Effective May 1, 2013, former Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Robert L. Brown will become Of Counsel with Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP.
We are honored to have Justice Brown associated with our firm in an Of Counsel role, said J. Shepherd Russell, III, Managing Partner of Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP, Justice Brown has a stellar reputation as a lawyer, judge and scholar, and we will all benefit from his counsel and experience. Our attorneys can gain invaluable insight from having Justice Brown in this relationship with the firm.
It is a great opportunity for me to be Of Counsel with this quality law firm, Justice Brown said. It is a perfect way for me to work at my own pace and share my experience with the firm, its associates, and its interns. I look forward to the transition. Any appeal that was before the Supreme Court while I was a justice will be off limits for me in my new role at the firm, and I will not be involved he added.
Justice Brown served as an Associate Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1991 to 2012. Before serving on the Court, he was engaged in the general practice of law and also served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the Sixth Judicial District in 1971 and 1972, worked in Washington, D.C. as an Administrative Aide for Jim Guy Tucker in 1977 and 1978, served as a Legal Aide to then Governor Dale Bumpers from 1972 to 1974, and served as a Legislative Assistant from 1975 to 1977. Brown received his B.A. degree magna cum laude from the University of the South (Sewanee) where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Brown then received his M.A. degree in English and Comparative Literature in 1965 from Columbia University and a J.D. degree in 1968 from the University of Virginia.
He was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of the South (Sewanee) in 2006, the Colonel Ransick Award for Excellence in the Profession from the Arkansas Bar Association in 2007, and he was the first recipient of the Community Support Award from the Arkansas Judges and Lawyers Assistants Program in 2010. The award is named in his honor. He served on the Board of Regents of the University of the South (Sewanee) from 1989 to 1995 and was President of the Overton Inn of Court in 1999 to 2000. He currently serves on the Winthrop Rockefeller Distinguished Lecture Series Committee and the Selection Committee for the Jefferson Scholars Nominations for the University of Virginia.
Justice Brown has written numerous legal articles relating to appellate practice, including his most recent article entitled A Judicial Retrospective: Significant Decisions By The Arkansas Supreme Court From 1991 To 2011 for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review. He is the author of Defining Moments: Historic Decisions By Arkansas Governors From McMath Through Huckabee, published by the University of Arkansas Press in 2010.