Professional Responsibility. prohibiting communication with anyone known to be a member of the venire from which the jury will be selected for the trial of a case. The letter was issued as a result of a complaint filed by Chief U.S. District Judge H. Franklin Waters. Sexton contacted a juror prior to a scheduled trial date of a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in which he was representing the plaintiff. The juror reported this contact to Judge Waters.
Electronic thermography offers visual proof to support diagnoses and injury claims. When it comes to graphic evidence in support of expert testimony or to validate diagnoses, electronic thermography is unsurpassed. Soft tissue injury, trauma and damage to nerves and circulation show up as obvious thermal deviations which can be photographed or videotaped for documentation and comparison. Thermographic imagery is widely accepted in court. We offer complete thermographic service and documentation with color videotape or photography. The process is fast, easy and non-invasive, and supervision is by licensed health care professionals. Call us for information or appointment.
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HARRELL A. SIMPSON. JR. Letter of Reprimand Harrell A. Simpson. Jr.. of Pocahontas. was issued a letter of reprimand for violation of DR 1102(A)(3)(4)(5)(6) of the Code of Professional Responsibility (including engaging in illegal conduct involving moral turpitude). Simpson was issued the letter as a result of a Judgment and Probation Order of
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One of the important topics discussed at the Association's recent Long Range Planning Conference on professionalism concerned restoring our collegiality. Horrible examples of discourtesy and downright meanness were cited and we all agreed - there's a problem, but why and what to do about it? Bad role models and teaching, and attorney inexperience and immaturity were named as causes of the deteriorating relationship of lawyers, Urbanization and an unfamiliarity with each other were also considered as factors. Too many lawyers think it's O.K. to be rude, abrasive and inconsiderate and until told forcefully and persuasively it's wrong, they're blissfully ignorant of improper behavior, What do we do about our lack of collegiality? How do we separate the controversy from the person? At the long range planning conference, suggestions included: • The teaching of ethics courses in law school by practicing attorneys, We know that students enter law school with a television and movie image of lawyers which often conveys the wrong message abou t our behavior. These erroneous ideas need correcting in law school.
LAWYERS' MART FOR SALE Larson's Workers' Compensation Law. Ten Volumes. All current. Contact Donald Frazier, 904 West 2nd, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 (501) 372-0771. For Sale: West's Arkansas Cases, 1 S.W. - 689 S.W.2d, $3,000.00, Kent Tharel. Fayetteville, 521-3121, 521-9132.
• Develop a Code of Professional Courtesy, The Pulaski County Bar Association, which has worked on this problem for a year, developed and distributed to their membership perhaps America's lirst Code of Professional Courtesy. Attendees at the long range planning conference suggest a statewide code be developed to provide basic. practical guidance.
Shaking hands with an opponent following a trial and standing to address the court may seem basic but if we act courteous long enough, our actions might become habit and our hearts will follow. It's worth trying! Columnist Robert S. McCord, in the Arkansas Gazelle on May 4, shared what he considered to be the code's "best line" - " ... a lawyer is not called (or licensed) to be obnoxious." Or, as one of our workshop reporters stated it. "we should practice law with common sense and good manners."
