We'd like to congratulate Lily Patel for completing her LL.M. studies and earning her LL.M. degree. Lily participated full-time via distance, video-conferencing into class from her home in Los Angeles. Lily has a rich background of civil rights legal experience and is a working actor and screenwriter with some exciting short film work in production. Lily is also a classically-trained singer. And she is an Italian food importer as a partner in Guditalia. Lily's final article concerned the very relevant current issue of the infant formula shortage and efforts to increase imports while mai ..read more

We'd like to congratulate Rie Toyama for completing her LL.M. degree. Rie is a practicing lawyer in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. She provides legal advice to both individual and small-business clients and is the only female English-speaking lawyer in Hokkaido. She has been a part-time instructor at Hokkaido University and the Hokkaido University of Science. Rie attended the LL.M. Program via distance, excelling in all her classes, and completing her final article, Issues Concerning Cultured Meat and Regulations in Japan. Throughout Rie's studies, we enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about Ja ..read more

U.S. News & World Report ranked Fayetteville, Arkansas as #10 in their survey of the Best Places to Live in the U.S. Check out this story in the Fayetteville, Flyer on the ranking, describing Fayetteville's perennial selection as among the top ten. It's a great place to live. Come join us!   ..read more

Professor Susan Schneider, William H. Enfield Professor of Law and Director of the LL.M. Program delivered a presentation to the Arkansas Bar Association's Annual Environmental Law Conference. Her presented on her forthcoming article, Climate Change, Food Security and the Myth of Unlimited Abundance. Her presentation focused on the negative impact of climate change on agricultural production, the vulnerabilities within our food system, and the lack of a consistent food policy to prepare for the future. She proposed six guiding principles for adapting to a world impacted by climate change and ..read more

It was ten years ago when Dean Stacy Leeds recruited LL.M. alumna Janie Hipp back to Arkansas to start the Indigenous Food & Agriculture Initiative (IFAI) at the University of Arkansas School of Law. Now under the leadership of another LL.M. alumna, Erin Parker, the IFAI has a proven track record of helping tribes across the U.S. They celebrated their tenth anniversary last week with a symposium and dinner at Chrystal Bridges Museum. We congratulate IFAI on their anniversary. We are so proud to have you with us at the law school and look forward to your continued success. We're also ..read more

Last week, the LL.M. program in Agricultural and Food Law hosted USDA General Counsel Janie Simms Hipp and Richard Flournoy, Deputy Administrator for Product Management at USDA, for a career talk. Thank you to Janie and Richard for spending time with our students and offering career advice over lunch!  Both Janie and Richard are LL.M. Program alumni and have spent their careers working in agricultural law and policy. Thank you again, Janie and Richard!  ..read more

Are you interested in researching what laws and policies promote transitioning farmers to more sustainable practices? We are looking for our next Graduate Assistant (GA) to assist with a research project around environmental regulation of agriculture and small business assistance for sustainable farmers.  This position will include legal research and writing on several agricultural law and policy topics, including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, policies that provide small, sustainable farms with economic support, and animal welfare law and policy.  GAs positions ..read more

The LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law at the University of Arkansas continues to accept applications for Fall 2023. We are currently seeking applications for a Graduate Assistant (GA) to assist with our work on a humane handling legal education project for farmers and ranchers and small processors. This project will help those exploring on-farm slaughter and small processors in our region manage their legal risks when it comes to humane handling and slaughter regulatory requirements. GAs positions are only available to full time LL.M. candidates who enroll in our face-to-face progr ..read more

A Graduate Assistantship opportunity will be available with the Indigenous Food & Agriculture Initiative (IFAI) for next academic year, starting in the Fall of 2023.  We are proud to have the IFAI at our law school, with our alum, Erin Parker serving as Executive Director. The IFAI provides strategic legal analysis, policy research, and educational resources to empower Indian Country through food sovereignty, agriculture, and economic development. We are now advertising a graduate assistant position with IFAI.  This graduate assistantship will provide an LL.M. in Agricultural an ..read more

Last fall marked 10 years since the University of Arkansas LL.M. program in agricultural and food law began to use technology to expand access to the degree. Students were first allowed to join classes by video-conference in the fall of 2013 as part of the LL.M. distance option. Today, the program offers a variety of delivery method options. “After the past few years of COVID interactions over Zoom, it's hard to remember how innovative our approach really was,” says Susan Schneider, director of the program. “Most distance programs offered packaged classes as their online format with no ‘live ..read more