”“I believe that everyone deserves to have access to a fair and impartial system - and ALL people should be treated the same regardless of who they are, what they look like, or how much money they have. And that’s what I fight for - every day.”
Carol D. Powell Lexing
Carol’s initial interest in law was sparked by her uncle, who was the first Black judge in Caddo Parish, Louisiana. The stories he would tell as Carol was growing up inspired her to get involved in the legal field.
After receiving her J.D. from Southern University Law Center, Carol’s career began with a variety of areas of the law.
But the case that sparked her passion for becoming a voice for the voiceless involved an elderly woman who was being exploited by her dentist. Despite repeated complaints about her dentures, the dentist refused to fix them and demanded more and more money.
As the Director of North Louisiana Legal Assistant Corporation Volunteer Lawyer Project at the time, Carol and other volunteers managed to require the dentist to not only fix the dentures but also to return all of the elderly woman’s money.
Carol continued her work for the elderly, poor, and disadvantaged, and in 1995, the American Bar Association awarded her with the National Pro Bono Coordinator of the Year Award for her legal services.
But that was just the beginning.
As Carol developed her civil rights career, she was soon thrust into the national spotlight because of her involvement in the infamous Jena Six case.
The case arose from the racially segregated town of Jena, Louisiana, where relations between local high schoolers were becoming increasingly tense.
Then six young Black students were arrested for a schoolyard fight with a white student in December 2006. After the first student, Mychal Bell, was tried and convicted as an adult, the community was in an uproar and the young student’s attorney was seeking legal help for the appeals process.
Bell’s new attorney, Louis Scott, asked Carol to join him in his efforts, but Carol hesitated at first.
The morning Scott demanded her answer at the courthouse, Carol told him that if she finished her current case by 2pm, she would go with him to Jena. By what must have been divine intervention, she finished her case before lunch, and accompanied him to Jena.
Once Carol saw how racially corrupt the system that had convicted Bell was, she knew she needed to get involved.
Results:
Carol and the other attorneys on their team succeeded in getting Bell’s adult conviction overturned, and Carol accompanied Bell’s mother to the prison to tell Bell the good news that he would no longer be tried as an adult.
After her experience with the Jena Six case, Carol believes that God elevated her to a higher standard.
Suffice to say, she was busy.
She took case after case of civil rights issues, including wrongful death suits, like the 2008 Baron “Scooter” Pikes case, in which a young Black man died after being tasered by a white police officer 9 times in the course of 14 minutes.
The Pikes case also garnered national attention — not only because this Louisiana town was similarly riddled with tense racial history, but also because the U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to a lower court who had dismissed the civil rights lawsuit in 2014.
Carol has also worked on multiple cases of police shootings, like the 2014 shooting of 14 year-old Cameron Tillman, who was shot by an officer when he opened the front door to his friends’ after-school hangout and was subsequently ignored as he lay on the floor for 45 minutes before he died.
Carol and Tillman’s parents settled their lawsuit against the Paris Sheriff and the deputies involved in the shooting in 2018.
Eligible to advocate in civil rights matters in all 50 states, Carol has been named by the Congressional Black Caucus as one of the leading Civil Rights Attorneys for the 21st Century.
She’s been featured in news sources from CNN, the The New York Times and Aljazeera to Dr. Phil, Newsweek, and Essence.
But in the trenches fighting for civil rights as a Black woman in a predominantly-male field, Carol has experienced racism and sexism time and again.
To put it mildly, her job is not for the faint of heart.
Being a civil rights attorney is quite literally a full-time job. She has had to make sacrifices in her personal life in order to dedicate her time to her work, sometimes working 14-hour days for months on end.
But Carol never thought of those times as tough.
In fact, the benefits of her work have overwhelmingly outnumbered the difficulties. Experiences where people come up to her and tell her, “You saved my life,” are etched into her memory and her heart.
All of Carol’s work is anchored in God.
A woman of great faith, Carol believes her faith is the anchor that allows her to be successful in the important work that she has dedicated her life to.
She knows that the system can railroad people — especially poor people, and especially Black people — if they don’t have someone to stand up for them. But people who are given a second chance, like the young men from the Jena Six case, go on to become productive members of society.
That’s why she has dedicated her career to making sure that all people are treated fairly and has recovered millions of dollars for her clients.
She puts her heart and soul into each of her cases, ensuring that her clients receive the most favorable outcome possible and that they always know they have someone in their corner.
Call 318-324-0700 to schedule an initial consultation
Contact Carol D. Powell Lexing
Carol Powell Lexing’s impressive experience standing up for people whose rights have been violated is clear. The Law Office of Carol D. Powell Lexing & Associates is committed to giving you all the support you need. Contact us today to get started on your case.
Contact Carol D. Powell Lexing
Carol Powell Lexing’s impressive experience standing up for people whose rights have been violated is clear. The Law Office of Carol D. Powell Lexing & Associates is committed to giving you all the support you need. Contact us today to get started on your case.
