The Mississippi Link Newswire
Hinds County Chancellor Denise Owens will be honored for her work as a trailblazer for other women lawyers.
Judge Owens is the 2016 recipient of the Susie Blue Buchanan Award. The annual award presented by the Mississippi Bar’s Women in the Profession Committee honors an outstanding woman lawyer who has achieved professional excellence and has actively paved the way to success for other women lawyers. The award is named for Susie Blue Buchanan, who a century ago became the first woman lawyer admitted to practice before the Mississippi Supreme Court. The award will be presented during the Price-Prather Luncheon during the Mississippi Bar Convention in Destin, Fla. July 14.
When Owens was elected to the Hinds County Chancery bench in 1989, she and Judge Patricia Wise became the first African-American female chancellors in the state.
Owens said, “It is truly an honor to be awarded the Susie Blue Buchanan Award. When I started practicing law, I was mindful of the great responsibility inherent in practicing law, but also the great responsibility of being a role model as an African-American female attorney. As a role model I hope to encourage young women to pursue their dream of being an attorney.”
“Nobody deserves it more than she does,” attorney Rodger Wilder of Gulfport said of Owens’ selection for the award. Wilder, a former Mississippi Bar president, and Owens are co-chairs of the Access to Justice Commission. During 10 years of service as commission co-chair, Owens helped guide its formulation of recommendations which have been implemented by the Supreme Court, and its continuing work to make the courts accessible to all people. She is stepping down as co-chair in July, but will remain a member of the commission.
“My overall goal as an attorney and judge is to improve the judicial system for both the litigants and attorneys. Most of my time is dedicated to providing better access to the judicial system and to providing educational and experience to young girls and women who want to pursue law as a career,” Owens said.
Owens has worked to improve access to justice since she was a law school student at George Washington University. She worked for two years as a law clerk at a Washington, D.C., Legal Services elderly law clinic. Her first job after she was admitted to the Bar in 1979 was as a staff attorney for the former Central Mississippi Legal Services in Jackson.
She serves as pre-law program adviser and adjunct professor at Tougaloo College. She helped organize the Black Law Student Association and annual mock trial competitions for the Magnolia Bar Association. She has taught paralegal technology for many years at Hinds Community College.
During her entire legal career, she has worked to increase diversity on the bench and bar by promoting interest in careers in law. Owens and her colleagues organized a law camp to reach girls ages 12-15 to not only encourage them to pursue law as a career but to increase their self-esteem and awareness.
Since 2005, she has worked with the National Association of Women Judges to present The Color of Justice, an annual program which introduces young female middle school students to careers as lawyers and judges.
She is one of the sponsors of the Tougaloo Pre Law Society, which reaches out to college age students. She also has helped sponsor legal education programs for law students and young attorneys.
Owens served on the Task Force on Gender Fairness and the Gender Fairness Advisory Study Committee.
“Our goal was to study and address the perceived effects of gender bias in the judicial system and to educate the bench, bar and public about gender fairness,” she said.
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