Rose Law Firm

Last updated
Rose Law Firm
Rose Law Firm.gif
Headquarters Little Rock, Arkansas
No. of offices2
No. of attorneys55 as of 2023 [1]
No. of employeesAbout 80 as of 2008 [2]
Major practice areasGeneral practice, corporate
Revenueabout $10 million [2]
Date foundedNovember 1, 1820
Founder Robert Crittenden
Chester Ashley
Company type Professional association
Website www.roselawfirm.com
The old entrance of Rose Law Firm (older building) RoseLawFirmRear2008.jpg
The old entrance of Rose Law Firm (older building)
The current entrance of the firm; it shares the newer building with AgHeritage, a farm credit services cooperative. RoseLawFirmFront2008.jpg
The current entrance of the firm; it shares the newer building with AgHeritage, a farm credit services cooperative.

Rose Law Firm is an American law firm headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Contents

It dates its origins to November 1, 1820, sixteen years before Arkansas statehood, when Robert Crittenden, born 1797, and Chester Ashley, born 1791, entered into an agreement for a "Partnership in the Practice of Law". As such, it is the third oldest law firm in the United States [3] and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. [4] [5] It is also the oldest company of any kind in Arkansas. [4]

In 2018, the firm elected its first female managing member. [6] In 2020, the firm celebrated its 200th birthday. [7]

History

Early history – 1820–1865

The Rose Law Firm dates its formation to the 1820 partnership of Crittenden and Ashley, whose handwritten law partnership agreement hangs in the Rose boardroom. [8] Robert Crittenden served as Arkansas' territorial governor and negotiated Arkansas' admission to the United States as the 25th state in 1836. Chester Ashley served as a United States Senator from Arkansas. Between 1837 and 1844, when Ashley was elected to the U.S. Senate, Ashley was Watkins' law partner. Ashley's "original partnership with the well-connected Robert Crittenden had dissolved over political differences." [9] Watkins' previous partnership, with James Curran, begun in 1844, had ended with Curran's death in 1854 (Watkins, a widower, married Curran's widow). Watkins was Arkansas Attorney General from 1848 to 1851; "however, his primary focus continued to be his private practice." [9] From 1853 to 1854 Watkins was Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court and did not practice law. [9] Curran's death led him to resign from his position, to take care of his law practice. [9]

Rose years – 1865–1905

Although the firm has changed its name a number of times, the first Rose family member to be associated with the firm occurred in 1865, when newly-arrived U. M. Rose formed a law partnership with George Claiborne Watkins. [10] In 1881 the firm name became U.M. Rose and Geo. B. Rose, George being Uriah's son. In 1893 W.E. Hemingway joined the firm, which became Rose, Hemingway & Rose. In 1905 the firm merged with Cantrell and Loughborough. [11]

Rose Law Firm members have historically been active in politics and civic affairs. U.M. Rose co-founded the American Bar Association and served as its president in 1901–1902. Rose was later appointed the American representative to the Second Hague Peace Conference and was instrumental in drafting the Hague Convention. Six of the firm's members have served on the Arkansas Supreme Court (three as Chief Justice), and six members have also served as President of the Arkansas Bar Association. Rose Law Firm members have served as Commissioner of the Uniform Commission on State Laws, President of the National Association of Bond Lawyers and President of the Arkansas Bar Association.

Modern history – 1905–present

By the late 1970s, the firm had nine partners and a long name – Rose, Nash, Williamson, Carroll, Clay, & Giroir. [12] The firm simplified its name to Rose Law Firm in 1980. [12]

