Arms Around Arkadelphia - 2023

On June 13, 2023, several members of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association participated in the annual Arms Around Arkadelphia service projects organized by First Baptist Church of Arkadelphia.

Readers of this blog may recall ATLA’s participation in prior years, here, here, and here. For 2023, the ATLA crew’s job was demolition of a shed, pictured below. The shed belonged to the homeowner’s father, who passed away a few years ago. The health issues of the homeowner gave us the opportunity to help.

After getting the electricity turned off, we cleaned out the inside of the shed as best we could:

removing the window was the final prep before demolition began

While we’re always willing to do whatever is needed, I’ve observed demolition is a coveted activity of ATLA members. A lot of our time is spent talking on the phone, or looking at computer screens reading cases, court rules, evidence rules, etc. Getting exercise, and working outside is always a nice change of pace. And, as if the demolition were not enough, we were instructed to burn the debris and haul the roof to the street:

THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THE SHED HAD BEEN STRIPPED AT THIS POINT AND THE ONLY THING LEFT TO DECIDE WAS WHICH DIRECTION IT WAS GOING TO COME DOWN

Once we got the shed down, we quickly discovered separating the roofing from the plywood was the biggest challenge of the whole project due to tar melting the two together:

We finally just chainsawed the underlying supporting structures and removed the plywood sheets, burned the plywood sheets that we were able to remove the roofing, and separated the rest into a separate pile to take to the street.

SHORTLY AFTER THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN, WE DECIDED IT WAS TIME FOR LUNCH

I always look forward to lunch every year during Arms Around Arkadelphia. It is a potluck full of homemade goodness cooked by members of the First Baptist Church. It’s also a good time to catch up with longtime friends, and to make new ones. This year, we were fortunate enough to have members of a youth group join us after lunch, who proved to be a great help in finishing the project:

With the reinforcements after lunch, we were able to finish in a reasonable amount of time. Many thanks to them, and to Arms Around Arkadelphia for allowing us to participate again this year.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, ATLA MEMBERS CALEB BAUMGARDNER OF THE BAUMGARDNER LAW FIRM IN EL DORADO; BRIAN TRUBITT OF TAYLOR KING & ASSOCIATES IN ARKADELPHIA; TAYLOR CHANEY OF CHANEY LAW FIRM, P.A. IN ARKADELPHIA; AND JAY NEAL OF TAYLOR KING & ASSOCIATES IN ARKADELPHIA.

If you’re interested in getting involved with Arms Around Arkadelphia, either with your time or financially, or both, contact me at taylor@chaneylaw.com or David McAlister at davidmcallister36@gmail.com.

Water Consciousness - Things to Remember this July 4th

A few recent events have reminded me of the importance of being water conscious.

Earlier this year, a story emerged about Peyton Hillis, whom you may remember as Arkansas’ top ranked high school football player in 2004:

You may remember Hillis catching punts for the Hogs, or having the best hands on the team during his time in Fayetteville, but I remember him being the bone crushing fullback for DMAC and Felix Jones:

Or … you may remember Hillis being the Madden cover-boy in 2012:

It took someone with that kind of athletic ability earlier this year to prevent a tragedy. A swimming incident occurred involving Hillis’ son and niece (both under 10-years old), which nearly took his life on January 4th of this year, as he told Good Morning America:

Just a few days ago, another Razorback football legend was not so lucky in a similar situation. Ryan Mallett tragically drowned on June 27, 2023. It was first thought he got caught in a rip current on the Florida Gulf Coast near Destin. Although I’ve been a time or two, going to the beach is not a regular activity for me. I’ve never researched rip currents before until now. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”) explains:

“When waves travel from deep to shallow water, they break near the shoreline and generate currents. A rip current forms when a narrow, fast-moving section of water travels in an offshore direction. Rip current speeds as high as 8 feet per second have been measured—faster than an Olympic swimmer can sprint! This makes rip currents especially dangerous to beachgoers as these currents can sweep even the strongest swimmer out to sea.”

— oceanservice.noaa.gov

The NOAA recommends caution for beach swimmers because rip currents move perpendicular to shore and can be very strong:

A person caught in a rip current can be swept away from shore very quickly. For whatever reason, the rip currents in the gulf have been particularly bad this year. Local authorities have warnings along the beach to advise how safe it is to swim, which ranges from dangerous marine life to the beach being closed. According to the NOAA, the best way to escape a rip current is by swimming parallel to the shore instead of towards it, since most rip currents are less than 80 feet wide. A swimmer can also let the current carry him or her out to sea until the force weakens, because rip currents stay close to shore and usually dissipate just beyond the line of breaking waves. Occasionally, however, a rip current can push someone hundreds of yards offshore. The most important thing to remember if you are ever caught in a rip current, according to the NOAA, is not to panic. Continue to breathe, try to keep your head above water, and don’t exhaust yourself fighting against the force of the current.

