Karen Koch

Assistant Professor of Law

B.A., J.D.

Assistant for Prof. Koch

Professor Karen Koch teaches Legal Research and Writing I and II, and Upper-Level Writing. She also teaches Animal Law at both the law school and the Equine Science Program at the university.

Professor Koch brings expertise and experience from a wide variety of educational and professional areas to her teaching. Professor Koch graduated with a B.A. in Biology and Psychology from Austin College in Sherman, Texas. She earned her J.D. cum laude from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota. She also holds a master's certificate in learning technologies and an arbitrator certification.

Prior to coming to Arkansas she taught Legal Research and Writing at Hamline University School of Law for four years. During that time, she was also a legal writing consultant and coach at Leonard, Street & Deinard in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she worked with the law firm to develop legal writing programs for second-year law student associates, summer associates, and first- to fourth-year associates.

Before joining the Hamline faculty, Professor Koch served as judicial clerk to Judge Sharon L. Hall in the 10th Judicial District of Minnesota. She also worked as a reference attorney for West Publishing and was co-partner in a law office technology consulting firm. Prior to attending law school, she worked at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center doing basic and clinical research on immune cell topics.

Professor Koch is an active member of the Legal Writing Institute and the Association of Legal Writing Directors, serving as a Co-Chair or Committee Member of the LWI/ALWD National Survey of Legal Writing Programs since 2005, and presenting at national and regional Legal Writing conferences. She is also a Member of the ABA and AALS Animal Law Committees.

In Print

Association of Legal Writing Directors/Legal Writing Institute Survey Results, 2006-current, available at http://www.alwd.org/surveys.html

A Multidisciplinary Comparison of Rules-Driven Writing: Similarities in Legal Writing, Biology Research Articles, and Computer Programming, 55 J. Legal Educ. 234 (2005).

Animal Cruelty Laws in Arkansas in the Wake of Act 33 (S.B. 77): An Overview of the New State Animal Cruelty Legislation and Its Possible Effect on City Animal Cruelty Ordinances, 2009 Ark. Law Notes 123.

"What Did I Just Do?" Using Student-Created Concept Maps or Flow Charts to Add A Reflective Visual Component to Legal Research Assignments, 18 Perspec. 119, 121 (2010).