Retirement Celebration to Honor School of Law Professors

The U of A community is invited to join the School of Law to celebrate the retirements of Carl Circo, the Ben J. Altheimer Professor of Legal Advocacy, and Sharon Foster, the former Sidney Parker Davis Jr. Professor of Business and Commercial Law, in recognition of more than two decades of distinguished research, teaching and service.

A reception will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, in the Six Pioneers Room of the School of Law. The event is open to the public.

CARL CIRCO

Circo joined the School of Law faculty in 2003 following more than 20 years in private practice in Kansas City, where he focused on commercial real estate and construction law. A graduate of the University of Nebraska, he earned his B.A. in philosophy in 1971 and his J.D. in 1976.

Prior to joining the Arkansas law faculty, he taught at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law and the University of Nebraska College of Law. At Arkansas, Circo taught a wide range of courses, including Construction Law, Property, Real Estate Transactions, and Literature and Law. He also contributed to interdisciplinary education by teaching Legal Aspects of Construction in the College of Engineering's Master of Science in Construction Management program.

Circo made significant scholarly contributions to the fields of construction and real estate law, including a widely used construction law website, the book Contract Law in the Construction Industry and more than 30 journal articles.

He was named the Arkansas Bar Foundation Professor in 2012 and the Ben J. Altheimer Professor of Legal Advocacy in 2016. A fellow of both the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American College of Construction Lawyers, Circo also served as chair of the Arkansas Bar Association's Construction Law Section in 2018.

SHARON FOSTER

Foster joined the School of Law faculty in 2000, bringing experience in private practice in Los Angeles, where she focused on commercial, intellectual property and business litigation. She earned her B.A. in political science and history from the University of California, Los Angeles; her J.D. from Loyola Law School; and both an LL.M. and Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh.

Prior to joining the U of A School of Law, she served as an adjunct professor and volunteer lecturer at Loyola Law School. At Arkansas, Foster taught a broad range of courses, including Banking Law, Contracts and International Economic Law. She was named the Sidney Parker Davis Jr. Professor of Business and Commercial Law in 2021.

Foster has been an active member of the American Bar Association, the Washington County Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools. She has presented at numerous conferences, including a U.S. Department of State educational exchange with Ukraine, and her scholarship has appeared in publications such as the Ohio State Business Law Journal, the Brigham Young University International Law and Management Review and the DePaul Business and Commercial Law Journal.

The School of Law invites colleagues, students, alumni and friends to join in honoring Circo and Foster for their lasting contributions to the law school and the broader legal community.