2023 ATLA Convention: One to Remember

Hey there. It’s been awhile. Lots has happened since we last wrote in this space. After 20-years in the U.S. Bank building in downtown Arkadelphia, the Chaney Law Firm moved 2-blocks south to 501 Crittenden Street (more on that later). A lot happened just last week at the 2023 Arkansas Trial Lawyer’s Association annual convention in Eureka Springs.

I’ve come to look forward to these conventions every year, almost like a holiday, because each one feels more like a family reunion than an attorney convention. Growing up, Don and Terri would take Nathan and I out of school for two days to drive 5 hours one way to Eureka Springs (Hwy 65 wasn’t 4-laned to Clinton back then).

Over the years, certain locations took on a significant degree of family nostalgia to the point they must be acknowledged each year. For example, below is one of those places:

During rush hour traffic in’93 or ‘94, Nathan ran over a piece of equipment that had fallen off of a vehicle in the middle of the road on the right (Hwy 65/412 in Harrison), which caused a tire to blow out. Although there was a significant commotion in the vehicle for him to deal with immediately afterward (cough), he calmly turned onto second street and took the next right to get safely out of the traffic to deal with the flat tire. He recalled this experience to me a few weeks ago after his own 14-year old son popped a tire that required changing. There are plenty of stories about me, too. We’ll save those for another day. #IYKYK

On one of the convention days, I got to visit with an attorney friend, whose father and older brother are also practicing attorneys whom we had seen the previous night at dinner. I told him it made me happy to see the three of them together as I hadn’t seen his older brother in a long time. The younger attorney friend relayed to me that it was a special time for them; and before I knew it as he was talking to me, thoughts and memories of my own brother came flooding to mind. Many of you already know, but for those that don’t, Nathan was diagnosed with colon cancer in November/December. I can’t see the pool or gaming area at the Inn of the Ozarks (seen in the video below) without remembering Nathan and I spending a lot of time there while Don was getting his continuing legal education hours at the convention.

The same thing happened when I saw the convention koozie (pictured above); Nathan and I went fishing on the nearby Kings River early one morning on a convention day several years ago, which has been one of his happy places going back to college. It happened again another night at the incoming president’s shin-dig at the go-kart place in Eureka Springs. Nathan and I have driven a lot of miles around that track, but I hadn’t done it in a long time:

That my’s game face set to race against the incoming atla president, breean walas. I lost. :(

On the Thursday afternoon of the convention, I was extremely proud to see Jessica receive the Outstanding Legal Assistant of the year award from ATLA. For anyone that knows her or works with us, they know Jessica is the heartbeat of our law firm.

The Arkadelphian quoted me saying “we couldn’t have made it through the last year without her quick thinking, initiative and dedication.” I will always be thankful for that.

Something else happened at the convention that I’ll never forget: I was chosen by my peers as the inaugural recipient of the Ruthanne Murphy Good Works Award.

Many knew Ruthanne better than I did, but I always had a tremendous amount of respect for her. She did not care about being recognized for her actions; she did what she did because it was the right thing to do. One example given was her continuous and longstanding dedication to feeding the homeless, whether it be at a shelter or otherwise. Her obituary (left) was published on June 4, 2022. “[A] fierce warrior for justice and a beacon in a dark world” is how I will always remember her. Even as I’m trying to do so, I can’t really express in words what an honor it is have my name associated with Ruthanne’s name, much less be the first recipient of an award named after her.

To make the occasion even more memorable, my close friend Breean Walas was the one who presented the award to me as the incoming president:

Breean has taught me more about practicing law than I ever learned in law school, whch is something for which I’ll forever be grateful.

I couldn’t let the moment pass without telling the atla membership that ruthanne stood for everything the organization stands for, and is an example of what we all should aspire to be as attorneys.

A few minutes after the above photograph was taken, I walked outside the meeting hall to meet Ruthanne’s family, which was the highlight of the entire convention for me:

I’m shaking hands with Ruthanne’s husband, Jim Garrett.

As noted by the Arkadelphian, ATLA has been helping First Baptist Church’s Arms Around Arkadelphia organization. Since 2018, several ATLA attorneys from across the state have given up their time (some driving 4-hours or more one-way) to come to Arkadelphia and lend a hand in service projects around town put together by the AAA group; one of those times was detailed here. If you’re interested in seeing the results of these service projects, First Baptist Church puts together a video every year, which you can find here. This year, the AAA service projects will take place from June 12-15, 2023. If you’re interested in getting involved, contact me at taylor@chaneylaw.com, or David McAlister at davidmcallister36@gmail.com.