Okaloosa County, Florida authorities later issued a statement that rip currents or other swimming or surf conditions were not a factor in Mallett’s passing. It was just a tragic accident.

I’ll never forget Mallett towering above his teammates and coaches walking up and down the Hogs’ sidelines in 2008 while he sat out that season after transferring from Michigan. As a Razorback fan, it didn’t take long in 2009 to realize Mallett was a special player as he torched a very good Georgia defense:

Mallett’s other accolades from 2009 can be seen here, here, and here. In 2010, Mallett led the Hogs to their only BCS bowl appearance, and for any Hog fan, they won’t forget moments in these two games:

Mallett’s other accolades from 2010 can be seen here and here. As a Hog fan, Mallett represented hope, and provided uncommon faith in a player that does not come around often. I think the hope, faith, and joy he brought as a player to fans is why many who knew never personally knew him (me included) feel a sense of sorrow after his passing, which was shown by the eruption of social media post by people whom Mallett generously shared a picture. As a person, he was obviously much more to those close to him. #Remember15

The water safety events involving Hillis and Mallet, and the approaching 4th of July holiday weekend, were a reminder to me to always be water conscious. What hit me about the Hillis’ interview was him talking about the weather causing dangerous swimming conditions. The Hillis and Mallett situations got me looking into other water safety topics. I found stories including three men who drowned while recreating too close to a low-water dam in the Tulsa area on the Arkansas River, a duck hunter falling through ice and nearly drowning, and high winds causing a boat to capsize, causing a duck hunter to drown.

The Red Cross recommends the following swimming safety tips: (1) provide close and constant attention to children you are supervising in or near water; (2) take smart precautions and use layers of protection; and (3) ensure that everyone in the family learns to swim well and what to do in a water emergency. Each recommendation has several sub-points supporting each factor that is worth reviewing. Other additional water safety resources provided by the Red Cross are:

Water safety;

Drowning prevention and facts;

Home pool and hot tub safety;

Swimming in lakes, rivers and streams;

Swimming safely at the beach; and

Life jacket safety saves lives.

Each link above has several worthwhile recommendations under each topic to think about before hitting the water this holiday weekend.

If you’re looking for swim classes, the Red Cross also provides locations near you. Locally, the City of Arkadelphia will be providing swim lessons this summer through the Parks and Recreation Department at the Aquatic Park. The first session of swim lessons occurred from June 6-16. The second session is from July 11-21, and the third session is from August 1-11. Each session will be on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 10:00-10:30 am at a cost of $65.00 to participate. Each session will cater to six different swimming abilities.

In addition to swimming safety, a website hosted by the U.S. Coast Guard has lots of relevant water safety topics. For example, one study by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators found as follows:

Recreational boating statistics published by the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard are also telling. For 2022, the following charts demonstrate the primary contributing factors for boating accidents and injuries are closely correlated:

You can find the full document here, and below is an executive summary of all data, and the conclusions drawn by the authors:

From this author’s perspective, and perhaps not surprisingly, the conclusion to draw from these statistics is to ensure the operator of a boat has enough experience and education to do so; and to be conscious of the leading causes of boating accidents and injury shown above. The Arkansas Game and Fish provide lots of good resources on boater education, which you can find here.

With the above in mind, have a safe and fun holiday weekend celebrating the birth of the country.

The 2023 Assist of the Year goes to the Iron Eagle Moving Company

We mentioned earlier in this space the law firm moved two blocks south to 501 Crittenden Street after 20-years of being located on the second floor of the U.S. Bank building in downtown Arkadelphia. If that sounds like an undertaking, it was; and it would have been worse if the force wasn’t with us:

You’ve seen Master Yoda force transfer an X-Wing out of a swamp. You’ve seen him win lightsaber duels with Sith lords 10 times his size. Even Master Yoda was not powerful enough to force transfer 20-years worth of law firm 2-blocks south; but Leon Johnson and Iron Eagle Moving Company were, as you’ll see below.

Moving is my least favorite thing to do. Its much more difficult when you don’t have a place to put stuff. When Don and Terri moved to Arkadelphia in 1979, they obtained storage space, which turned into the law firm’s location for closed client files. The Arkansas Rules of Professional Conduct has certain requirements for the retention of documents, as follows:

“A lawyer shall take reasonable steps to maintain the client’s file in paper or electronic format for five (5) years after the conclusion of the representation in a matter.”

— Ark. R. Prof'l Conduct 1.19(b)(1)

In keeping with this rule, Don never threw any closed client files away. So the storage space was full of closed client files, some going back to the ‘80s. Several hundred banker boxes full of these old closed client files had to be removed to make space for newer closed client files. So in essence, what was one move actually turned into two moves.

