۽ֱ

۽ֱ logo

Online | A-Z | |

۽ֱ alumna serves as law clerk to Attorney General of Arkansas

Published July 7, 2016

MONROE, La. – University of Louisiana Monroe alumna Emily Helmick was recently selected to serve as a law clerk to Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.

Helmick was one of six, top-tier law students in the state of Arkansas chosen for the paid position through a competitive application and interview process. She clerked in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for the Summer Session I, which ran from May 23 to June 30.

“It is a great service-learning opportunity to have this group of law students in our office this summer,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “They are gaining valuable experience from some of the State’s top attorneys, as well as being exposed to the public service sector. Law clerks are a valuable asset to services provided at the Attorney General’s office.”

A second year student at the University of Arkansas School of Law, Helmick graduated from ۽ֱ in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in healthcare management and marketing. She is from Peja, Kosovo, and graduated from Prishtina High School in Prishtina, Kosovo in 2011.  

While at ۽ֱ, Helmick developed a passion for the healthcare field and so working for the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit was the perfect fit for her, she indicated.

“The Medicaid programs in every state are so important to a lot of people and when you have people abusing the system with Medicaid fraud or abusing patients it’s very frustrating,” said Helmick. “These people at the Attorney General’s office step in and try to balance the scales against people who want to take advantage of the sick, the elderly, and the mentally impaired.”

Helmick did her first internship at ۽ֱ working with a local medical facility and she said it was that experience, coupled with all her work experience in the healthcare field to date, that really prepared her to work for the Attorney General. 

She said one of the main reasons she pursued law school was because of her academic advisor, Dr. Paula Griswold, Association Professor of Health Studies, who suggested law school might be a good fit for her. 

“I had a healthcare law class with Dr. Griswold who noticed my interest in the subject, and so she encouraged me to take the LSAT,” Helmick said.

When asked about her future plans, she expressed a keen desire to return to the healthcare field after law school.

“I think the healthcare industry is quickly evolving, and depending on what happens on the political side of things, in the next 20 years we might have a completely different healthcare system than we’ve ever seen. If we’re going to have an effective healthcare system, we need people who understand policies that comply with federal and state laws,” she said. 

“I’d like to think that by working in the legal field I might be able to do something to help that move along.”