This year’s class of LL.M. candidates have exceptional academic credentials. 

Our expanded efforts in the areas of food law, environmental issues, and sustainability have resulted in increased interest in the program, allowing us to raise our academic standards for admission and serve a broader base of candidates.  We anticipate further growth in these areas in the future, offering many possible opportunities for the program and the school of law.

Joshua Bailey

B.A., English, Ouahita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas
J.D., University of Arkansas School of Law, Fayetteville, Arkansas

In law school, Josh was the President of the UA School of Law Environmental Law
Society and in that role organized the multi-state environmental law conference held at
the School of Law in 2007. He was a semi-finalist in the Benjamin J. Altheimer Moot
Court competition, and he has significant clerkship experience in Arkansas and Texas.
This experience includes work on “green technologies” involving agriculture, the legal
issues involving concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), oil and gas law, and
environmental litigation under the Clean Water Act and CERCLA. Josh is currently
drafting an article on the state regulation of the environmental impacts of natural gas
production.

Liliana Reyes Botero

Attorney at Law, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Columbia
Specialist in Research, Legal Theory, Facultés Universitaires Saint Louis, Brussels, Belgium
(Doctoral Formation in process)

Liliana is from a farming family in Columbia, and her experiences with rural peasants,
poverty, and corruption led her to pursue a career in law. She worked with FINAGRO
(Fondo para el Financiameinto del Sector Agropecuario in the Agricultural Fund of
Securities and was promoted to the Legal Vice Presidency. In 2008, Liliana was selected
to participate in the USDA sponsored Cochran Fellowship Program in Good Agricultural
Practices at the University of California at Davis.

Prior to coming to Arkansas, Liliana has been pursuing the degree of specialist in
research in legal theory offered by the European Academy of Legal Theory in Brussels,
Belgium. This distinguished program is hosted by the Facultés Universitaires Saint
Louis, with classes in English and French that are taught by professors from different
universities throughout the world (USA, other countries of Europe, Latin America,
Australia, and India. She presented the dissertation of her thesis in late July.

Also during the last year, to maintain her connections to the agricultural sector, Liliana
completed two online Columbian courses, Good Agricultural Practices and Agriecology
and Rural Development through http://www.senavirtualgov.com/ .

Emily Bridges

B.A. in Political Science, magna cum laude, Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas
J.D., University of Arkansas School of Law, Fayetteville, Arkansas

This past year, Emily served as a special research assistant to Professor Tim Tarvin
working on the Legal e-source project. This award-winning project undertaken by the
School of Law Legal Clinic and UA Continuing Education provides legal information to
non-profit entities. During law school, Emily served as the student editor of the Journal
of Islamic Law & Culture. She externed with Arkansas Circuit Court Judge David
Clinger and clerked with two law firms in Fayetteville. She is admitted to the Arkansas
bar.

Marie David

Diploma in Teaching and Counseling, Teachers Training College, Benin, Nigeria
LL.B. University of Benin, Benin, Nigeria
Barrister-at-law, Nigerian Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos Nigeria

Marie serves as the Director of Sustainability at Wal-Mart, working with business units
across Wal-Mart stores to implement sustainability initiatives. She coordinates efforts
with private brand categories to pilot the Wal-Mart sustainability index initiative and
integrates social Life Cycle Analysis and social metrics into the broad definition of
sustainability. She is working to develop a business model that connects small scale
entrepreneurs with global supply chains, focusing on providing value and market access.
Prior to her current position, Marie served sequentially as Project Specialist for Global
Supply Chain Management, then Social Responsibility Manager, and then as Director of
Social Responsibility.

Marie first learned about the LL.M. Program through her work with our alumnus, Erimar
Von Der Osten and his work with the Agile Agriculture project of the UA Center for
Applied Sustainability. She is particularly interested in our work in agricultural
sustainability, agricultural labor law, and international rural development initiatives. As
Marie will retain her full time position with Wal-Mart, she will join us on a part time
basis.

