Chancellor Brewer recognized for advancing women in law

DESTIN, Fla. (VDN) — Chancellor Cynthia L. Brewer of Madison was honored July 10 with the Susie Blue Buchanan Award for her trailblazing career in Mississippi’s legal system and her work inspiring women in the profession.

The award was presented at the Price-Prather Luncheon during the Mississippi Bar Convention in Destin, Florida. Given annually by the Mississippi Bar’s Women in the Profession Section, the award recognizes a woman lawyer who has achieved professional excellence and helped pave the way for others.

“Thank you very much for this recognition and this honor,” Brewer told the room of judges and attorneys. “Each and every one of you have had an effect upon me. You have inspired me to be better than I thought I could ever be.”

Brewer, who serves as senior chancellor of the 11th Chancery Court, recalled watching Perry Mason as a child and dreaming of becoming a criminal defense attorney. She instead built a public service career as a prosecutor, special master, County Court judge, and ultimately Chancellor. She encouraged others to follow similar paths, saying, “I didn’t plan on being who stands before you today. I planned on being Perry Mason—with a skirt and nice handbags.”

She paid tribute to previous Buchanan Award recipients such as former Lt. Gov. Evelyn Gandy and Judge Mary Libby Payne, noting the barriers they faced.

“I would like to say thank you to the people that you see on the back of your programs, especially the ones that I’ve had an opportunity to serve with.,” she said. “When they walked out with their law degree, they were not welcomed. We have [been] welcome, for the most part. I got called ‘little girl’ recently, but that’s another story. We are welcomed in the courtroom….These ladies fought hard to improve the legal system as well to improve females in the profession and I say thank you to each and every one of them.”

Former Mississippi Bar President Jennifer Ingram Johnson, who wore Gandy’s pearls for the occasion, praised Brewer’s impact.

“Judge Brewer welcomed me into her court not only with her words, but with her presence, her openness, and her bright light,” she said.

Judge Brewer has served as a visiting instructor at the National Judicial College in Reno and has mentored numerous Mississippi judges. She served as chair of the Conference of Chancery Court Judges, on the Commission on Judicial Performance, and on the Mississippi Judicial College Board of Governors. She previously served four years as Madison County Court Judge and worked as a prosecutor in Hinds County.

She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of South Alabama and her law degree from Mississippi College School of Law, where she also taught as an adjunct professor.

The number of women in law has grown substantially since Brewer’s 1985 graduation. That year, men outnumbered women more than two to one in MC Law’s graduating class. In 2024, entering classes at both Mississippi law schools were nearly evenly split by gender. Of Mississippi’s 8,824 active attorneys, about one-third—2,865—are women.

The Buchanan Award is named for Susie Blue Buchanan, the first woman qualified to practice before the Mississippi Supreme Court. The luncheon also honors the state’s first woman judge, Zelma Wells Price, and Chief Justice Lenore Loving Prather.