Where it Began
Friday, Eldredge & Clark LLP traces its history to 1871 when attorneys George E. Dodge and Benjamin S. Johnson formed a partnership for the practice of law. They represented what was then known as the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad, one of Arkansas’s first major legal clients.
Beginning with the single focus of representing the railroad industry, the firm gradually incorporated other areas of law and lawyers into its practice.
The firm was the first in the state to develop several practice groups of two or more attorneys who devoted their time to a particular area of law.
Over time, the firm established more than 50 practice groups focused on taxation, bonds, securities, litigation, commercial law and labor law.
Friday, Eldredge & Clark has grown to become the state’s largest law firm serving clients in almost every industry — expanding way beyond its roots but never losing sight of them.
The firm’s most recent managing partners include Herschel Friday (1974-1994), William H. Sutton (1994-2005) Byron Eiseman, Jr. (2005-2012) and J. Shepherd Russell III (2012-2018). Eiseman and Russell still actively practice law with the firm.
The firm, led today by Managing Partner Price C. Gardner, has three offices in Arkansas and the practice includes approximately 90 attorneys and 100 additional support staff.
Firm Timeline
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