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This article originally appeared in the August 24, 2025, issue of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Photo courtesy of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins.
One of Arkansas’ most storied law firms, Wright Lindsey Jennings, is preparing to celebrate its 125th birthday in October.
It has come a long way since 1900, when it was founded as a one-man practice, with what would become known as the Rock Island Railroad as its sole client.
But Stephen Lancaster, the man who has been at the helm as managing partner since 2018, says that throughout its evolution into a firm with 76 lawyers now, it has maintained a solid, consistent reputation.
“To me — and I think that this would be an opinion shared across the legal community — Wright Lindsey and Jennings is a good law firm that always comes prepared, and that has really talented, hard-working lawyers who are going to do a really good job for their clients and who are going to do things the right way,” he says.
“And when we talk about doing things the right way, for us that means being professional, civil and ethical,” he adds. “Those are the things that all of us who are here now inherited, and we feel a real responsibility to the people who came before us, our partners and then the people who will be here in the future. We’ve got to protect those things and make sure we continue to do things the way we should.
“We also feel like that is the most effective way to serve our clients as well,” Lancaster says. “You can do a lot of things with a short-term perspective that may give you an immediate win, but in the long term, those things usually end up costing you. If you do things right, I think you have long-term success. I think that’s how you get to be 125 years old — by doing things the right way.”
The firm is a full-service civil practice, while Lancaster’s focus is on commercial litigation — both from a plaintiff’s and a defense perspective. Though most of his work is done behind the scenes, he has handled a number of high-profile cases, including efforts to get casino gambling approved in Arkansas, defending cannabis dispensaries after voters authorized the sale of medical marijuana in Arkansas in 2016, and representing ExxonMobil in the aftermath of the 2013 Mayflower oil spill — when the company’s pipeline burst in the Faulkner County town, dumping more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil in a neighborhood and prompting lawsuits that resulted in a $5 million settlement.
A Seat at Clinton’s Desk
Now 63, Lancaster has been with the firm for his entire legal career.
When he joined the firm in 1993, after a couple of summers interning there while finishing his law degree at the University of Texas at Austin, he was just 31. But he must have made quite an impression during interviews the firm conducted at his law school as he neared graduation, because he inherited the desk that had been used by Bill Clinton, a previous associate who by that time was in his first term as president of the United States.
Lancaster remembers that the person at the firm who oversaw the assignment of desks had kind of “put it aside for me.” And he proudly continues to use it to this day, in the same high-rise downtown office building where the firm has existed since 1965 and has grown to occupy six floors.
In addition to its reputation as a bastion for top legal talent, the firm is regarded as progressive, committed to diversity and, for the past eight years, one of the best places to work in Arkansas, according to Arkansas Business polls.
It was the first major law firm in Arkansas to name a female partner, as well as the first to hire a minority associate and a minority partner.
“From civil rights to gender equality, our firm is proud of our innovative spirit,” it states on its website. “The firm has demonstrated a commitment to civil liberties throughout its history, supporting causes such as free speech, prisoners’ rights, equality in public education and diversity in the legal profession.”
Before being elected managing partner in 2018, Lancaster was the firm’s chief operating officer for 11 years, and selected its first female COO, Adrienne Baker, to succeed him.
Small Town Boy
But becoming a lawyer didn’t run in his family. He said it was something he “fell into.”
Lancaster grew up in Sheridan, as the only son in a family of five. His mother was a schoolteacher, and his dad ran a hardware store. Lancaster grew up working in the store, developing his dogged work ethic and the valuable handyman skills that he has since passed on to his own son.
After graduating from Sheridan High School in 1980, Lancaster attended the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville where he majored in banking and finance. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree, he moved to Austin, Texas, to pursue a master of business administration at the University of Texas.
Then, with his MBA in hand, the 20-something Lancaster went to work at the accounting firm Peat Markwick in Houston, which eventually became KPMG, a global powerhouse. He worked as a consultant, focusing on business valuations.
But it wasn’t meant to be his lifelong career.
While crunching numbers by day, Lancaster’s personal life was uneventful. Then one day, he went to the pool at his apartment complex, where he met a beautiful woman named Betsy.
“It might have been the one time I was at the pool,” he admits.
He said he and Betsy went to dinner and then began dating regularly. The next thing he knew, “we were talking about getting married, way too soon. But I knew by that time that I wanted to come back to Arkansas, and I had also started thinking about law school.”
He can’t remember what exactly attracted him to law school, just that “it had been on my mind, but I really didn’t think it was realistic.”
At the same time, he remembered taking an aptitude test years earlier that suggested he was cut out to be either a lawyer or the person who sits in a fire tower and watches for forest fires — a job that he didn’t even know existed.
Lancaster had no idea then that by steering himself toward a career in law, it would eventually ensure that he had just as good a view as he would have had as a fire lookout, but from a 23rd-floor office window instead of a watch tower.
He did know, however, that becoming a lawyer “was an honorable profession,” and he also knew it was time to make a change. So he was thrilled when Betsy, who was from Pennsylvania and had never set foot in Arkansas, agreed to move to Arkansas with him after he obtained his law degree.
“In hindsight, it was amazing that she was up to it,” he says.
After getting married in Pennsylvania, the couple moved to Austin so Lancaster could attend law school at UT for three years.
