By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times
Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Brendette Brown Green has been elected chair of the National Judicial Council of the National Bar Association.
“That is an awesome honor and responsibility, but it’s something not to be taken lightly,” Green told the Birmingham Times. “The chair is the person who will run the organization. The term is for one year and you have the honor and responsibility of running the organization … it is of upmost importance, it’s a very distinguished position but it is also a position that requires a high level of service.”
The Judicial Council is made up of primarily African American judges and formed so that the judges also had an organization of their own where members are not just members of the National Bar Association.
In a statement the council said in part, “Judge Green is poised to lead with integrity, vision, and a deep commitment to justice. Her election signals a bright future for the Council and reinforces its dedication to upholding the highest standards of judicial conduct and professional development.”
Grreen credits Miles College Law School where she earned Magna Cum Laude honors with a lot of her success.
“I knew that I wanted to go to law school and I decided to step out on faith and try it and Miles afforded me the opportunity to do that,” Green said. “And I will forever by eternally grateful to Miles for that. I enrolled at Miles Law School and this is the way I describe it. ‘Miles Law School located on the campus of the historical Miles College.’ Miles provided that opportunity for me and I grabbed it and ran with it. The rest is history.”
“Daddy Loved Us”
That history dates to Theodore, Alabama, where Green was one of 10 — “I was number 10” — five girls and five boys.
“I just remember listening to my parents talk about the struggle that they were in,” Green recalled, “neither of my parents were college educated, but they made sure that their children had an opportunity for an education. But not only did they show us that education was important they showed us by example that service was important as well. I tell people all the time my daddy taught me to read my mom taught me to serve by example.”
Green said she never made it to kindergarten. “My dad had become disabled, so I had to stay home with him and he did what we now call homeschooling, but I thought it was torture because I wanted to go to school and color pictures,” she laughed. “Daddy taught me to read and we would look at the news together … I remember looking at [legendary CBS news anchor] Walter Cronkite with my daddy and he would explain things to me because I was a curious little child and he insisted that we all looked at the news; and of course we as a family we just thought that daddy was just so mean but we learned later that daddy was smart and daddy loved us.”
Green said she learned an education from her parents that she carries to this day.
“We’re talking folks who would have us sitting around listening to them talking about the importance of voting and when they would go to vote and how they had rocks and stuff thrown at them,” she said.
Her mother, Leila G. Brown and father Henry Brown Sr. “lit a light in me and my whole life has always been about service,” Green said. “That has been the trajectory I was placed on was a life of service. They instilled in me the importance of education. I started from there. I knew that I always wanted to do something that made life better not just for me but for people around me. It all started with a dream.”
After graduating Theodore High School in 1976 she first attended Bishop State Community College in Mobile Alabama which “allowed me to stay home and work and help my mom out because by then my dad had passed away,” Green recalled, “and then I went on to the University of Alabama which ultimately is where I knew I would always end up because my daddy told me I could go there.”
After stops in corporate America and a successful career working for companies like Duracell Battery and SmithKline Green said, “I knew that I wanted to do something in service and I knew that I wanted to go to law school and I decided to step out on faith and Miles afforded me the opportunity to do that.”
“Iron Sharpens Iron”
Green’s tenure on the bench began when she was appointed to the bench at Jefferson County Family Court, where she served as a Senior Trial Referee and Special Circuit Judge from 2003-2006 and subsequently served nearly nine years as a Birmingham Municipal Court Judge before being elected to the Circuit Court of Jefferson County in 2016.
As a member of the judicial council, Green started out serving as a board member and as a treasurer for three years, being elected each time without opposition … and in 2023 she ran and was elected, again without opposition, as chair-elect and this year ascended to the seat of chair.
“You preside over meetings,” she said. “We will have a continuing education for judges, provide opportunities for them to become better judges. We will work with judges as far as networking with other judges. Being a judge sometimes is a lonely position where you are kind of isolated. We’re constantly trying to improve on what we do [and] this will provide opportunities for us to hone our skills and to have the camaraderie with other judges from an emotional standpoint to get with your colleagues out there administering justice in your particular location but when you come together as a particular group.”
She added, “iron sharpens iron so it’s the way that the council brings together judges from across the country and sometimes even from your own state that you don’t get to see because you’re so busy in your own courtroom running things you don’t get a chance to confer with other judges but it provides you with an outlet to get with other judges and to collaborate and to encourage each other.”
It’s also “about education, it’s about having a united voice on certain issues that might come up involving judicial education and making the community more aware of the access to justice. It’s an opportunity to just be more involved in the community in a united way and that’s one of the things I’m looking forward to is doing some programs in the communities across the country.”
Green said she also wants to focus on her hometown. “I want to do some programs here [in Birmingham],” she said. “Of course all of this takes time, it takes resources and when you are heading up the organization it’s easier for you to pull together judges and to try to make some things happen that goes to benefit the community.”
“I can’t tell you how important it is to me and to the community and I hope that my being elevated to this position is an encouragement to other little Black girls and other Black boys to say it’s not where you come from it’s where you end up because we can do it.”
Green is a mother and grandmother, with two adult daughters, one granddaughter, four grandsons, and one grand dog.
Dreams Become Reality
Even though she now serves as chair of the National Judicial Council of the National Bar Association, Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Brendette Brown Green always remembers how and where it all began
“I’m from Theodore, Alabama, who would have ever thought it,” said Green, a graduate of Miles Law School. “Most people never even heard of Theodore, Alabama. They’ve heard of [nearby] Mobile but not Theodore.”
She continued, “Always realize that dreams do become reality, and I think if we’re willing to put God first and work hard that dream can become a reality. Don’t give up on trying because sometimes when we think we have failed at something it’s just an opportunity to try it from a different perspective. There’s always hope.”
She continues to mentor high school and law students, many of whom have gone on to excel at prestigious institutions such as the University of Alabama, Northwestern University, Spelman College and many others.
In addition to her judicial responsibilities, Green has held numerous leadership positions within the legal community serving as Treasurer and Chair of Membership for the National Bar Association’s Judicial Council, and currently Co-Chairs the Alabama Lawyers Association Judicial Council. Green also serves as a board member of the Alabama Circuit Judges Association. Her involvement with the Alabama State Bar’s Quality of Life, Health & Wellness Task Force, and the Magic City Bar Judicial Council as Secretary and Scholarship Banquet Committee highlights her dedication to advancing the legal profession.
Green is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham and serves on the Education Committee of the Virginia Samford Theatre Board as well as other community organizations. Her service and leadership have been recognized with numerous accolades, including the Judicial Award of Merit from the Alabama State Bar in 2021.
