Life, situated on the
22nd floor of the Regions Bank building in downtown
Little Rock, looks pretty good for the Arkansas Bar
Association's new President, 62-year-old Little Rock
trial lawyer Fred Ursery.
In this case, life comes
complete with a windowed corner office overlooking the
downtown workday and a winding Arkansas River, just
one reward for working hard at a profession he enjoys.
"As a lawyer, you
have to master a variety of different areas," said
Ursery, a partner at Friday, Eldredge & Clark, the
state's largest firm. "You're always learning something
new. With each case you learn about a new product or
industry, or you meet new and interesting people."
His introduction to the
legal profession came while in Sunday school at Lakeside
United Methodist Church in his hometown of Pine Bluff.
His teacher, Steve Matthews, now the senior member at
the Bridges Law Firm in Pine Bluff, proved a solid role
model for Ursery, who would later graduate from Vanderbilt
University with a degree in political science before
moving to New York City to attend Columbia University
Law School.
Drawn to Columbia for
both its distinguished reputation and cosmopolitan setting,
Ursery spent three years in the Big Apple. There he
studied with future powerbrokers like Richard Ben-Veniste
of the 9-11 Commission and former California Governor
Gray Davis, buried his nose daily into The New York
Times and managed to catch a few games at Yankee
and Shea Stadiums.
When he graduated, it
was 1967. War still raged in Vietnam, and Ursery was
confronted with the certainty that soon he would be
drafted. He chose to enlist, and for the next 13 months
he served in the U.S. Army Artillery in Vietnam as an
enlisted man. Afterward, he decided he was ready to
come home to Arkansas and received a job offer from
Judge Bill Smith of Smith, Williams, Friday and Bowen,
which later became Friday, Eldredge & Clark. Ursery
went to work on Law Day, 1969, becoming the 18th lawyer
in the firm. (Now the firm has over 80 attorneys.)
Immediately he began working
in the firm's trial section, accompanying more seasoned
members of the firm, such as Boyce Love, Bill Eldredge,
Buddy Sutton and Bob Light, to their trials prior to
tackling a case on his own.
"I tried my first
case in September of that year," he said. "I
defended a case for the Missouri Pacific Railroad, which
I lost before the jury but got it reversed and dismissed
in the Arkansas Supreme Court. I was disappointed in
the jury trial but happy with the end result."
Throughout the years,
he has tried about 60 jury trials.
"In my opinion, a
strong litigator is someone with a lot of common sense,
good judgment, and an ability to relate to people,"
said Ursery in his relaxed, surefooted way. "In
the lawyers that I know and admire, those are the traits
they have."
These abilities transfer
directly to jury selection, which, he noted "…involves
a lot of intuition, educated guesswork. You're looking
for a juror who's fair.
"Trying a lawsuit
is a very high pressure situation. I don't think lawyers
ever get to the point that they don't feel pressure,
though over the years anyone who tries cases becomes
more comfortable. I think all lawyers feel nervous.
Some just hide it better than others."
Ursery's service to the
legal profession extended to the Arkansas Bar Association
soon after he began his legal career. He also met his
wife, Sharon, around this time. In fact, a friend of
one of Ursery's colleagues from the firm introduced
him and Sharon on a blind date in the summer of 1970.
A Jonesboro native, Sharon worked in Washington D.C.
for Congressman Bill Alexander before coming back to
Arkansas to work on Dale Bumper's gubernatorial campaign.
"At that time," Ursery said, "he [Bumpers]
was a political unknown, and she [Sharon] was his first
paid campaign worker."
Sharon went on to become
an elementary school teacher before staying at home
to raise their two children, Catherine, herself an elementary
teacher in Charlotte, N.C., and Stephen, a reporter
in Atlanta.
"With the exception
of when our kids were little," Ursery said, "we
went to all the bar meetings in Hot Springs."
His leadership roles in
the Association also came early in his career. "Boyce
[Love] was in the House of Delegates, and Bob Compton
appointed him Chair of the Executive Council,"
Ursery said. "As a result of that, Boyce had to
resign from the House and suggested I run for his seat."
A series of Association
appointments and awards followed. Past president Mac
Glover appointed Ursery Chair of the Executive Council.
Past President Jack McNulty appointed him Chair of the
Annual Meeting Committee, and most recently Past President
Ron Harrison appointed him the first Chair of the new
Board of Governors.
In 1996 Ursery received
the Association's Outstanding Lawyer Award. In 1997
he received the Golden Gavel Award for his service as
Chair of the Sustaining Members Committee, and in 1998
he received the Golden Gavel Award for his work as Chair
of the Annual Meeting Committee.
"I've made a lot
of friends from all over the state through bar activities,"
he said, "people who I would not have met otherwise.
"I like lawyers.
I like being around lawyers. I think lawyers are people
who are concerned about our system of government, who
take these matters seriously, and who have a good sense
of humor," continued Ursery, himself famously witty.
"Most of my close friends are lawyers."
When the rotation for
President of the Association fell in the Central District,
which consists of Pulaski County, Ursery decided to
run. "I've served in numerous positions in the
bar, and I decided that I would like the opportunity
to lead our Association as President. Although I knew
there were several other good people running, I decided
that at my age, this was the time to do it," he
said.
"We had a good, friendly
campaign. It's good to have a contested race so that
bar members feel they're involved in the selection process.
"I enjoyed running
for bar President because I contacted a lot of people
across the state and attended several county bar meetings.
The campaign gave me the opportunity to renew old acquaintances
and to meet new people."
Quick to give credit to
other Association members for their efforts, Ursery
said the most pressing issues facing the Association
center around determining the future location of the
bar center, continuing a sound fiscal policy and ensuring
that membership numbers don't dwindle.
"I think that our
prior leaders, such as Tom Daily, have done a good job,
and I don't have any revolutionary programs. I just
want to continue on and expand the number of people
who want to belong," he said.
The purpose of the Association,
in his view, is to provide a service to members, to
make it an organization to which attorneys want to belong.
"I think Arkansas
VersusLaw is a great member benefit, and we provide
great CLE," he said. "Another service is our
full-time lobbyist [Jack McNulty], who has been particularly
helpful representing the Association on important matters,
such as the sales tax on professional services. It's
important to have a full-time lobbyist who can monitor
legislation that is a concern to our profession as a
whole."
Ursery is also a staunch
supporter of the Arkansas Bar Commission on Diversity
(ABCD) and plans to give it high priority. "Both
the leadership and membership of our Association should
reflect the makeup of lawyers in the state," he
said.
Long involved in a variety
of other professional organizations, Ursery is a past
President of the Pulaski County Bar Association and
the William R. Overton Inn of Court. He is a fellow
of the Arkansas Bar Foundation, American Bar Foundation,
and American College of Trial Lawyers. He is a member
of the American Board of Trial Advocates, serving as
president of the Arkansas Chapter in 1996. He is also
a former member of the State Board of Law Examiners
and the Arkansas Supreme Court Model Jury Instructions
Committee Criminal.
Almost baffling is how
Ursery has found time to develop habits outside of work,
but he has. He's an active member of First United Methodist
Church in Little Rock. He has an affinity for TV news
programs, NPR, fine dining with Sharon, and his living
room book shelves are full of non fiction. He also jogs
four days a week, ending up with his jogging partners
at the Satellite Café on Saturday mornings. "I
get that [jogging] out of the way before I can think
of a reason to not go," chuckles Ursery.
Add all of this to a family
with striking sincerity and you end up with exactly
what Ursery aspires to be: a solid citizen, a good member
of the profession and a good family man and friend. |
