Complied by Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times
In the early 1970s, several esteemed leaders in the Birmingham area including then Miles College President W. Clyde Williams; Bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Chester A. Kirkendoll, who served as chairman of the Miles College Trustee Board; Judge J. Richmond Pearson, then an Alabama state senator, and past chairman of the trustee board, and Arthur D. Shores, noted Civil Rights attorney, and others mobilized and provided the impetus for Miles Law School.
Out of their desire to change the legal landscape of Alabama, Miles Law School was founded, admitting its first class in August 1974.
Before his appointment by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 as the state’s first Black federal judge, then-State Senator U.W. Clemon served in an advisory role to the law school. Clemon co-chaired with Pearson an effort to raise funds for the fledgling school.
The law school’s motto of “Striving to Balance” directly relates to the imbalance, disparity and disproportionality of Black lawyers and of the underserved minority populace that existed in Alabama.
Since the first graduates in 1978, the law school’s sons and daughters have made tremendous strides in closing the gap.
Here are some, according to the school’s website:
Emory Anthony
The noted criminal defense attorney graduated from Birmingham City Schools and went to work for Stockham Valves and Fittings, for whom he competed in industrial league baseball in the early 1970s. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Alabama A&M University in 1974 and went on to enroll in evening courses at the Miles College School of Law, completing his Juris Doctorate in 1979. After passing the bar, he took a job as a prosecutor in the office of the Jefferson County District Attorney. He served from 1983 to 1995 as a municipal judge and later served as the dean of Miles’ School of Law.
Anthony finished second in the 1991 and 1995 Birmingham mayoral elections in which Richard Arrington Jr. won his fourth and fifth terms. In the 1999 Birmingham mayoral election he supported Bernard Kincaid (with whom he had founded People’s Choice to oppose Arrington’s Jefferson County Citizens Coalition) and served Mayor Kincaid as a legal advisor.
William A. Bell Sr.
First elected to the Birmingham City Council in 1979, Bell is a former Mayor of Birmingham, serving from 2010 to 2017. He was appointed in 1999 to succeed Richard Arrington Jr. as interim Mayor of Birmingham. After the 2009 conviction of Larry Langford, Bell won a runoff against attorney Patrick Cooper in a special election to serve the remainder of his term of office.
He grew up in Titusville and was one of the first African American students to enroll at John Carroll Catholic High School in 1966. He graduated the following year and went on to earn a Master’s degree in psychology and guidance counseling from UAB and a Juris Doctorate from Miles College.
In the 2017 Birmingham municipal election challenger Randall Woodfin forced Bell into a runoff, and then defeated Bell by a 59 percent to 41 percent margin.
Donald Blankenship
Blankenship, a Birmingham, Alabama native, is a member of the Jefferson County Circuit Court, Civil Division. He was elected to the bench in Nov. 2012 and assumed office on Jan. 15, 2013.
Blankenship is a 1974 graduate of Ramsay High School and holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Samford University, 1978. In 1982, he received a Master of Arts in Urban Studies from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Miles Law School in 1989.
From 1990-1994, Blankenship was employed as an Associate in the law firm of Waldrep, Stewart & Kendrick, and from 1994 – 2012, he was engaged in the solo practice of law. During his 23-year tenure as a lawyer, he practiced extensively in the areas of Real Property, Probate, Land Use, Zoning and General Litigation.
Danny Carr
Carr was first elected in November 2018 as Jefferson County District Attorney. Before his election, Carr became the first African American appointed District Attorney in Jefferson County Birmingham Division and serviced as Chief Deputy District Attorney.
His work as a prosecutor began after graduating from Miles Law School in May 2000. He has successfully prosecuted thousands of felony cases in circuit, district, and juvenile court in Jefferson County. Carr has been admitted to practice law in the Alabama Supreme Court and United States Supreme Court. He has also been admitted to practice law in the Federal Courts in the Northern and Middle Districts of Alabama.
Carr has lectured and trained local police officers and sheriff deputies in courtroom procedure, victimless prosecution of domestic violence cases and the Criminal Code of Alabama. He has served as an adjunct professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure at Jefferson State Community College and Professor of Law at The Birmingham School of Law where he teaches Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure.
Carr attended Council Elementary and Jackson Olin High School. Carr received his undergraduate degree from Alabama State University. Carr is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. In 2010, he was selected by his peers as one of the top 100 Attorneys in the state of Alabama and top 40 most influential males in Jefferson County.
George T. French
In 2019, George T. French Jr. became the fifth president of Clark Atlanta University, the largest United Negro College Fund (UNCF) member institution in the country and the largest private HBCU within the state of Georgia.