• Include ethics components in
continuing legal education programs to intertwine with the workshop subject; establish a mentor program to aid new attorneys in
forming law practices and relationships with other attorneys; urge local bars to address the collegiality problem: inspire the judiciary to impose sanctions for improper attorney behavior: and run
articles on attorney behavior in The Arkansas Lawyer, It's easy for me to say that lawyers must speak out against rude and disgraceful behavior and far more difficult for a practicing attorney who's dealing with an individual lawyer on a continuing basis to speak out when the brethren's conduct falls below proper standards. Nevertheless, if the bar, collectively and individually speaks out, and enough of us do it for long enough, we may change things for the beller. 0
YOUNG LAWYERS' UPDATE The Year At a Glance By Richard L. Ramsay This article is my last update, as by the time you read it the reins of the section will have been turned over to the capable hands of Tom Ray of Little Rock. Tom was elected your chair for 1986-87 at the annual meeting in Hot Springs. It is a comfortable feeling to leave the section under Tom's guidance as he has aptly demonstrated his leadership skills in various section and bar activities. From a personal standpoint I want to dedicate the remainder of the space allotted here to review the accomplishments of the section this year and to thank those who were primarily responsible. On two occasions this year the section sponsored a reception for the newly licensed attorneys. These events provided a special time for the new attorneys and their families. It allowed them to visit with the members of our appellate courts and also to get valuable information about the Arkansas Bar Association. Ed Boyce of Newport chaired that committee and did an outstanding job. In October, the section sponsored the 26th annual Practice Skills Seminar for the new admittees. This nuts and bolts seminar was once again well re-
ceived thanks to the leadership of Connie and Mike Mayton of West Memphis and Joe Erwin of Little Rock who co-chaired the program. In 1982 the Young Lawyers' Section gave birth to the Senior Ci tizens' Handbook and since that time we have distributed over 65,000 copies of this invaluable work. The demand for additional copies has been great and with financial help from the Arkansas Bar Foundation, the section has now commissioned a reprinting.
Thirty thousand additional handbooks are now available for distribution. Martha Miller of Little Rock
was very helpful in obtaining the funding for this project. The section provided assistance to the Youth Education Committee for this year's statewide High School Mock Trial competition. Over 30 high schools throughout the state participated. Tom Ray plans to make this project one of his central thrusts during 1986-87 and I am sure you will hear much more about this very worthwhile endeavor. At this year's Fall Legal Institute the section showcased the Criminal Law Handbook, Sam Perroni of Little Rock put in immeasurable hours developing the system and it has rapidly become one of the "best sellers" of the various systems the bar association offers. Finally, the program of which I am most proud - the Trial Practice Seminar held in Hot Springs during March of this year. In the past this has been an AICLE-sponsored seminar. This year the section took over full responsibili ty and I am happy to report that it was a tremendous success. The committee was chaired by former section chair Martha Miller. Other committee members were Jim Simpson
of Little Rock, Mike Crawford of Hot Springs and Frank Elean of Harrison. They all did a wonderful job. The accommodations were outstanding, the speakers were very well received and we are still getting favorable comments from the participants. As a result of the seminar's success I can report to you that Tom Ray's year as section chairman will begin wi th a larger budget than any other year in the section's history. In this short space I have tried to thank as many people who put in so many hours for the section as possible. I fully recognize that I have not been able to thank everyone that contributed their time and talents to the section and that is regrettable. However, I cannot conclude this annual report without
thanking the very heartbeat of the Young Lawyers' Section for their work and that of course is Judith Gray and the staff at the Arkansas Bar Association. You can never ap-
preciate what these people do for our section until you have had the opportunity to work with them as I have this year. So much of our success is directly due to their efforts and on behalf of the entire section, I thank you all. 0
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JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT REPORT Amendment 64 - An Opportunity By R. Christopher Thomas Nestled amidst the various proposed constitutional amendments that promise to appear on the general election ballot in November will be one item of particular interest to the legal profession. proposed Constitutional Amendment 64. The text of that amendment appears elsewhere on this page. The proposal will increase the jurisdiction of your municipal courts. in civil matters. to $3.000. There is very little in the way of statistical material which reflects the attitudes of the public toward their municipal court system. According to a 1982 survey conducted by the Arkansas Household Research Pane!. University of Arkansas, the municipal courts were the courts in which the survey participants had the least faith. I believe that perception is largely without justification. nonetheless. it is there. That same survey also indicated that a majority of the respondents thought it would be appropriate to have a court. at the municipalleve!. which could hear civil cases at higher jurisdictional limits. As the title of this article suggests. Amendment 64 presents our profession with the opportunity to meet this need. and perhaps increase the level of faith in our municipal system.
