Forty Under 40: Madeline Taylor

Madeline Taylor is one of the youngest members at the oldest company in Arkansas.

She earned the promotion in 2019, three years after joining Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, and has practiced at the firm’s Fayetteville office ever since.

Taylor took a unique path to college, from the small south Arkansas town of Prescott — where she was co-valedictorian — to Princeton University. She earned an English literature degree in 2008 and a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 2011.

Taylor practiced law for five years in Tulsa, Okla., first for a law firm and later in-house for a privately-owned company in the energy industry. She returned to her home state in 2016 and earned the top score on the Arkansas Bar Examination in February 2018.

As a business and transactional attorney, Taylor’s practice is a broad mix of commercial and corporate work. She particularly enjoys working on transactions that help finance Arkansas companies.

“I review contracts for a living. If I ever see the inside of a courtroom, something has gone wrong,” Taylor jokes.

Taylor also serves on the marketing and strategic planning committees for the law firm, which is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year.

After moving to Fayetteville, Taylor sought out ways to plug into the community and found it at the United Way of Northwest Arkansas. She is a cabinet member for the nonprofit’s Young Leader Society and helped organize a young professionals’ summit earlier this year.

She is also a volunteer tutor with the Ozark Literacy Council and a member of the Rotary Club of Fayetteville. Taylor says she is particularly passionate about helping immigrants learn English and expand the opportunities available to them.