Prior to his appointment, French served for 14 years as the president of Miles College, making him one of the longest serving university presidents in the nation. A nationally recognized leader and influencer in higher education and educational policy, French has served three secretaries of education under two United States presidents as a congressional appointee to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity.
He is a three-term board member for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC); Chair of the Atlanta University Center (Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Spelman College and Morehouse School of Medicine,) Council of Presidents; and chair of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAC) Council of Presidents and member of the Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC) Board of Directors. French also has served as a member of the national diverse council of Regions Bank since 2011.
Juandalynn Givan
Givan was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in November 2010 representing the 60th district. She is the owner of Givan & Associates Law Firm. Formed in 2004 as a Woman Owned Business Practice in the city of Birmingham, Givan & Associates offer their clients comprehensive legal services that include government relations and program management consulting services.
Givan received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Miles College and her Doctorate of Juris Prudence from the Miles School of Law. Upon graduating from Miles, she became a Political Appointee serving as an Administrative Cabinet Member to Birmingham’s first African American Mayor Dr. Richard Arrington Jr., where she was responsible for Capital Projects and Development
Brendette Brown-Green
Brown-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.
This summer she was elected chair of the National Judicial Council of the National Bar Association which 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 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.
John O. Hudson III
Hudson III is senior vice president of federal policy, regulatory and government affairs at Entergy. Hudson is responsible for several key groups focused on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issues, sustainability and environmental policy, federal governmental affairs and corporate social responsibility.
He is a licensed attorney who served as president and chief executive officer of Nicor Gas Corporation, Illinois’ largest gas distribution company, which reached more than 2.2 million customers. Previously, Hudson was executive vice president and chief external affairs officer at Southern Company Gas, where he was responsible for the company’s external affairs, customer operations, environmental affairs, corporate communications, and marketing efforts.
Hudson received an MBA from Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, a Juris Doctor from Miles College School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Alabama A&M University. He also completed the executive accounting and finance program at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and the Young American Leaders Program at Harvard Business School.
Carole Smitherman
As Birmingham’s first African American female mayor Smitherman was also the first African American woman hired as a deputy district attorney in Jefferson County and the first African American female Municipal and Circuit Court Judge in Birmingham, Smitherman was first elected to the Birmingham City Council in 2001 and re-elected twice.
Smitherman said the killing of her best friend, Denise McNeal in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing motivated her to pursue law from a young age.
Smitherman graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She went on to earn her Juris Doctor at Miles Law School, where she finished first in her class. Today she serves as a Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge.
Rodger Smitherman
Smitherman is a member of the Alabama Senate from the 18th district first elected to the Alabama Senate in 1994 pledging to improve education in the state, support programs for senior citizens and work with others to break the gridlock in Montgomery. The Senator has consistently introduced and supported legislation to make good on his pledge and is committed to continuous and dedicated service in his sixth term as the Senator for District 18.
He graduated from the University of Montevallo and years later was appointed to that institution’s board of trustees. He went on to Miles Law where he received his Juris Doctor which he earned with honors. Smitherman has enjoyed success in his 20 years in the Alabama Legislature, and that success has been beneficial for the residents of District 18. He served for two years as president pro tempore of the Senate – the most powerful position in that house.
Patricia Stephens
Stephens became a circuit court judge, Domestic Relations, in January of 2013. She is a graduate of Auburn University and the Miles College School of Law where she graduated Cum Laude. Prior to taking the bench, Stephens served as a prosecuting attorney for the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office and with a general practice law firm, where she represented litigants in criminal and civil defense, family law and personal injury.
Stephens is a member of the Alabama State Bar Association, the Birmingham Bar Association, the Magic City Bar Association, and the Birmingham Inns of Court.
Stephens is an alum of Auburn University and Miles College School of Law, graduating from the latter honored as cum laude, a Latin phrase that indicates the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. Before taking the bench, she was a prosecuting attorney for the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office and held a general practice law firm. She was elected to the 10th Judicial Circuit Court, Domestic Relations, 10 years ago.
Lynneice Washington
Washington is the elected District Attorney for the jurisdictional area of Jefferson County known as the Bessemer Cutoff. In November of 2016, she made history by becoming the first African American woman in Alabama elected as district attorney.
Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, she is a product of the Birmingham Public School System. From youth, she aspired to pursue a career as a lawyer and received her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and Corrections from Auburn University at Montgomery. She went on to receive a Juris Doctorate from Miles Law School.
Washington began her professional career as a General Law Practitioner. She continued her career as a prosecutor with the Bessemer District Attorney’s Office, then, became appointed as Presiding Judge over the Bessemer Municipal Court. Later she served as an Appellate Prosecutor of Irondale Municipal Court and hearing officer for the Jefferson County Personnel Board while maintaining Judgeship for Bessemer Municipal Court.
