The Arkansas Access to Justice Commission recently welcomed its first Executive Director, Amy Dunn Johnson.

“We are very excited that Amy has accepted the role of Executive Director of the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission,” said Prof. Chuck Goldner, Chair of the Commission.

“Amy began working for the Commission shortly after our first Promise of Justice Conference,” he added, “and since then, she has hit the ground running.”

As part of her new position, Ms. Johnson leads the staff efforts for three groups: the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission, the recently created Arkansas Access to Justice Foundation, and the Arkansas IOLTA Foundation.

Since 2005, every new lawyer in Arkansas has had to complete the Professional Practicum.

According to the per curiam opinion that created the Practicum, “the purpose of the Professional Practicum is to enhance the public's confidence in the legal profession and to promote lawyers' professionalism and ethical conduct.”

This full day of CLE instruction provides an overview of a lawyer's role as "an officer of the court and as a member of the Bar, and lawyers' relation to community, clients, and courts, and may include topics regarding the professional and ethical implications of private and non-private practice.”

(Photo: Justice Imber receives a standing ovation during the Promise of Justice Conference. To her left is Tommy Wells, ABA Immediate Past President.)

Justice Annabelle Clinton Imber, the first woman elected to the Supreme Court of Arkansas, announced in September that she would retire. Her last day to serve on the Supreme Court is Dec. 31.

In response, the Court issued a per curiam thanking Justice Imber for her hard work and faithful service to the people of Arkansas.

Arkansas lawyers urged to aid poor

Recently, the Northwest Arkansas Times wrote an editorial in support of the Promise of Justice Campaign.

The piece begins by asking the reader to imagine appearing in court without an attorney. It then goes on to praise the work of the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission and the first statewide fundraising campaign for legal aid.

“We ought to thank any member of the legal profession who gets behind this campaign,” the newspaper said. “It’s practically impossible for most of the people to genuinely appreciate what it means to be mixed up in some sort of legal quandary and lack access to worthy counsel.”