Wendell Griffen
Wendell Griffen is judge on the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
Judge Griffen was the first black lawyer at the Little Rock firm of Wright Lindsey & Jennings, where he practiced business and tort law. He became a partner in January 1984. He was appointed chairman of the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission by then-governor Bill Clinton on April 15, 1985, serving until February 2, 1987. He was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Governor Jim Guy Tucker in December 1995.
Wendell Griffen was born in Prescott, Arkansas, on September 23, 1952. He grew up in rural Pike County and attended Rosenwald Elementary and Simmons High School. Griffen received his undergraduate education at the University of Arkansas, graduating with a political science degree in 1973. After college he served in the U.S. Army. He was honorably discharged in 1976 at the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He attended the University of Arkansas School of Law, completing his J.D. in 1979. He was the associate editor of the Arkansas Law Review while attending law school, and president of the Black Law Student Association. He is a recipient of the Silas Hunt Memorial Justice Award from the Black Law Student Association.
References
- Wendell Griffen, "Race, Law, and Culture: A Call to New Thinking, Leadership, and Action," University of Arkansas Little Rock Law Review, 21 (Summer 1999); 901.
- Wendell Griffen, "Comment: Judicial Accountability and Discipline," Law & Contemporary Problems 61 (Summer 1998): 75.
- Wendell Griffen, "The Case For Religious Values in Judicial Decision-Making," Marquette Law Review 81 (1998): 513.
