Laura Ferner
Partner, Crouch, Harwell, Fryar & Ferner PLLC
Co-Owner, B4B
About me: I grew up in Germany and moved to Arkansas when I was 20. I graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville in the fall of 2005. After that, I began working as an immigration attorney for Roy Petty and opened my own firm soon after. In 2017, I joined Crouch, Harwell, Fryar and Ferner as a partner, the first woman at the oldest law firm in Springdale to be partner. This was by far one of the best decisions I have made for my career and overall happiness. I love the people I get to work with every day.
Lives in: Fayetteville • Works in: Springdale
Best Career Advice: You are in charge of chasing your own dreams. My dreams and ambitions are mine alone and not the same as anybody else’s. When it comes to clients, do not take things personally and understand that most of us are doing the best we can.
Lesson Learned the Hard Way: How to protect my own boundaries and learn to say “no.” No single person can do it all, especially alone.
Proudest Moment of Impact: There is not just a single moment of impact that I could pinpoint in my career where I think I helped make an impact. Instead, my career is filled with many little moments of joy and even heartbreak I have shared with my clients.
Call to Action: Immigrants enrich our communities and state as a whole in so many ways, economically and culturally. I think of the physicians working in underserved areas, folks working in poultry processing plants, international students attending our state university and paying higher rates of tuition. Arkansas is a great place to live and raise a family, and together we can make it even better.
What Keeps Me Motivated: I think my main motivation stems from wanting to help people, especially when the odds are stacked against them. Being a single mother, my main motivation early on was survival and trying to provide for my child as best as I could.
TOP 100 WOMEN OF IMPACT IN ARKANSAS 2023
A Women’s Foundation of Arkansas Initiative