Susan Williams
Lawyers, even those not entrenched in legal publishing, know intuitively that reported cases are still tied to somewhat archaic methods (see: citations to paper page numbers), and the only permissible citations are often associated with private publishing companies. However, several dedicated innovators are working to change that, including Susan Williams, who serves as the Reporter of Decisions for Arkansas. For 10 years Arkansas has bucked tradition by recording all decisions electronically, not in books published by outside parties, but in its own secure database. Susan has been instrumental in this shift, helping to grow the project to include opinions of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Court Rules, and Administrative Orders in a form that is easily accessible to the public. Arkansas has also adopted media-neutral citations, which allows complete, official citations to opinions immediately, and without regard to where opinions will be published in paper books.