In the economic realm, Rose has been termed "the ultimate establishment law firm" [12] in the state and "the legal arm of the powerful". [13] During the 1970s, for example, its clients included Tyson Foods, Wal-Mart, large brokerage Stephens Inc., and Worthen Bank, as well as the Arkansas Democrat and other Hussman family media holdings. [12] Hillary Rodham became the firm's first female associate, [12] and soon its first female partner, [14] during her husband Bill Clinton's tenure as Arkansas Attorney General and Governor of Arkansas. Webster Hubbell, Vince Foster, and William H. Kennedy, III were also partners, before becoming Assistant Attorney General, Deputy White House Counsel, and Associate White House Counsel in the Clinton administration, respectively. [15] In all, the firm grew five times in size between the early 1970s and early 1990s. [16] According to a 1994 article, "Among Arkansas firms, Rose is viewed as the whitest of the white shoes. It is dominated by white men, most of whom came from privileged families in the state and graduated from one of the two accredited law schools in the state. Only a handful of women, and no blacks, have been made partners." [5]

Rose Law Firm entered the national news during the 1990s as part of the Whitewater controversy, as investigators sought to determine how much work Clinton had done for the firm while representing Jim McDougal in cases involving the latter's Madison Guaranty and Castle Grande enterprises. [17]

The firm's Little Rock building consists of both an old red brick structure, which was converted from a YMCA facility and has hardwood floors and an indoor swimming pool, [13] and a connected newer structure. A second office in Fayetteville, Arkansas was opened in 2017 when the members of the Henry Law Firm, which specialized in intellectual property law, were absorbed into the firm. [18]

Affiliations

Rose Law Firm is the Arkansas member of two law firm affiliate groups: State Capital Law Group and Lex Mundi.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vince Foster</span> American lawyer (1945–1993)

Vincent Walker Foster Jr. was an American attorney who served as deputy White House counsel during the first six months of the Clinton administration.

The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, Whitewatergate, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s. It began with an investigation into the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their associates, Jim and Susan McDougal, in the Whitewater Development Corporation. This failed business venture was incorporated in 1979 with the purpose of developing vacation properties on land along the White River near Flippin, Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Guy Tucker</span> Governor of Arkansas from 1992 to 1996

James Guy Tucker Jr. is an American former politician, businessman, and attorney who served as the 43rd governor of Arkansas from 1992 until his resignation in 1996 after his conviction for fraud during the Whitewater affair. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 15th lieutenant governor, state attorney general, and as a U.S. representative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U. M. Rose</span> American lawyer

Uriah Milton Rose was an American lawyer and Confederate sympathizer. "Approachable, affable, and kind," graceful and courteous, he was called "the most scholarly lawyer in America" and "one of the leading legal lights of the nation", "a towering figure in the...life of Little Rock". He was a founder of the American Bar Association, of which he was twice president, 1891–92 and 1901-02.

Webster Lee "Webb" Hubbell is a former United States Associate Attorney General from 1993 to 1994 who as part of the Whitewater controversy pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of failing to disclose a conflict of interest, and was sentenced to 21 months in prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal Services Corporation</span> US non-profit legal-aid company

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is a publicly funded, 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation established by the United States Congress. It seeks to ensure equal access to justice under the law for all Americans by providing funding for civil legal aid to those who otherwise would be unable to afford it. The LSC was created in 1974 with bipartisan congressional sponsorship and the support of the Nixon administration, and LSC is funded through the congressional appropriations process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chester Ashley</span> American politician (1790–1848)

Chester Ashley was an American politician who represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1844 until his death.

Hugh Edwin Rodham is an American lawyer and former Democratic Party politician who is the only surviving brother of former New York Senator, First Lady, and Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the brother-in-law of former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillary Clinton</span> American politician and diplomat (born 1947)

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a U.S. senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and as the first lady of the U.S. to president Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the party's nominee in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, becoming the first woman to win a presidential nomination by a major U.S. political party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William H. Bowen School of Law</span>

The UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law is a public law school, part of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The school is both American Bar Association (ABA) accredited and a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dustin McDaniel</span> American lawyer and politician

Dustin Blake McDaniel is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 55th Attorney General of Arkansas from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he a founding partner of the Little Rock, Arkansas law firm McDaniel Wolff, PLLC. As of 2023, McDaniel is the last Democrat to have held the position of Arkansas Attorney General.

