Jess Askew III

Jess Askew III practices in the areas of business litigation, constitutional, media and appellate law.  His recent notable cases include Arkansas Blue Cross v. Little Rock Cardiology Clinic, 551 F. 3d 812 (2009), dealing with federal ancillary jurisdiction in a health-care case; Arkansas Democrat-Gazette v. District Court, Ark. S. Ct. No. 08-1435 (Dec. 18, 2008), establishing the availability of a writ of certiorari from a circuit court to an inferior court under Amendment 80 to the Arkansas Constitution; Cox v. Daniels, 374 Ark. 437 (2008), rejecting a ballot-title challenge to the Arkansas College Scholarship Lottery Amendment under Amendment 7 to the Arkansas Constitution; Pulaski County v. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc., 370 Ark. 459 (2007), affirming the right of access to emails of a public employee against privacy challenges; Beverly Enters. – Ark., Inc. v. Circuit Court, 367 Ark. 13 (2006), reversing a $25 million supersedeas requirement imposed by a trial judge in a class action and clarifying the law of supersedeas bonds, and Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. Sauer, 358 Ark. 89 (2004), and Advocat, Inc. v. Sauer, 353 Ark. 29 (2003), which together reduced by $51.5 million the largest personal injury judgment in the history of Arkansas.

A Little Rock native, Mr. Askew graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1982 and magna cum laude from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1986.  In law school he was Order of the Coif, a member of the Thurston Society, and an editorial board member of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly.  After law school, he was a law clerk for two years for Richard Sheppard Arnold of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Mr. Askew is a member of the American Bar Association and its Litigation Section, and the Media Law Resource Center. In the Arkansas Bar Association, he has served as a member of the House of Delegates, Chair of the Appellate Practice Committee and was the first Chair of the Arkansas Bar Association’s Litigation Section.  Mr. Askew is listed in Best Lawyers in America under Appellate Law, Communications Law, Media Law, First Amendment Law and Commercial Litigation; in Chambers USA as a “Leader” in the field of General Commercial Litigation; and in Mid-South Super Lawyers in the areas of Business Litigation and Intellectual Property Litigation.

Mr. Askew is active in civic and non-profit groups and serves as Chairman of the Board of eSTEM Public Charter Schools, Inc., which supports the eSTEM Public Charter Schools in downtown Little Rock.  He is a cyclist, woodworker, gardener and, with his wife, Kate Anderson Askew, the proud parent of two daughters.

• Print
• Bookmark
• Email