According to the State Trial Court Jurisdiction Guide 1984. published by the National Center for State Courts. Arkansas has among the lowest of jurisdictional amounts in any slate in the union
for its courts of limited jurisdiction. The existing $300 limit. as those who practice law know. effectively denies access to the courts for a number of citizens. Those who
have claims for $500. $700. and perhaps more. are frequently unable to prosecute those claims because the costs attendant to circuit court litigation. including attorneys' fees. often exceed the amount of anticipated recovery. If the municipal court system is properly supported in terms of personnel and funding. the enactment of Amendment 64 will provide a more efficient method of litigation than that which is available through the circuit court system. Please investigate the Amendment at the earliest opportunity. If you should find the Amendment merits your support. I encourage you to actively support it. Many of us in the legal profession believe. and have believed for some time. that the civil jurisdiction of our municipal courts ought to be increased. Amendment 64 is the opportunity to get it done. I hope you will agree.
Donald S. Chambers, M.D. #1 St. Vincent Circle, Suite 140 Little Rock, AR 72205
Phone: (501) 663-4337 Psychiatrist Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry Limiting practice to: NONCRIMINAL FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY EVALUATIONS FOR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY WORKER'S COMPENSATION PERSONAL INJURY CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATIONS 168/Arkansas Lawyer/July 1986
AMENDMENT 64
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION FOR A PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO INCREASE THE CIVIL JURISDICTION OF MUNICIPAL COURTS TO S3.()()(). SUBJECT TO CHANGE BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SEVENTY -FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS. AND BY THE SENATE. A MAJORITY OF ALL THE MEMBERS ELECTED TO EACH HOUSE AGREEING THERETO: That the following is hereby proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Arkansas. and upon being submitted to the electors of the State for approval or rejection at the next general election for" Representatives and Senators. if a majority of the electors voting thereon at such election adopt such amendment. the same shall become a part of the Constitution 01 the State of Arkansas. to wit: "SECTION I. Notwithstanding any provision of this Constitution to the contrary and in addition to jurisdict ion now conferred on municipal courts. municipal courts shall have jurisdiction concurrent with circuit courts (a) in malters of contract where the amount in controversy does not exceed three thousand dollars ($3.()()()) excluding interest. (b) in suits for the recovery of personal property where the value of the property does not exceed three thousand dollars ($3.()()(). and (c) in all matters of damage to personal property where the amount in controversy does not exceed three thousand dollars ($3.()()(): provided that the General Assembly may by law increase or decrease the jurisdictional limit by a two-thirds vote of each house of the General Assembly. SECTION 2. This amendment shall become effective on July I. 1987 and shall apply to causes of action arising after November I. 1986." 0
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IN-HOUSE NEWS LAW SCHOOLS, A.I.C.L.E. AND HOUSE OF DELEGATES pied territories of Israel Kansas City. UNIVERSITY John Smart of Fayetteand report on human rights' practices. ville attended the ConOF UNNERSITY Lonnie Beard conducted ference of Law Rea workshop on estate plan. view Editors in LouisARKANSAS OF ning for the extension serville, Kentucky. vice in Conway. Special Events SCHOOL ARKANSAS Jake Looney's article Wendell Griffin of Little "Regulations Affecting ImRock. chairman 01 the OF LAW AT AT LITI1.£ portation of Animal EmWorkers' Compensation bryos" appeared in AgriCommission, was a FAYETTEVll.lE cultural Law Update and special guest at the law ROCK his "Agricultural Law and school and spoke to the By J. W. Looney SCHOOL OF Policy: A Time for Advo· members 01 Rob Leflar's cates appeared in the class in Workers LAW Faculty Publications South Dakota Law Review. Compensation. Rohert B. Leflar was interviewed for the TV series "Arkansas Works" on the concept of legislation concerning the right to know about chemical hazards and the progress of the Governor's advisory committee drafting an Arkansas law on the subject. Robert Laurence orga-
nized and moderated a panel discussion on "Needed Reforms in Indian
Law" at the 11th Annual Indian Law Conference in Phoenix. John Watkins spoke to the semi-annual meeting
of the Arkansas Judicial Council in Helena on the rules of civil procedure. He also spoke on "Cable Television and the First Amendment" at a con-
ference in Austin. Texas. He was a participant in
