HUNTSVILLE --- You know the old adage. If you don’t show up for a meeting, you usually get the job nobody wants.

That’s exactly how Allen Brinkley ended up in charge of ALAJ’s “People’s Law School.” It was the summer of 1990, and Brinkley said for “some reason” he didn’t attend ALAJ’s annual meeting in Sandestin.

“I ended up being involved by default,” he said. “ The next week I got a letter saying I’d been appointed to be the statewide chairman of the People's Law School. I felt like the dog who caught the car.”

Some seventeen years later, Brinkley is still the committee's chair and the program continues to flourish. Brinkley gives a lot of credit to Greg Cusimano who started the program and others who have helped it grow from being broadcast only in Huntsville to a statewide program, which attracts more than two million viewers.

“It was the greatest program in the beginning but only about 100 people were getting to be exposed to it every year,” Brinkley said. “So I  decided to go see Comcast Cable in Huntsville and asked them for help. They agreed to air it as a public service and it was an instant success. Also, The City of Huntsville has been a big supporter allowing us use the Municipal Courtroom.” Brinkley said he got the idea of meeting with the cable officials from friends and relatives. “I had a cousin who was selling furniture and friends who were selling used cars on T. V.; so, I knew it couldn't cost that much and figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.”

After all these years, Brinkley still enjoys the work and says the program improves each year. There are several students who come every year to the lectures and visit.  The students take their cirriculum seriously and if they are absent from a class, then a copy of the missed lecture is available on DVD.

“When we first started some lawyers were hesitant to speak on television because they did not want to appear to be hawking their wares,” he said. “but once they saw how professional the program was presented, we have been able to attract some of the greatest lawyers, Supreme Court justices, senators, and other leaders to be on the faculty.  In fact, Former Governor Albert Brewer has agreed to speak to  next year.  The list goes on.”

“The program is not limited to the plaintiff’s practice,” Brinkley said. “The program topics include real estate, social security law, wills, divorce, elder law, tax law, and consumer rights law, just to name a few. These are subjects everyone wants to know about. The students say the program has helped remove the mystery and fear surrounding our court system by providing a greater understanding of the law in language they can understand.”

Brinkley, who is a history buff, said he always wanted to be a lawyer and after clerking for the District Attorney in Madison County in college and for renowned Tuscaloosa attorney Edward deGraffenried while in law school, he also knew he would only be a plaintiff's lawyer. 

“A person should never fight on bad ground.  Defense lawyers don't have that luxury.  Theoretically, we should win every case.”  Brinkley said . “Mr. Ed used to tell me war stories of his half-century law practice.  He had also been  a congressman.  He said a good lawyer can change the world as much as any politician. He also told me that if I got up every Monday morning and  went to the courthouse and as a matter of routine beat widows and orphans out of their $10,000 life insurance policies that I was not going to have a very happy life,” Brinkley said. “He told me to get out there on the leading edge of  life and of society - where the plaintiff’s lawyers were.  He said swim in the deep water.  He said that was where the fun was.  I took that to heart.”

For Brinkley, practicing law is a way of life, not just a profession. His law office is near his home and next door to his church, the First United Methodist Church of Huntsville. His daughter Rebecca is a lawyer in Nashville and his son John practices law with him in Huntsville. He said one of his proudest moments was when they both passed the bar at the same time. He also said he had to go lie down after that because it was one of the most traumatic times of his life. And now they have two beautiful grandchildren,  under the age of two .  His wife Melissa, who he started dating in the seventh  grade, is a Spanish teacher at Grissom High School. They both graduated from the University of Alabama and she then taught at Holt High School putting him through law school. Their Tuscaloosa connection is strong. Melissa was born there the day of her father's last law school exam. When Allen graduated in 1974, they returned home to Huntsville and have been ther ever since.  

“For me it is the law from sun up to sun down, my personal life and my 'work ' life  are totally integrated. I don't know the difference and I like it like that. I can't believe I get paid to do this.” Brinkley said. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Brinkley took his entire family to ALAJ’s recent summer seminar at Sandestin and said they plan to make the trip an annual tradition. That’s probably a good idea because there is no telling what would happen if our “Champion of Justice” missed another meeting.