The Father of a Texan
In keeping with their well-laid plans, he says, he managed to snag summer internships at the Wright Lindsey Jennings firm in Little Rock — just a stone’s throw from his hometown — during his second and third years in law school. But by that second summer, Betsy was pregnant, and he cut his internship short to stay home with her.
Then, just one semester before he graduated with a law degree, their son Reese was born in Austin.
Now an assistant U.S. attorney in Little Rock, Reese Lancaster, 33, “does not like to admit that he is a Texan really,” his dad says with a smile, citing the years-long football rivalry between the two states.
Stephen Lancaster said he and Betsy, unsure of how to proceed with their life plans while raising — of all things — a Texan, decided on a compromise.
“The compromise was that his feet did not touch the soil until we got to Arkansas,” Lancaster says.
Reese Lancaster says he grew up hearing the story: “Your feet never touched American soil until you got to Arkansas.”
“I appreciate being an Arkansan,” he admits. “My parents probably got some looks when people heard they’d had a son in Texas.”
When Stephen Lancaster returned to Arkansas for good, this time with family in tow, there were 50-some lawyers at the Wright Lindsey Jennings firm, already one of the largest and best-known law firms in the state.
“We had a very broad mix” of cases, he remembers. “We were primarily a litigation firm, but we did a lot of transactions, which is what we were known for.”
At that time, the legendary Alston Jennings — the Jennings in Wright Lindsey Jennings — was the only living namesake of the firm. Lancaster said he grateful that he was able to work alongside the icon.
“One of the real honors for me was I got to work with Mr. Jennings a fair amount of the time.”
Ed Lowther, a prominent lawyer who joined the firm in 1981, was the firm’s managing partner for 14 years before turning over the reins to Lancaster, who had been COO for about 11 years.
Lowther, who remains “of counsel” at the firm, said he was pleased that Lancaster continued the firm’s open-door policy, which encourages lawyers needing help or advice to seek it freely and contributes to the firm’s overall image as a friendly place to work — which Lancaster said is an important element of the firm’s culture.
“He’s running the ship,” Lowther says. “Steve sets the culture for the firm. I would say that the partners regard him as the face of the firm. His actions always take into account the best interests of the firm, even if it’s to his own detriment sometimes.”
Lowther noted that despite actively managing the firm, Lancaster continues to practice law on a full-time basis — which is unusual.
It’s something that Reese Lancaster says is one of his father’s defining traits.
“Both of his parents worked quite a lot to give him and his two sisters every opportunity,” Reese says. “He grew up with that, and he knows people are expected to work hard to do the best they can for their children. Being a managing partner of one of the largest law firms in the state is no easy feat, but still, there was never a football game, a play, or even a science fair of mine that he missed. And my mom (who has worked in data analytics for the Department of Veterans Affairs for more than 30 years) was always right there as well. I am luckier than I deserve.”
A Laundry List of Public Service
Stephen Lancaster also values public service, which is a hallmark of the firm. He is a past chairman of the American Red Cross of Greater Arkansas and served as vice chair of the American Red Cross Blood Services’ Board of Directors for the Greater Ozark region. He was also on the board of Arkansas Hospice for several years before more recently being named vice president of the Board of Directors for Potluck Food Rescue, which saves good food from going to waste by picking it up from grocers, caterers and large commercial kitchens and redistributing it to those in need.
“Giving back to the community has long been an honored tradition and core value at WLJ,” the firm says on its website. “We strive to build lasting relationships and impact significant philanthropic missions that enhance the quality of life within our communities.”
While many of the firm’s lawyers are recognized in major peer review directories for legal professionals, Lancaster himself has been included among The Best Lawyers in America in several fields of litigation.
While not working, volunteering or celebrating important family events — including the recent birth of his first granddaughter, Bennett — Lancaster likes to drive and collect old vehicles like his 1989 silver Mercedes or his Ford Broncos, or hang out with his two dogs at the family’s off-grid, solar-powered cabin overlooking the north fork of the Saline River.
“My way to relax is chopping wood,” he says.
He also likes to make brandied cherries and pickled okra and give them as gifts at holidays.
While capable of many things, those who know him best say it’s who Lancaster is as a person that means the most.
“He is just a better person than he is a lawyer, and he is an excellent lawyer,” Lowther says.
Jay Moody, now a federal judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas, began working for Wright Lindsey Jennings at about the same time as Lancaster. The two lawyers quickly became close friends and remain so today.
“I do not know of a more trustworthy or reliable lawyer,” Moody said recently. “Steve’s ability to listen to and empathize with people is such a rare and special part of his character. He has a quiet presence about him that engenders confidence I wish I had. I feel blessed to call him a friend.”
Self Portrait
MY FRIENDS CALL ME: Steve.
THE BEST ADVICE I EVER GOT: Treat people fairly.
ONE THING MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT ME: I like persons more than people.
ONE MISCONCEPTION ABOUT LAWYERS: Except when representing a client, we typically try to avoid conflict like the plague.
WHEN I’M NOT WORKING, I LIKE TO: Spend the weekend with Betsy at our cabin on the Saline River.
FAVORITE BOOK: “Catch 22.”
FAVORITE MOVIE: “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
WRIGHT LINDSEY JENNINGS ROLE MODELS: Alston Jennings, Jim Moody and Ed Lowther.
MY FAMILY WOULD SAY I’M: Driven (and hard headed).
THREE THINGS NOT IN MY FUTURE: Social media, crypto and tattoos.
ONE WORD TO SUM ME UP: Loyal