One of the few things I enjoyed about the move was coming across a few diamonds in the rough (the Price family hoarding gene is strong):

And then there was what seemed liked a never ending supply of boxes. If there was one, there was a thousand (or more):

The move provided us with a much needed opportunity to purge, but not everything we had to get rid of was easy to do. For example:

This old color laserjet printer tried more cases than I have. It was a warrior in the courtroom, and will be missed. But they just don’t make updated printer drivers, even for printers that should be in the hall of fame. Maybe they should make those drivers. Maybe they should have a printer hall of fame.

Slowly but surely, the move out of the old office and into the new office began to take shape:

[Drumroll] … For those who haven’t been by yet, here is the finished product:

In addition to Leon and others with the Iron Eagle Moving Company, our staff were absolute champions during this process. Thank you Jess and Mal! Many others also pitched in and helped at a moments notice. We’re extremely grateful for all of the help everyone provided.

The pictures above of the finished product do not do it justice. Come by and see it for yourself!

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.

The Grunge Pilgrimage

Growing up as the younger brother, I was exposed to whatever my older sibling listened to as he was coming of age in the early ‘90s. MTV still had music (who remembers Headbanger’s Ball and Alternative Nation), and NewsBreaks were brought to you by Kurt Loder. This was the heyday of grunge music, and the epicenter of it all was in Seattle, WA.

The musicians of the era had a way of expressing themselves through music that meant something to me, as if certain songs were written with me specifically in mind. Everyone else I know who loves this music feels similarly.

So when I had the chance to go to Seattle for the 2022 AAJ Summer Convention, I wanted to explore a little deeper into the grunge scene, or what was left of it. A daily hive website suggested the following places:

1. Central Saloon, 207 1st Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104;

2. Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, Seattle, WA 98101;

3. Viretta Park, E. John Street at 39th Avenue E, Seattle, WA;

4. Marco Polo Motel, 4114 Aurora Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103;

5. El Corazon, 109 Eastlake Ave E, Seattle, WA 98109;

6. London Bridge Studio, 20021 Ballinger Way NE suite a, Shoreline, WA 98155;

7. Linda’s Tavern, 707 E Pine St, Seattle, WA 98122; and

8. The Museum of Pop Culture, 325 5th Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109.

Two fellas from Alabama took the pilgrimage with me. We had no idea what to expect. Our first stop was Viretta Park, which is an unofficial Kurt Cobain memorial. What we didn’t know, was that Cobain lived next door and wrote several songs on the benches in the park, seen below:

This is one of the Alabama fellas who made the pilgrimage with me.

Another similar bench was dedicated to Layne Staley, the Alice in Chains frontman who passed on April 5, 2002:

Our next stop was London Bridge Studio. When we got there, the outside looked like a bleak industrial building, and was closed. So word to the wise: don’t go on your grunge pilgrimage on a Sunday. We later found out the studio gives tours for $60.00, but we didn’t have time to make it back. The significance of the studio is the many albums it recorded there, including:

• Demo # 1 - Alice in Chains (1987);

• Shine EP - Mother Love Bone (1989);

• Louder than Love - Soundgarden (1989);

• Apple - Mother Love Bone (1990);

• Facelift - Alice in Chains (1990);

• Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog (1991);

• Ten - Pearl Jam (1991);

• Sap - Alice in Chains (1992);

• Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1992);

• Blind Melon - Blind Melon (1992);

• Dirt - Alice in Chains (1992); and

• Jar of Flies - Alice in Chains (1994).

Andrew Wood was the frontman for Mother Love Bone. When he passed on March 19, 1990, the Temple of the Dog album noted above was recorded as a tribute to Wood. The remaining members of Mother Love Bone formed “Mookie Blaylock,” which later became known as “Pearl Jam.” El Corazon was where Mookie Blaylock first performed, but it is not there anymore.

Re-bar is where Nirvana got kicked out of their own watch party when Nevermind was released. I went to the address but never found it.

Soundgarden and Alice in Chains were frequently in the rotation at Central Saloon, which is also where Sub Pop Records allegedly first heard and signed Nirvana. I was not able to make it over there.

The Marco Polo Hotel is one of the last places Cobain was seen alive. So was Linda’s Tavern. I did not make it to the hotel, but did get a chance to go to Linda’s Tavern. It was my kind of hole-in-the-wall, with low ceilings and an outside back porch.

The conference had an event at the Museum of Pop Culture, which was the final stop on the pilgrimage. At the time the article was written in February of 2021, a Pearl Jam exhibit was displayed. That night, the museum featured Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana.

Both exhibits were must sees; simply incredible.

I thought about this post a lot on the way home. I kept coming back to one conclusion. These individuals and bands personified in their music what it means to be misunderstood, giving an outlet to millions who feel the same way, which I suppose we all do at some point. That kind of connection is timeless.