Benjamin R. McCorkle

Selected as one of the top 100 Trial Lawyers in Arkansas, Benjamin McCorkle is a founding partner of Beacon Legal Group (BLG).  Honored by the Arkansas Bar Foundation for the best legal writing for 2014-15, Mr. McCorkle is an accomplished cyber law and mass torts attorney.  Mr. McCorkle’s practice areas also include personal injury law, Constitutional law, appellate procedure, and business and commercial law.

Prior to founding BLG, Mr. McCorkle served as the Director of the Arkansas Legislative Information Office, and Executive Director of the Preparatory Committee for the 1980 Arkansas Constitutional Convention.

A proud techno-geek, Mr. McCorkle began a computer programming career in the early 1980’s as founder and President of VS Software, a computer software development firm – a position he held until entering law school in 1998. His knowledge of Internet technologies and business law has made Mr. McCorkle a leading cyber law attorney, and his experience fighting for the rights of the injured has made him a leading mass torts attorney.

Mr. McCorkle is licensed to practice in: 

• Arkansas State Courts
• Eastern and Western District Federal Courts
• Eight Circuit Court of Appeals 

He is a member of: 

• Arkansas Bar Association
• Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association
• Federal Bar Association
• National Trial Lawyers Association
• Phi Kappa Phi

Education

Mr. McCorkle earned Bachelor’s (Dean’s Honor List) and Master’s (Chancellor’s Honor List) degrees in Communications from Texas Tech University.

He received his Juris Doctorate from the William Bowen School of Law, graduating with honors in 2001. Some of his distinguished student activities included:

• Assistant Executive Editor of the Law Review
• Swing Man for the National Moot Court Team
• Swing Man for the Competition Trial Team
• A member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society
• President of the Pulaski County Bar Association, Student Division
• A Fogleman Scholarship Recipient
• A pupil of the American Inns of Court Foundation
• Dean and Master of Ritual for Delta Theta Phi legal fraternity
• Student Mentor 

During the summer of 2000, Mr. McCorkle studied international business law at the Haifa Law Institute, University of Haifa School of Law, Haifa, Israel, publishing the top paper in Comparative International Business Law. Several of Mr. McCorkle’s other top papers include: Communications Law, Computer Law, Privacy Law & Technology, International Business Law, and Mediation Clinic.

Experience 

After graduating from law school, Mr. McCorkle clerked for the Honorable Annabelle Imber-Tuck, Associate Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, served as Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Division, and worked as a litigator and legal researcher for the Law Offices of Peter Miller. In addition to his duties as a founding partner of BLG, Mr. McCorkle is also the Director of Legal Studies of the Arkansas Academy of Professional Education.

Publications 

Mr. McCorkle has been published in numerous legal periodicals during law school and as subsequently as a practicing attorney.  The Arkansas Bar Foundation honored him for the best legal writing in the Arkansas Lawyer 2014-15. He is a regular instructor at continuing legal education conferences, especially in cyber-law topics, and he was the organizer for the 2014-15 Tech Law conference and for the 2015-16 Tech Law conference of the Arkansas Bar Association.

Continuing Legal Education Presentations 

• Arkansas Internet Legislation                 Ark AG                  2003
• Arkansas Cyberlaw                                FBI                       2004
• eDiscovery                                           ABA                       2013
• eDiscovery                                           ABA                       2014
• Web Audits                                           ABA                       2014
• Using Legal Tech                                   ABA                       2014
• eDiscovery                                           ATLA                      2014
• Comparative Fault                                 ABA                       2015
• Business by a Handshake?                     LR Chamber           2015
• Internet Business Models                       SBA                       2015
• Landmines & Lead Balloons,
  • Internet Pitfalls                           ABA                       2015
• Legal Web Audits                                   ABA                       2015
• Privacy Hot Topics                                  ABA                       2015
• Tech Law Conference Coordinator            ABA                       2015
• Gold in Them There BitCoins                   ABA                       2015
• Non-Party Fault                                      ATLA                     2015
• Social Media Discovery                           ABA                       2015
• Tech Law Conference Coordinator            ABA                       2016
• Social Media & Expert Witnesses             NBI                        2016
• Free Sources for Legal Research              NBI                       2016
• Internet Searching                                 NBI                       2016
• Privacy & Judicial Disclosure                    Venture Center      2016
• Tech & Future Law Firms                         ABA                      2016
• Tech Law Conference Coordinator            ABA                      2016
• ICE Storms Approach, I-9 Audit               ABA                      2017
• Just for the “L” of It, L-1 Visas                 ABA                      2017
• Immigration Law Update                         ABA                      2018
• Get Ready for an I.C.E. Storm                 ABA                      2018
• Mass Torts 101                                       ABA                      2018
• Using Expert Witnesses – Social Media     NBI                       2018
• Technology and Ethics                            ABA                       2019
• Technology and Ethics                            ABA Best of            2019