Center for Arkansas Legal Services Welcomes New Executive Director Milo Mumgaard

The Center for Arkansas Legal Services (CALS), based in Little Rock with seven offices throughout central and southern Arkansas, is pleased to announce its first new Executive Director in almost three decades. Milo Mumgaard joins CALS at a critical moment for low-income Arkansans who are facing an increasingly difficult economy and legal environment and need protection and advancement of their fundamental civil legal rights now more than ever. 

Mumgaard joins CALS as its new Executive Director with over thirty years of experience leading civil legal services and public interest legal programs across the country. Most recently, Mumgaard served seven years as Executive Director of Legal Aid of Nebraska, a statewide legal services non-profit law firm based in Omaha. During his successful tenure, Legal Aid of Nebraska doubled its staff to over 100 (including almost 60 attorneys), nearly doubled its revenue and budget to over $11 million annually, launched new community-based projects to more effectively bring critically needed civil legal services to families and communities across Nebraska, and significantly increased its pro bono (volunteer) legal profession support and participation.

“CALS is pleased, after a national search, to welcome Milo to Arkansas. Milo brings to CALS an exceptional combination of real-world, on-the-ground experience with guiding legal services for the poor in some of the most difficult places in the country, and a successful track record in working with all sides to overcome barriers to equal justice for all,” said UALR Bowen School of Law Professor Nicholas Kahn-Fogel, CALS Board President. “We’re confident Milo’s leadership will continue to build on CALS’ remarkable tradition and history and the amazing accomplishments of our staff and volunteers. We are excited for a new era ahead for CALS, with Milo’s experienced leadership and increasingly positive results achieved for low-income Arkansans.”

Prior to his service as Executive Director of Legal Aid of Nebraska, Mumgaard’s career included time spent as Chief Counsel to Lincoln, Nebraska’s Mayor, where he focused on affordable housing and sustainability; founder and Executive Director of Nebraska Appleseed, a leading non-profit focusing on the rights of low-income families, where Mumgaard litigated multiple impact cases, arguing numerous times before both the federal Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and Nebraska Supreme Court; helped develop national legal strategies as Associate General Counsel for the AFL-CIO, to protect low-wage workers in some of the most vulnerable and least safe jobs in the country; and represented migrant farmworkers in federal court while serving in rural West Texas. Mumgaard is an honors graduate of the New York University School of Law, where he was Editor in Chief of the Review of Law and Social Change.

“I am honored to join CALS and its passionate staff and network of supporters. I am very much looking forward to working with Arkansans of all backgrounds to seek, in all the ways we can, a more fair and just life for everyone,” said Mumgaard. “CALS has been instrumental over the years in providing, day in and day out, the legal services that provide hope and opportunity for families and people who too often are simply left out. I’ve dedicated my career to building a more equal justice system for everyone, one that fully lives up to its inspiring ideals, and I’m delighted to join my new friends and colleagues in Arkansas to do just that.”

Mumgaard succeeds Jean Turner Carter, who served over 26 years as Executive Director at CALS. Jean retired on September 30 after an extraordinary forty-plus-year career in civil legal services in Arkansas. Jean provided steady and strong leadership through many mergers, funding challenges, political leadership changes, and major advances in the law affecting low-income Arkansans.

“Jean’s legacy is unmatched here in Arkansas, and she has truly been a special force in building and maintaining legal services for the poor all over the state,” said Board President Kahn-Fogel. “Through her dedication and commitment, she has been an example for all of us and leaves behind a remarkable record. We look forward to continuing to build on all Jean has accomplished.”

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About the Center for Arkansas Legal Services (CALS)

The mission of the Center for Arkansas Legal Services (CALS) is to defend the legal rights and work for systemic solutions to balance the scales of justice for low-income people and communities. CALS provides low-income Arkansans with free legal assistance on some of the most challenging and pressing legal problems they face, including evictions, domestic violence, debt collections, and family financial support. CALS focuses on four priority areas: (1) Improving Economic Stability & Conditions; (2) Protecting Families & Children; (3) Ensuring Habitable, Affordable Housing; and (4) Advocating for the Needs of Vulnerable Populations & Communities. Since 1965, CALS has provided free legal assistance to hundreds of thousands of low-income Arkansans through direct legal representation by attorneys, legal documentation and document preparation, accessible information online, community education and outreach, and self-help assistance. During 2022, CALS has received over 40,000 Helpline calls, where we answer legal questions for free, identify how CALS can represent clients in and out of court, and direct our community to additional helpful resources. We also provide specific legal services through varied projects and partnerships, including numerous pro bono clinics and our “Beyond Opioids” initiative. Our 44-county service area includes our main headquarters in Little Rock with seven satellite offices in Fort Smith, Pine Bluff, Hot Springs, El Dorado, Russellville, Benton, and Rogers.

Contact Information:
Amber Quaid
Communications Director
Center for Arkansas Legal Services
aquaid@arkanaslegalservices.org