the Fulbright Institute Symposium on International Communications in Fayetteville. Howard Brill's book Arkansas Professional and Judicial Ethics. has been published by the Darby Printing Company. Rod Smolla's book. Suing the Press. has been released by Oxford University Press. Linda Malone has been selected as a member of a fact-findinn mission 170/Arkansas LawyerlJuly 1986
Howard Brill and David Malone were appointed by Governor Bill Clinton to the Improvement Districts Revision Commission. Richard Atkinson chaired the Workers' Compensation Study Commission which has developed proposed legislation. Charles Carnes contributed a report to the Labor Law Section in the Journal of Agricultural Taxation of Law. Student Activities The following students were elected as officers for the Arkansas Law Review lor 1986-87: John Smart, editor-inchief; Norton Rosenthal. managing editor; Lance Alworth, articles editor; Elizabeth Levy, executive editor; Graham Sloan, symposium editor; Jay Shell, business manager; Robert Hudson. student writing editor; Michael Stubblefield, student writing editor; Jane Watson, student writing editor; and Paul Waddell. research editor. Levinski Smith of Fayetteville represented the VA chapter of Black American Law Students Association at the annual convention in New York. Joyce Savage of Little Rock represented the law school at the ABA Student
Arkansas native Fred Graham. CBS News legal correspondent, presented the Hartman Hotz Lecture in Law and Liberal Arts. The lecture was held in conjunction with the Annual Alumni Day Luncheon. Members of the Arkansas Bar Association Law School Committee and officers of the Washington County Bar Association met with members of the ABA/AALS accreditation team during their site eval· uation of the law school. Attending were Wayne Boyce. Phil Carroll. Connie Clark, Jim Crouch, James Cypert. Phyllis Johnson, David Matthews, Walter Niblock and Donna Pettus. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Judges John Gibson and J. Smith Henley, along with Fed· eral District Court Judge Henry Woods, served as judges of the final rounds of the moot court competition in which the team members were selected to represent the law school in the national competition. Elizabeth Levy of North Little Rock. Sam Sexton III of Ft. Smith and Ed Beauchamp of New Hartford, Conn., with Elana Cunningham of Jonesboro, alternate were selected as
By L. Scott Stafford Sheffey Memorial Fund Established The UALR Law School established a memorial fund in memory of former Associate Dean and Professor of Law John M. Sheffey. who died December 18. 1985. The fund will be used t,P provide short· term. inteYest free loans to students needing financial assistance. Persons wishing to honor Dean Sheffey's many years of dedicated service to the law school may make a check payable to the "UALR Law School Association" and send it to the UALR Law School. 400 West Markham. Little Rock. Arkansas 72201. Spring Altheimer Address Judge A. Leon Higginbotham. Jr.. of the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals. spoke on "Race Relations and the American Legal Process" to a large audience of professors, students, and attorneys at the University Can· ference Center on March 20. The address was part of the law school's Ben J. Altheimer lecture series. Following his address, the law school and the W. Harold Flowers Leaal
Society co-hosted a reception in the judge's honor at the Arkansas Bar Center. faculty Activities Numerous friends, relatives, former students, and present and former members of the law school's faculty and staff gathered at the Pleasant Valley Country Club on April 8 for a dinner and roast in honor of Professor and Library Director Ruth Brunson. Professor Brunson, who has served as library director since the law school was established in 1965, is retiring at the end of June. Professor Richard K. Burke published an article entitled "Privileges and Immunities in American Law," in Volume 31 of the University of South Dakota Law Review. Burke also spoke on "Ethics and Advocacy" at the semiannual meeting of the Arkansas Judicial Council held in Helena on April 17. Assistant Professor John DiPippa received the top paper award from the Arkansas Political Science Association for, "Is the Fourth Amendment Obsolete?" which he presented at the association's annual convention. The paper will be published in the association's annual review. DiPippa also spoke on sentencing at the Judicial Council meeting in Helena and discussed deathqualified juries in a television interview broadcast by KARK-TV in Little Rock. Associate Professor W. Dent Gitchel delivered a lecture on "Chancery Court Jurisdiction in Child Custody Cases" at the semi-annual meeting of the Judicial Council. Professor Ken Gould spoke at a meeting of the Labor Law Institute of the Arkansas Bar Association held at DeGray Lodge on April 19. His topic was "EmploymentRelated Torts:' Clinical Supervisor Judy Lansky spoke on pay equity at a meeting of the Arkansas Conference on Eco?omic Justice held on March IS.