Nastasya Knyazhishcheva

Diploma in Law, Velikiy Novgorod State University (high honors)St. Petersburg, Russia

Nastasya enters the program with a strong background in Russian commercial and real
estate law. Before joining us, she served as a junior attorney in the St. Petersburg office
of the American company, Capital Legal Services, LLC., where her work included the
review and preparation of civil agreements, contract negotiations, and licensing
arrangements. Prior to this position, she was employed as a specialist of the Corporate
Department where she worked on commercial offers for Japanese investors. She has also
served as Assistant of Registrar with the Department of Justice on Registration of
Ownership Title to Real Estate and Transactions Therewith, and worked at the Federal
City Court for the city of Novgorod. She published her masters thesis, The Role of
Zemstro in Medicine of XIX Century in Russia, in the University Journal and received a
second place award for it. She has received letters of commendation for her legal
research. Nastasya is particularly interested in agribusiness and commercial law as
applied to the food and agricultural industries.

Baylen Linnekin

B.A., Sociology, American University, Washington D.C.
M.A., Learning Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
J.D., American University Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C.

Baylen was a Note and Comment editor for the ADMINISTRATIVE LAW REVIEW at
American University Washington College of Law. Prior to law school, he received his
Masters degree in Learning Sciences and worked extensively in education and
technology. He used this expertise in law school in his role as research assistant, creating
digital media simulations for use in law school courses. He is co-authoring an article on
the outcome of classroom simulation exercises.

Baylen’s interest in food and agriculture is well documented. He has been active on food
policy issues for some time, writing, publishing, and blogging on current issues. His
recent publications include, Parents: The One-Ingredient Recipe for Healthier Children,
and The ‘Duckathlon’ Pushes Back Against NYC’s Anti-Food Tyranny. Last Spring,
Baylen was a panelist at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Agriculture, Food, and Human
Values Society and the Association for the Study of Food & Society held at Penn State
University; and he was also a panelist at the 12th Annual Association for the Study of
Law, Culture & the Humanities Conference at Suffolk University School of Law.

Danny (Walt) McCarter

B.S., Agri-business, Arkansas Tech University, Russellville, Arkansas
J.D., University of Arkansas School of Law, Fayetteville, Arkansas

Walt does valuable work for the National Ag Law Center, University of Arkansas School
of Law, serving as Research Associate and preparing cases for posting on the aglaw
website. In addition, he clerks with the Bassett Law firm, a Fayetteville law firm with a
recognized agricultural law practice. Walt has experience in the food industry, as prior to
law school, he was the Production Supervisor for Atkins Prepared Foods in Atkins,
Arkansas, supervising 75 employees and two processing lines. There he conducted
employee meetings, set work schedules, verified payroll, documented injuries, handled
suspension and termination procedures, and prepared daily production reports.

Suzanne McMillan

B.A., Sociology/Anthropology Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana
Certificate in International Law, Pace Univ. London Law Program, London, England
J.D., Pace University School of Law, White Plains, New York

Suzanne was the recipient of the Pace Law School Academic Achievement Scholarship,
the Louise and Lawrence Ottinger Public Interest Law Scholarship, and the Charles H.
Revson Student Public Interest Fellowship. She has a strong background and interest in
the issue of animal law and animal welfare. She is the Founder and was the President of
the Pace Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. She worked closely with two of her law
professors on the Pace Law School Animal Law blog and, she interned with the Equal
Justice Alliance in researching the constitutionality of the federal Animal Enterprise
Terrorism Act. She also served as an intern for the Westchester County District
Attorney, working on animal cruelty prosecutions. She spent her last semester of law
school studying European and comparative international law in London through the Pace
University London Law Program, earning a certificate in international law.

Vivek Nemane

B.S., Horticulture, College of Horticulture, Maharashtra State Agricultural University (PDKV), Maharashtra, India
LL.B., Indian Law Society’s Law College, University of Pune, Pune (Maharashtra), India
LL.M. , International Law and Human Rights, Criminal Law and Criminology Department of Law, University of Pune, Pune (Maharashtra), India
M.A. in Development Studies, Specialization: Governance and Democracy, International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands
M.A. in Public Policy, Specialization: International Public Policy, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary

Vivek is currently finishing up an internship with the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the UN at the regional office for Europe and central Asia in Budapest, Hungary. He
was the recipient of the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship by the European Commission, and
he received his Diploma in European Union Law, through the European Public Law
Center, Athens under the EU-India POROS Project funded by the European Commission.
In addition to Vivek’s academic achievements, he has significant agricultural experience,
serving in the positions of Farm Manager and Plant Nursery Supervisor, as well as
working with the Regional Fruit Research Station.