LITTLE
ROCK, Ark.
(Feb. 18, 2009) – John DiPippa, interim dean and Distinguished Professor of Law
and Public Policy at the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law, has been named
the eighth dean of the law school.
DiPippa,
who joined the school in 1983 as an assistant professor of law, will assume a two-year
term as dean immediately through the 2010-11 academic year. He became interim
dean last July following the resignation of Dean Charles Goldner who wanted to
return to teaching at the school.
UALR
Provost David Belcher said the decision to select DiPippa came after a year-long
search to fill the position. The job was offered earlier this month to Penelope
Bryan, professor and associate dean of academic affairs at the University of Denver
Sturm College of Law, who accepted a job in California. None of the other 14 candidates
for the position was considered a finalist for the post.
“UALR
and its Bowen School of Law are quite fortunate to have someone of John
DiPippa’s caliber to assume the school’s deanship,” said Belcher. “He brings to
this leadership role a demonstrated commitment to excellence in legal education
and garners respect and strong support both within the legal community and
among the BowenSchool’s faculty and staff. I am
very pleased that John has accepted this appointment and anticipate that the law
school will flourish under his leadership.”
DiPippa, who
graduated magna cum laude from Washington and Lee University School of Law in
1978, said one of his major goals is to take advantage of the school’s
location.
"Being in Little Rock and the state’s capital city provides
the Bowen School of Law with an opportunity to offer faculty and students
unique programs and activities,” said DiPippa. “We need to create more innovative
programs with other institutions like our concurrent degree programs with the
Clinton School of Public Service and the UAMS College of Public Health.”
DiPippa also wants to make sure the law school is positioned for
the future.
"The world is changing, and so is legal education,” he said.
“We must embrace that change and create a curriculum that prepares students for
the 21st century. The Bowen School of Law curriculum has always been ahead of
its time. Our students had to take Legal Skills courses 30 years before the
American Bar Association required it. With legal education fundamentally
changing, we are well positioned to create a curriculum and a pedagogy that
will continue in that tradition of innovation and creativity."
The
BowenLawSchool,
with a student body of approximately 440, has one of the lowest student/faculty
ratios of any law school — 15 to 1. In August, the school admitted 157 entering
freshmen out of 1,572 applicants. The average student age is 28.
Among
the school’s distinctions:
National Juristmagazine listed
the BowenSchool as one of the top 50 law
schools in clinical legal education in its September 2008 issue.
U.S. News and
World Report
last April ranked the BowenSchool among the top
20 law schools in the nation in the specialty of legal writing.
The school received a $1 million gift last May from former dean and
namesake William H. Bowen and his wife, Connie, to use for new
opportunities and to react to critical short-term needs.
Unlike most law
schools, UALR requires two "lawyering skills" courses during the
second year to teach skills used in trial advocacy, interviewing and
counseling, mediation and negotiation.
The law school
offers three clinical programs: the litigation clinic, where
students represent actual clients in court; the mediation clinic, where
students gain practical experience in alternative dispute resolution; and
the tax clinic, where students represent actual clients who have
controversies with the Internal Revenue Service.
The school
offers externship programs, where students can learn and work in legal
settings, for judges, legal services providers and legislators, earning
academic credit.
UALR Bowen School graduates include U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder; Arkansas
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel; Arkansas Speaker of the House Robbie
Wills; Reps. John Edwards,
Dan Greenberg, Bruce Maloch, and Robert Moore Jr. and Steve
Harrelson. BowenSchool alumni are
also members of the federal and state
judiciaries, partners in major law firms, Fortune 500 counsel, and
dedicated public servants.