Professor Fred Peel's article entitled "Tax Simplification: A Critique of the President's Proposals," appeared in a special tax issue of the South Texas Law Review. Professor Robert R. Wright's review of Morris S. Arnold's book, Unequal Laws Unto a Savage Race. will appear in the next issue of the UALR Law Journal. Wright also wrote a book review of Robert A. Leflar's autobiography, One Life in the Law, which will appear in the summer issue of the Oklahoma Law Review. In connection with his work as chairman of the New Publications Editorial Board of the General Practice Section of the American Bar Association, Wright edited two new booklets published by the section and is in the process of editing several more. In February, Wright attended the mid-year meeting of the ABA in Baltimore. Professor Susan Wright was a member of an ABA team that re-inspected the University of North Dakota School of Law at Grand Forks, North Dakota, on April 23-26. Student Activities Senator Max Howell spoke at the Annual Studen t Awards Banquet held on April 19 at the Maumelle Country Club. Following the speech, the students presented Senator Howell with a plaque recognizing his many contributions to the law school. The UALR Law Journal announced the following new staff members: Pat Dolson of Louisville, Kentucky; Marva Evans of Orlando, Florida; Hank Jackson. Wayne Juneau, Troy Price, Frances Means and Clay Randolph, all of Little Rock; David Rawls of Orange, Texas; Wendy Renard of Proctor; Dale Scroggins of Warren; David Smith of McGehee; and Catherine Templeton of Fort Smith. Student elections were held during April. Newly elected Student Bar Asso-
ciation officers are Patty Lueken of Li ttle Rock, president; Brad Cazort of Little Rock, day vice-president; Bryan Hosto of Little Rock, night vice-president; Betsy Allen of Pine Bluff, secretary; Lonnie Grimes of Sheridan, treasurer; Patricia Eables of West Memphis. American Bar Association, Law Student Division representative; Michael King of Sheridan, day prosecutor; Ron Sheffield of Coschocton, Ohio, night prosecutor; Bill Cash of Batesville and Holly Lodge of Heber Springs, second-year day representatives; Jim Jennen of Little Rock and Jennifer Farmer of Glenwood, second-year night representatives; Greg Giles of Little Rock and David Harrod of Hamburg, third-year day representatives; and David Bowden of Little Rock and Brandon Clark of Li ttle Rock, third- and fourth-year night representatives. Honor Council justices are Mary Wiseman of Greenfield, Indiana, second-year day justice; Tenna White of Blytheville, second-year night justice; Martha Hunt of Weir, Missouri. thirdyear day justice; and Steve Whiting of Jacksonville, third- and fourth-year night justice. Officers of the Law Student Section of the Arkansas Bar Association are Peggy Matson of Searcy, president; D. Frank Arey of North Little Rock, vice-president; Lee Anne Kline of Conway, secretary-treasurer; and Price Gardner of Little Rock, voting delegate. Two teams from the law school competed with teams from eight other law schools in the regional rounds of the National Mock Trial Competition held at Memphis in February. The team of Michael McCrary and Doug Smith was regional runner-up. Also participating was the team of Gail Ponder and Ann Faitz. Associate Professor W. Dent Gitchel coached both teams. Students at the law school recentlv formed the
"Sidney S. McMath" student chapter of the American Trial Lawyers Association. In March, the chapter and the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association held a cocktail reception in honor of McMath. at which the chapter was formally dedicated and new officers invested. Also in March, the chapter sent a team, composed of Mike Davis and Glenn Farinacci. to the ATLA Mock Trial Competition in Oklahoma City. Associate Professor W. Dent Gitchel. the faculty advisor to the chapter, accompanied the team.
