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Alumni Profile: Full Circle
FULL CIRCLE
ALUMNUS ALEX GUYNN ROSE FROM UNPAID LAW CLERK TO BECOME THE YOUNGEST JUDGE IN JEFFERSON COUNTY
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by Donna Mooney
Judge Guynn is pictured inside the Law Library of the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Courthouse
Brian T. Williams
In 1998, Alex Guynn was a first-semester student attending Arkansas State University on a football scholarship; however, after one semester, Guynn walked away from his Red Wolves status to experience the “University with a personal touch.”
Jefferson County Judge Alex Guynn of the 11th Division Circuit Court graduated cum laude from UAPB with a political science degree. Then he attended and graduated from the University Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville with a juris doctorate. Guynn is a former Pine Bluff Assistant City Attorney, public defender and former member of the Wal-Mart Corporate Legal Department. Prior to running for the Circuit Judge office, Guynn was the Managing Partner for his successful Pine Bluff law firm, Neely & Guynn. He and his wife, Lynn, have three daughters. His parents are Alex Guynn Sr., and Katherine Guynn.
The 15th Judge to hold this position in Jefferson County, Guynn has completed his first year in office, in his hometown and near his alma mater. He said his decision years ago to leave ASU and attend UAPB was easy.
“ASU just didn’t feel like home for me, and although the campus was big, the classes were too big,” he said. Another push towards UAPB came when Guynn realized professors were not interested in knowing his name, but his student identification number. The final straw was receiving a “B” grade in Badminton Class. “I figured that if I got a ‘B’ in badminton, I didn’t have a chance in biology,” he joked.
“UAPB was like coming home,” Guynn said. “My Dad used to work at the Physical Plant, and if I messed up in class, I’d get pulled aside from
concerned faculty with a warning to tell him. I loved every bit of my college experience. I met students from Chicago, St. Louis, and Texas, but we all just gelled together. I didn’t have to fit in.” Where Guynn didn’t quite fit in was with the UAPB football team. When that didn’t work out, he remained at the University and joined the employee team at FedEx – as he called it, “throwing boxes.”
“I had to have a job because I lived in my own three bedroom house while I was in college.” A Pine Bluff native, Guynn graduated from Watson Chapel in 1998, with full plans of furthering his education. Mowing lawns one summer sealed his fate. “My Dad loved working outside and with his hands,” Guynn said. “But that just wasn’t for me. I was 16 that summer, and my Dad made me cut the grass near the Reserves building by MLK (Martin Luther King, Jr.) Park for $10. I told my Dad I quit because it didn’t pay enough. He let me go, but he told me I had to go to school and learn how to do something to make a living. I went straight to Bonanza (steakhouse) and got a job.”
The Law and Lawyer
The view from Guynn’s secured office in the Courthouse is a perfect sight of tranquil Lake Pine Bluff and Lake Saracen Landing. Seated behind a desk that once belonged to his predecessor Judge Berlin Jones, Guynn, the youngest Jefferson County judge to date, feels he was well prepared for this position.
“I was prepared for the job based on my education, past work experience as public defender, criminal defense attorney and connection with the community,” Guynn said.
Although Guynn’s first semester at UAPB was like coming to his second home, he still needed help reaching his destiny. Oddly enough, a speeding ticket placed him one step closer.
College student Guynn was waiting in Jefferson County Traffic Court for a speeding ticket when he saw a young black man walking around the waiting area wearing sweat pants, a t-shirt and flip flops. Thinking the guy was an offender like him, Guynn asked what the man’s offense was, only to discover that this casually dressed stranger was a lawyer. In dismay, Guynn challenged the man to prove this unbelievable statement by giving him a job. His new-found lawyer friend, Don Moore, promised him a job, conditionally – first, he had to work for free.
“Attorney Don Moore was very intelligent, very smart and confident. He had people skills, and I learned a lot from him about how to be professional,” Guynn said. “He was my first law job and my first defender in a car accident case. We won. I watched him progress and move from public service to his own private practice. Then one day, he told me it was time to go. He said Judge Berlin Jones needed help in his office, and I could have the job, but first I had to work as an intern – for free.”
Fifteen years after he was a volunteer and then a paid clerk for Judge Berlin Jones, Guynn has the position he was told by some that he was too young to receive.
Preparation Time at UAPB
For the majority of his time at UAPB, Guynn worked part-time at Fed Ex, interned in the Circuit Judge’s office, and remained in good academic standing while majoring in political science. Plus, Guynn was a Ronald McNair Scholar, a demanding program that prepares upper level college students for graduate school research. He credits his mentors and motivators with keeping him on track.
First mentioned was Dr. Cortez Henderson, previous director of the former *TRIO Ronald D. McNair Program at UAPB. Guynn says the program and Henderson prepared him to attend law school. “We learned research and writing through this program, and I am sure that what we learned when making presentations equipped us to compete with the best.”
Dr. Carolyn F. Blakely and the Honors College Program also contributed to his success. “I didn’t really join Honors College for the right reasons. I was just following the females, but once I got in the program, I was glad I did,” he said. “Dr. Blakely and Mrs. Knight stayed on me to do right and keep my grades up.”
Guynn learned life lessons at UAPB that helped him work with others and work in the right circles. “I learned how to adapt and be around people and get what I needed. I also learned how to do more with less.”
“My parents have been my biggest motivation – my Mom is a school teacher and she stressed education. My Dad is retired from the Army, and he stressed hard work. After high school, Dad made it clear that I would either get an education, get a job, or go to the Army.”
On the Job Training
The first year of any new position has challenges. Guynn has over ridden the challenge of stereotypes about his age and about being under prepared. “I have overcome the stereotypes of my age by treating every case as though I’m in the position of the defendant, victim and prosecution - ensuring that all parties are afforded a fair trial. The most rewarding part of my job is Friday Drug Court. On Friday, I see people trying to regain themselves,” Guynn said. “Additionally, I use my past experience not as a way to expedite matters, but as a way to add value to the judicial process.”
Guynn has learned that he can’t help everyone. “Those people I can help, I will,” he said. “I do that because people helped me. My goal is to live life and to help some folks. My intention is to be patient and caring, but stern.”
*(The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program is a federal program created by the U.S. Department of Education initiative with a goal of increasing “attainment of PhD degrees” by students from underrepresented segments of society.”)
