News

The 2024 edition of Chambers USA has been released and Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC, received the highest ranking possible in the areas of General Commercial Litigation and Real Estate for law firms in Arkansas and was also recognized for its Corporate/Commercial and Labor & Employment practices. Steven W. Quattlebaum, Timothy W. Grooms, John E. Tull III, E. B. (Chip) Chiles IV, Michael N. Shannon, J. Cliff McKinney II, Joseph R. Falasco, and Jeb H. Joyce, received recognition in the publication’s rankings of individuals.  Chambers USA reviews and ranks individual lawyers and law firms by practice area in each state.  Chambers guides are the culmination of thousands of in-depth interviews by the largest research team of its kind and are trusted globally to objectively rank the world’s best lawyers and law firms. To learn more about these rankings, visit our Awards page.

J. Cliff McKinney II has authored an article explaining how the Uniform Conservation Easement Act provides a valuable tool for landowners to preserve the natural beauty of their property while also potentially benefiting from tax advantages. “Preserving Nature: A Guide To Arkansas’s Conservation Use Easements” discusses the advantages and disadvantages of conservation easements and appears in the Spring 2024 issue of The Arkansas Lawyer, the official publication of the Arkansas Bar Association. You can read Cliff’s article here. A Managing Member of the law firm, Cliff concentrates his practice on real estate, land use, and business transactions.

Steven W. Quattlebaum has been admitted as a North American Fellow to the International Society of Barristers (ISOB).  The ISOB was created in 1965 and is dedicated to preserving trial by jury, the adversary system, and an independent judiciary. Its founders conceived the organization to bring together the best of the trial bar in a setting devoid of partisan interests. The emphasis of the organization is on warm fellowship among professionals without regard to their orientations as plaintiffs’ or defendants’ advocates. The Fellows of the Society are committed to the highest ethical standards and civility in all their personal and professional relationships.  Steve will be officially installed as a Fellow at the Annual Meeting next spring. With a limited membership, the Society has Fellows from every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, and from Australia, Canada, England, Scotland, and Ireland, with the great majority from the United States. A founding member of Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC, Steve’s primary areas of practice are complex business, toxic tort, and products liability litigation.

J. Cliff McKinney II has been admitted as a Fellow to the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA).  Founded in 1974, ACMA is comprised of 500 lawyers in North America who are experts in mortgage law.  Fellows share a commitment to giving back to their profession, improving and reforming laws and procedures affecting real estate-secured transactions, and raising the level of professionalism of lawyers practicing in this area.  Fellows have distinguished themselves as practitioners in the field of real estate mortgage law through their skills and practice experience, bar association activities, lecturing, authoring articles and program materials, participation in the legislative process, and writing briefs and/or arguing cases that are significant to mortgage transactions.  Cliff will be formally inducted at the Fall 2024 Annual Meeting. A Managing Member of the law firm, Cliff concentrates his practice on real estate, land use, and business transactions.

“Arkansas’s Unconstitutional Attack on Transgender Children and the Rights of their Parents,” authored by Falyn E. Traina, was published in the Spring 2024 edition of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review. Falyn’s Note argues that Arkansas Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, No. 626 violates the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution and, upon inevitable appeal, the Eighth Circuit should affirm the decision of the District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. You can read Falyn’s article here. Falyn is a third-year law student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law and will join Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull as a litigation associate upon graduation.

David A. Gardner and Tyler C. Gillespie have authored articles appearing in the Summer 2024 edition of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review. David’s article, “An Introduction to Digital Assets and a Summary of the 2022 Amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code,” argues that Arkansas should adopt the 2022 Amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code, including Article 12 which governs transactions involving digital assets such as cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens, to maintain pace in the digital age of commerce.  You can read David’s article here. In “Pay to Play: The Effect of the Brine Conservation Act’s Statutory “In-Lieu” Royalty Provision on the Long-Term Economic Viability of Arkansas’s Brine-Lithium Industry,” Tyler asserts that the Arkansas General Assembly needs to amend specific subsections of the Brine Act to alleviate an unnecessary economic risk to Arkansas’s brine-lithium development in south Arkansas. Tyler’s article can be found here. David and Tyler, third-year law students at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, will join Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull as associates in the transactional department upon graduation.

E. B. (Chip) Chiles IV, a Managing Member of Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC, was inducted as a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL) at its 2024 Annual Meeting held in Ojai, California, March 6-10, 2024. The International Academy of Trial Lawyers limits membership to 500 Fellows from the United States in addition to Fellows from nearly 40 countries across the globe. IATL seeks out, identifies, acknowledges, and honors those who have achieved a career of excellence through demonstrated skill and ability in jury trials, trials before the court, and appellate practice.  Members are engaged in civil practice on both the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s side of the courtroom, and the trial of criminal cases. The Academy invites only lawyers who have attained the highest level of advocacy. A comprehensive screening process identifies the most distinguished members of the trial bar through both peer and judicial review.  Mr. Chiles was evaluated by his colleagues and the judges in his jurisdiction and was highly recommended for possessing these qualifications and characteristics. Chartered in 1954, IATL’s general purposes are to cultivate the science of jurisprudence, promote reforms in the law, facilitate the Administration of Justice, and elevate the standards of integrity, honor, and courtesy in the legal profession.

Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC was named US Award Winner for the State of Arkansas by Benchmark Litigation at the annual Benchmark US Awards held in New York on March 13, 2024, marking the eleventh time the firm has received this distinction.  A full list of the winners can be found here. The Benchmark Litigation US Awards recognize the country’s most distinguished litigators and their firms for their exemplary work over the past twelve months. After months of peer review-based research and submission reviews, the Benchmark team set out to uncover the most impactful cases, the lawyers and law firms behind them, and the litigators who have paved the way. Previously, the firm was recognized in the 2024 edition of Benchmark Litigation as one of only four “highly recommended firms” for litigation in Arkansas, with four attorneys highlighted as Litigation Stars and three attorneys named Future Stars. The firm was also highlighted as one of four “recommended firms” in Arkansas for Labor & Employment for 2024, with two of our attorneys named Labor & Employment Stars – South.  More information about these and other rankings can be found on our Awards page. Benchmark Litigation—the definitive guide to America’s leading litigation firms and attorneys—is the only publication to focus exclusively on US litigation.

Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC is pleased to announce that Shelley Fleisch-Djurica has been named a member of the law firm.     Ms. Fleisch-Djurica’s practice focuses on banking technology and fintech agreements and counseling her clients on a variety of technology contracting matters, including information security, data privacy and federal and state financial regulatory compliance. She regularly advises financial institution clients on risks and obligations under laws relevant to their data and legal issues. Ms. Fleisch-Djurica also has experience with complex civil and business litigation and representing employers in employment-related matters, including representation of a corporate client in obtaining summary judgment on claims of Fair Labor Standards Act and Arkansas Minimum Wage Act violations in the Eastern District of Arkansas.  Ms. Fleisch-Djurica obtained her J.D. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bown School of Law.  Upon graduation from law school, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Tom Glaze of the Arkansas Supreme Court.