A.I.e.LE. NEWS By Claibourne W. Patty, Jr. Federal Practice Seminar The Federal Practice Seminar, co-sponsored by the Federal Practice Committees of the eastern and western districts of Arkansas, was presented March 7 to 8, at the University of Arkansas Conference Center for Continuing Education at Fayetteville. The program, co-chaired by Philip E. Kaplan of Little Rock and Beverly Stites of Fort Smith, concentrated on evidence; practice before U.S. magistrates; representing clients before the grand jury; new fed路 eral court procedures on sentencing and featured a panel led by Brad Jesson of Fort Smith of federal judges. Professor Ronald L. Carlson, of the University of Georgia School of Law, discussed modern developments in evidence, objections and trial procedure with emphasis on best evidence and authentication. H. David Young, U.S. magistrate in the eastern district of Arkansas, moderated a panel discussion on practice before U.S. magistrates. Participating were Magistrate Henry Jones, Jr., of the eastern district; Magistrate Ned Stewart. Jr., of the western July 1986/Arkansas Lawyer/l7l
istrict; an a n orster, Jr., subsequently named a U.S. magistrate in the eastern district. Larry R. McCord. assistant U.S. attorney for the western district of Arkansas, Sam Perroni, of Little Rock, and Patricia Texter Hardage. a probation and parole officer for the eastern district of Arkansas, presented a panel discussion on represent路 ing clients before the grand jury and discussed new court procedures on sentencin .
The seminar was videotaped and replayed in Little Rock on May 16 at the UALR Conference Center. Banking Law Seminar This year's Banking Law Seminar, co-sponsored by the Banking Law Committee and the Savings and Loan Section of the Arkan路 sas Bar Association. was presented April 4 to 5 at the Sheraton Lakeshore in Hot Springs. The program, chaired by Anne Ritchey. of Little Rock. addressed a variet of to ics, includin
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the expanding powers of financial institutions. Several panel discussions were held featur路 ing Beverly E. Bassett. state Securities Commissioner; Robert Eubanks, state Insurance Commissioner; Patrick C. Koch, a banker; Garland Binns and Edwin Jackson, attorneys for financial institutions; James E. Smith, Jr.. Diane Mackey. Sherry Bartley and Thomas Thrash of Little Rock; Fred Kirkpatrick of Harrison; U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Fussell; Charles W. Baker, former U.S. bankruptcy judge; and Don Henry, bankruptcy practitioner. Economics of Law Practice Seminar The Economics of Law Practice Seminar "Paraprofessionals: A Profit Center" - was held April 18 at the UALR Conference Center. The program was co-sponsored by the Association's Section of Economics of Law Practice, Arkansas Chapter of the National Association of Legal Assistants. Arkansas Chapter of the National Association of Legal Secretaries and the Arkansas Chapter of American Legal Administrators. Sessions on paraprofessionals. their rofitabilit ,
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how to find them and when to use them were presented by Donald Hagans. If. of Washington. D.C .. Theodore P. Orenstein, of Boston. Mass., 1. Ray Bishop. of Ann Arbor. Mich.. and Annabelle Clinton, of Little Rock. Six workshops were conducted by teams of attorneys and paraprofessionals on civil litigation/workers' compensation. probate and estate planning. bankruptcy. commercial and family law. corporationlbusiness organization and law office management. Lahar Law Institute The Labor Law Institute, jointly sponsored with the Labor Law Section of the Association, Region 26 of the National Labor Relations Board. UALR Labor Education Program and American Arbitration Association. was held April 18 to 19 at DeGray State Park Lodge. The program, chaired by Walter Paulson, of Little Rock. featured an update from the NLRB and discussions on wage and hour legisla路 tion, arbitration, the Freedom of Information Act. alcohol and drugs in the workplace. hazardous manufacturing processes and products and employment-related torts. Tax Awareness Institute The Eighth Annual Tax Awareness Institute. cosponsored by the Section of Taxation of the Association. was held April 25 at the UALR Conference Center. The program was cochaired by Joseph Hickey of El Dorado and Lee Moore and focused on state and local taxes, the tax aspects of the Bankruptcy Code provisions, partners and partnerships and the procedures for the determination of tax claims in bankruptcy proceedings. Satellite Programs An Introduction to Securities Filings, Problems in the Workplace. Corporate Acquisitions and Estate Planning for the Small Business Owner were the satellite programs presented at both Little Rock and Fayetteville since Januar . 0
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