Law Student Feature March 2022

UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law

Law Student Spotlight

Eli Cummins — A Student Committed to Connections

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largest “Perhaps Eli’s en is how impact on Bow ersonal his desire for p d his ability connection an ortive to create supp ts the lives networks affec future of current and ell as the students, as w n as a legal professio whole.”

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Eli Cummins made an impression the moment he arrived on Bowen’s campus. First, as an accepted student he drove from Oxford, Mississippi to Little Rock for the law school’s open house.

“I thought that was what I was supposed to do,” he joked.

Second, he said Bowen was the only law school he’d considered.

“I wanted to avoid a large school,” Eli explained. “I had done the ‘SEC Experience’ already and was burnt-out on that culture. Bowen had the intimate environment I wanted, and I fit in here. Plus, I loved Little Rock when I visited. Little Rock was much larger than anywhere I lived previously, and I found the community and school to be more queer-affirming than other options.”

And third, his enthusiasm for law school is hard to miss. Since arriving at Bowen, Eli has been involved in life at Bowen, even when that life was virtual. His entire 2L year was online. During that time, he also served as a Dean’s Fellow.

Law school leaders selected him to be a Dean’s Fellow based on his demonstrated leadership skills, excellence in academic performance, professionalism, and a desire to lead and care for his fellow students. As part of the Bowen Student Success Program, he led, mentored, and taught expert learning skills to 1L students during the fall semester.

“It was fun,” Eli said. “But it was weird to be all online. For students in Zoom fatigue, it was a challenge to make sessions interesting and keep their attention. I also wanted to provide some stress relief. After a day of intense classes, the last thing anyone wanted was to be in another lecture.”

In addition to the lesson plan he prepared to accomplish the program’s learning outcomes, Eli planned Jeopardy games to help with mid-term studies and icebreaker games to get students talking because they couldn’t mingle face-to-face. He even did a Zodiac chart reading to have some fun but also give students pointers that might help with study skills.

“I loved my group, and they all performed really well,” he said. “That makes me happy – almost like a proud mom.”

During this same year, Eli also served as a professionalism mentor. Working with Career Services and practicing attorneys Margaret Ward and John Shram, Eli helped mentor students interested in estate planning law as a career path. He, John, and Margaret met with their 1L students monthly to discuss issues the students faced and career questions they might have. Eli was there to give the student perspective, providing feedback on scheduling and courses that would be helpful. He, John, and Margaret also worked with their 1L group during mock interviews, helping them prepare for oncampus interviews.

Eli wants to pursue a career in estate planning and family law. Estate planning fits well with his double major in managerial finance and real estate from the University of Mississippi.

“The decedent’s estates section of my property class helped me realize I wanted to practice estate planning,” he said.

Eli also participated in the school’s Delta Divorce Clinic throughout his 3L year at Bowen. This experience allowed him to meet and represent low-income clients having divorce and paternity issues.

By participating in the clinic, Eli began to see a potential future career in family law.

Both fields match his personality.

“I get to talk with my clients and relate with them,” Eli said. “They are such down-to-earth practices. We discuss some of the most personal concerns, and I find a different level of connection to these clients than I have in other fields.”

That’s the way he describes his other favorite course – Law Office Management.

“It was very practical and focused on skills requiring real-world considerations, and I found that very refreshing,” Eli said.

This year, the ability to connect with students has led to Eli’s favorite experience Page 2 of 2

at Bowen so far--his time with Bowen’s OutLaw Legal Society. He is the Society’s current president. The return of in-person events has meant more opportunities to connect with fellow students as well as Bowen’s faculty and staff.

At the beginning of the fall semester, OutLaw hosted a volleyball tournament at Murray Park as part of Bowen’s Welcome Week. The event drew 50 students who formed 8-10 separate teams.

OutLaw has also been able to endow a book award through the UA Little Rock Foundation, the first OutLaw-sponsored scholarship. It will help fund OutLaw members’ education and create a network of LGBTQ+ attorneys and allies who will sponsor the scholarship in the future.

“We hope the network grows and expands and is a useful resource and support network for other students and attorneys,” Eli said.

This year, Eli was the recipient of the Arkansas Bar Association Board of Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship, which was also sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division. As part of his application, he answered public policy questions regarding promoting diversity and addressing issues faced by underrepresented populations.

Eli is graduating in May, and his current plan is to stay in Little Rock and work in a small firm that does estate planning. He’s clerked at several. This year he was at the Law Office of Jason D. Files and just accepted a new position with the Stan Miller Law Group for the remainder of the semester.

“I like small firms because it’s more intimate and allows me to form a bond with the attorneys and clients,” he said.

“It’s very personal.”

Eli has also become a big fan of Little Rock. He lives near 9th Street with his cat Newton (“like the fig, not the scientist”).

He spends most of his time recharging at home by baking and watching classic scary movies. If he wants to be social, you can find him at Rock Town Distillery.

Perhaps Eli’s largest impact on Bowen is how his desire for personal connection and his ability to create supportive networks affects the lives of current and future students, as well as the legal profession as a whole.