In 1978 and 1979, lawyer and First Lady of Arkansas Hillary Rodham Clinton engaged in a series of trades of cattle futures contracts. Her initial $1,000 investment had generated nearly $100,000, when she stopped trading after ten months. In 1994, after Clinton had become First Lady of the United States, the trading became the subject of considerable controversy regarding the likelihood of such a spectacular rate of return, possible conflict of interest, and allegations of disguised bribery. It was suspected by commentators that the profits were in fact allocations to her of profits from unrelated large block trades managed by her investment advisor James Blair, outside counsel to Tyson Foods, Arkansas' largest employer, in an attempt to gain influence with her husband Bill Clinton, then Attorney General of Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George C. Watkins</span> American judge (1815–1872)

George Claiborne Watkins was an Arkansas attorney who served as Arkansas Attorney General from 1848 to 1851, and as Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1853 to 1854.

Susan P. Thomases is a New York-based attorney. She served as personal counsel and an informal adviser to Hillary Clinton during the presidency of Bill Clinton. She was a prominent witness during the Senate Whitewater Hearings in 1995. She served as the model for the character Lucille Kaufmann from the 1996 political novel Primary Colors.

Robert M. Wilson Jr. was an Arkansas lawyer.

William H. Kennedy III is an American lawyer from Arkansas, who served as Associate White House Counsel during the Clinton administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal career of Hillary Clinton</span>

Following her graduation from Yale Law School in 1973 until becoming first lady of the United States in 1993, Hillary Clinton practiced law. In 1988 and 1991 The National Law Journal named Clinton one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the United States. While she did pass the Arkansas bar exam, she failed to pass the District of Columbia bar exam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillary Clinton's tenures as First Lady of Arkansas</span>

Hillary Clinton served as first lady of Arkansas during the two governorships of her husband, Bill Clinton. During her husband's first governorship, she was known as Hillary Rodham. However, in his second governorship, she made use of the name Hillary Rodham Clinton.

From the mid-1980s until 1992, Hillary Clinton served on the boards of directors of several companies. At the time she served on these boards, Clinton was the first lady of Arkansas and was also a partner at the Rose Law Firm.

References

  1. "Attorneys". Rose Law Firm. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Rose Law Firm, A Professional Association". Hoover's . Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  3. Suzanne Goldenberg (May 24, 2006). "The real state of the union: how well are the Clintons getting on?". The Guardian .
  4. 1 2 "Arkansas Business: Oldest companies in Arkansas". Little Rock: KTHV. July 10, 2013. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Stephen Labaton (February 26, 1994). "Rose Law Firm, Arkansas Power, Slips as It Steps Onto a Bigger Stage". The New York Times .
  6. "Rose Law Firm Names First Female Managing Member". Arkansas Business. February 7, 2018.
  7. "Rose Law Firm Marks 200th Anniversary with $200K in Donations". Arkansas Business. November 2, 2020.
  8. Rose Law Firm. "History" . Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Pruden III, William H. (2016). "George Claibourne Watkins (1815–1872)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Central Arkansas Library System.
  10. "History & Mission". Rose Law Firm. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  11. "Two Big Law Firms United". Arkansas Democrat . October 5, 1905. p. 7.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Carl Bernstein, A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton , Knopf, ISBN   0-375-40766-9. pp. 128–29
  13. 1 2 Maraniss, David (1995). First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton . Simon & Schuster. pp.  369, 430. ISBN   0-671-87109-9.
  14. Gerth, Jeff; Van Natta Jr., Don (2007). Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton . New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN   978-0-316-01742-8. p. 60
  15. Dickenson, Mollie (July 27, 1998). "Victim of circumstance". Salon .
  16. Von Drehle, David (August 15, 1993). "The Crumbling of a Pillar in Washington". The Washington Post .
  17. "Rose Law Firm Billing Records". Frontline . WGBH educational foundation: PBS. February 22, 1999.
  18. "Little Rock's Rose Law Firm, state's oldest business, hangs shingle in Fayetteville". Talk Business & Politics. December 4, 2017.