Renowned Lawyer Maurice Mitchell Passes Away At 85

H. Maurice Mitchell, founding member of the prestigious Mitchell Williams Law Firm, passed away this morning after a lengthy illness at the age of 85.

Mitchell was born October 23, 1925, in Clarendon, Arkansas near Brinkley. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and his Juris Doctorate from the Law School at Washington and Lee University in 1948.

He had a long and distinguished professional career.

Mitchell first served as an agent of the Internal Revenue Service (1948-49), then joined the Arkansas State Revenue Department as Assistant Attorney (1949-51). He was admitted to the state bar in 1949 and entered the private practice of law in Little Rock in 1951. On January 1, 1954, Maurice Mitchell became a member of the law firm now known as Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard PLLC.

The law firm has provided additional background on Mitchell’s storied career:

As a graduate of the Little Rock schools system, Mitchell had an intense personal interest in the polarizing 1957 desegregation crisis at Little Rock Central High School. He worked behind the scenes in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the closing of the area’s public schools in 1958, and then aided a successful effort to recall segregationist school board members in 1959 (known as the S.T.O.P. campaign). Mitchell’s lifelong commitment to the city’s public school system was further evidenced by his service as chairman of numerous campaigns to secure additional funding for the public schools.

Mitchell’s progressive views and civic-mindedness were never confined to education. He was an active member and leader of numerous organizations, including the Little Rock Junior Chamber of Commerce, Arkansas State Junior Chamber of Commerce, Fifty for the Future, Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church Foundation, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Foundation Fund Board.

Mitchell also possessed a keen political mind. He served as chairman of U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers’ campaign finance committee (1992) while also serving as a member of the Clinton presidential campaign’s national finance committee (1992), and he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention that same year. Additionally, he served on the Clinton-Gore national finance committee (1996) and was legal counsel to the Democratic Party of Arkansas (1993-98).

Mitchell’s leadership did not go unnoticed. Among his many accolades and awards, the 1992 dedication and naming of the H. Maurice Mitchell Courtroom at the Law School of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock is certainly the most significant. His efforts were recognized often by a varied and distinguished group of organizations, including the National Humanitarian Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews in Arkansas, the Vincent Foster Jr. Outstanding Lawyer Award from the Pulaski County Bar Association, the Edwin Hanlon Memorial Award for Outstanding Individual Contributions to the Arts from the Little Rock Arts and Humanities Association, the Outstanding Service Award from the Arkansas Bar Foundation, the William F. Rector Memorial Award for Distinguished Civic Achievement from Fifty for the Future, the Citizen of the Year Award from the Arkansas Chapter of the March of Dimes, and the Winthrop Rockefeller Memorial Award from the Arkansas Arts Center.

Mitchell is survived by his wife of 65 years, Martha Elizabeth Stockley Mitchell, and 3 children.  Mitchell’s visitation will be Wednesday, April 6th from 5 to 7 pm at Ruebel Funeral Home in Little Rock. His funeral will be held at 11 am on Thursday, April 7th at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church.
 
“Mr. Mitchell was one of the great Arkansas lawyers of our time who worked to cultivate a better state for all of its citizens,” said Mitchell Williams Managing Director Harry Hamlin. “Moreover, he was a father figure, friend and mentor to many of us and took an absolute delight in pursuing his passions with respect to business, politics, and philanthropy. Maurice was a great man, an exceptional attorney and someone who meant a great deal to everyone at Mitchell Williams. We shall proudly carry on his legacy of excellence, commitment and caring, and extend our deepest sympathies to the entire Mitchell family.”