That’s an impressive legacy.

University of Arkansas School of Law

Law Student Spotlight

Meet Stephany Quintero 2nd Lt., United States Army

Stephany Quintero has a clearly defined desire to become a lawyer for soldiers.

She intends to serve her country by providing legal counsel for troops as they deploy or serve their country in other capacities. She cut her teeth through the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) program offered at Arkadelphia High School and then continued through the Henderson State University/Ouachita Baptist University ROTC program. Today she is one of 23 Army officers, nationwide, selected for the law school option of the Army’s Education Delay program. She is well into her second semester as a law student at the University of Arkansas School of Law and she looks forward to interviewing for a position in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

Quintero, who is a 2021 graduate of Ouachita Baptist University with a double major in accounting and finance, has always worked hard for her opportunities.

“I actually worked as a waitress when I was 16 up until I turned 21 and was having more employment opportunities in college,” Quintero said. “In high school I worked up to 20 hours a week waitressing at local Mexican restaurants. During those years, I actually worked at all four Mexican restaurants in the little town of Arkadelphia.”

As an undergraduate, she worked as a resident assistant assigned to the university’s Susie Everett Hall in addition to managing the demands of ROTC and her academic coursework. Beginning with her junior year, she was also the ROTC cadet company commander.

Law school at the University of Arkansas was an easy choice for Quintero who says she is an Arkansan through and through.

“I was born and raised here, and I have always loved Arkansas. It’s great to be a Razorback too!”

But there is more to the story. . .

Most cadets receive their commission into the Army, Army Reserve or Army National Guard upon completion of their undergraduate studies and they begin serving out their service commitments. Quintero, however, was accepted into the elite Army Educational Delay Program, a special program designed to allow newly commissioned officers to purse their studies to become lawyers and doctors. The law school delay option of the program is designed to produce active-duty Judge Advocates from ROTC cadets. The selection process is highly selective because the Department of Defense is taking a financial gamble on a delayed service commitment. Successful candidates must have demonstrated a commitment to their desired professional achievement and must have a strong record of hard work and Page 1 of 2

Quintero at her commissioning ceremony in May. The new uniform bears the insignia of an officer in the United States Army. The shoulder tabs, pinned by her parents as part of the ceremony, indicate the rank of 2nd lieutenant.

The stripes on her sleeves are in the color of the JAG Corps and indicate that she is an officer, as do the newly-attached collar pins.

“It is great to be a Razorback too!”

perseverance. Only 2% of Army ROTC cadets, nationwide, are selected for the program.

Since arriving in Fayetteville, Quintero has settled into the School of Law community and the 1L curriculum.

She is a member of the Hispanic Law Student Association, the Criminal Law Society, and the Christian Legal Society.

Her favorite first semester course was Criminal Law, taught by professor Jordan Blair Woods.

“My favorite course was Criminal Law, and my favorite professor was Professor Woods. I really enjoyed that class because it clarified all the misconceptions I had about the criminal law world, and it made me see criminal law from a perspective of both the prosecutor and the defense lawyer.”

Professor Woods certainly noticed Quintero’s interest and hard work.

“Stephany is one of the brightest and hardest working students I’ve taught.

Students like Stephany are why I entered law teaching.”

The faculty and administration of the School of Law are pleased to have Quintero as a student at the school and all are confident the Department of Defense made a wise choice in selecting her for the Educational Delay Program.

During her 3L year, Quintero will go through the rigorous interview process for the JAG Corps and will be relying on professors for recommendations.

“Hopefully I do get selected,” Quintero said. “If not, I will just get branched into another section of the Army. My goal is to have a slot in the JAG Corps by the time I graduate and complete the bar.”

If a successful applicant, and after passing the bar, Quintero will leave for Jag Corps training in Virginia, and then on to direct commission training before receiving an assignment and assuming the role of military lawyer. But, while in law school, Quintero is afforded the opportunity to be a normal student.

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She is not required to wear her hardwon officer’s uniform, so only a few close friends and early classmates know she is an Army officer. The Department of Defense does not pay for the legal education of program participants, so scholarship support plays an important part in Quintero’s plan to become a lawyer. She is the grateful recipient of the 2021-22 Arkansas Bar Foundation’s Col. C. E. Ransick Scholarship.

Ransick, a former executive director of the Arkansas Bar Association and executive secretary of the Arkansas Bar Foundation, retired from the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps in 1968 after 28 years of service. The scholarship was created in 1983 to honor Ransick’s 14 years of service to the association and foundation.

When asked about her first semester of law school, hard work and perseverance continue to serve as themes.

“My first semester was really challenging. It was a completely different shift from my undergraduate years, but it was really rewarding too. I thought it was impossible at first, but as the weeks went on, I realized it is definitely doable as long as I kept up with the work assigned.”

The faculty, students and staff of the School of Law look forward to watching Quintero’s career unfold. For now, however, it is awesome that she is a part of the school’s community and that she has some time to savor just being an excellent law student.