Prominent Little Rock Lawyer Dies At 86

Alston Jennings, a prominent Little Rock attorney with a reputation for being one of the most respected trial lawyers in the state, died Monday. He was 86. The West Helena native was the last original partner left who lent his name to the Little Rock firm of Wright, Lindsey and Jennings. Jennings was remembered as a kind man who spent his last weeks caring for his ailing wife, Dorothy Jones Jennings. The couple were married for 60 years. He was also remembered as an excellent attorney with a first-rate mind. US District Judge James Moody said Jennings could often try a case without using notes. Jennings was on the defense team for US Tobacco Company in a 1986 federal trial that was the first smokeless tobacco case to reach a jury. The case was upheld, barring other similar potential lawsuits. He handled cases for Ford Motor Company, Time magazine, John Deere Company and Bristol-Myers Company. Jennings also was named president of the American College of Trial Lawyers and was a naval aviator and flight instructor during World War Two.