Sandra Wilson Cherry

A New President for 2001-2002: Sandra Wilson Cherry by Pat Jones, APR Editor and Director, Communications and Publications
She's a formidable opponent in the courtroom. She's a community leader who has given much time to some very good causes. She has a good marriage, and has been an involved and hands-on mother. She is a wonderful example of a woman who has it all.
If these sentiments from her longtime friend, businesswoman Janet Jones, sound like a description of the lead character in a new television drama, it's only because art imitates life. The new president of the Arkansas Bar Association will surely blush as she reads this, laugh and say something like, "I paid her to say that." Sandra Cherry is the quintessentially genteel Southern lady - perfectly groomed and demure. Think steel magnolia. We talked for hours over lunch at a trendy Little Rock restaurant and at the U.S. Attorney's Office where she works, mostly about the Bar Association she loves and to which she has given so much of her time. "I'm devoted to the Association," she says with a soft Southern drawl. "It has enriched my life." And what a full life she lives. "I nominated her for and she won a national award for her work (prosecuting) health care fraud cases." - Paula Casey Winner of the U.S. Department of Justice's 1999 Directors Award for superior performance by an Assistant United States Attorney, Cherry has handled cases that have become models for prosecutions across the country. For example, though federal jurisdiction is limited over nursing home neglect and abuse, she developed a theory of federal prosecution based upon fraud. To be successful at this, according to Paula Casey, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, prosecutors have to be very involved in the details. "You have to be willing to plow through boxes and boxes of (evidence) to find what you need," Casey says. " Agents like to work with her because they know their work will come to fruition if Sandra's handling it. (Sandra's) very thorough. She doesn't let go." Deceptively gentle in cross examining people, most (witnesses) don't realize they've been had until it's all over. She did a closing argument once that became a legend in medicaid fraud. The agents who worked on the case commissioned a painting to commemorate it. "I'm not F. Lee Bailey," Cherry says. "but I've been fairly successful." In recent years, she has served as Coordinator of the Federal Health Care Fraud Task Force for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas. The Task Force is made up of different agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the HHS Inspector General and the Department of Defense who work together on cases. Cherry says "We've had some success in Medicare fraud cases that's satisfying because with so much fraud occurring in these federal health care programs you feel like you've saved the taxpayers' money and sent a strong deterrent message." A former junior high history teacher, Cherry revealed, "There's a lot about trying a jury trial that's like teaching. You're trying to lay out your facts to jurors so they'll remember them and agree with your views on the outcome. Schoolteachers and trial lawyers have a lot of 'ham' in them. Trial practice is stressful at times, but when you are successful it is very rewarding." She truly loves to work to improve the overall practice of law and the Association itself. These are words from the first woman president of the Arkansas Bar Association, Carolyn Witherspoon, whom Cherry credits for helping to make her presidency possible. "There was a time when Carolyn and I were rather unique in the Bar," Cherry says. "Often we were most of the women in the room; that is, two of the three. For many women, there is still a glass ceiling to be overcome, but it's been made easier because of the efforts of women who precede you. Since I left law school I have never held a position that a woman has held before me and you carry a burden being first. Because of Carolyn, it is different for me becoming Bar President." Witherspoon says she hopes Cherry's term as the second woman president of the Arkansas Bar will inspire more women and more government attorneys to do committee work and accept leadership roles. Already, Cherry is making her mark in that regard. "I was very impressed with Sandra's efforts to start a Government Practice Section," Paula Casey said. "That was largely Sandra's doing, and my husband joined the Arkansas Bar, in part, because of it." In 1991 the Women Law Students Association at the University of Arkansas presented its Gayle Pettus Pontz Award to her for outstanding excellence and achievement in the legal profession. The trail of her well-turned heel leads all over the Association. She served as secretary-treasurer, is a tenured member of the House of Delegates, co-chaired the Committee on Opportunities for Women and Minorities in the Legal Profession, and sat on at least four other committees. "Chairing the executive council was a huge job she did for me." Witherspoon says. Cherry won the Arkansas Bar Association's Golden Gavel Award for Exemplary Service to the Legal Profession in 1992. In addition to her State Bar work, she is a fellow of the American and Arkansas Bar Foundations, past president	of the Pulaski County Bar Association and former president of the UALR School of Law Alumni Association. "I think many of us are active in the Bar because it takes you into another area of involvement, another group of friends you develop that you would not meet in your work," Cherry says. "I suppose some people do volunteer work as an interest much like others pursue a hobby." Few take their hobby as seriously as Cherry takes her community work. "One year (the U.S. Attorney's Office) donated Christmas baskets to the elderly and Sandra decided that it was too sad to give anybody a basket without a ham or turkey in it, so she bought a ham or turkey for every basket." "I think lawyers are community leaders and they have an obligation to serve the community." Cherry says. "Professionalism is about serving your community in whatever way you can. Not just in your Bar but in your profession." She's not just whistling Dixie. She lives her philosophy of professionalism and service. She is Immediate Past Chair of the Arkansas Community Foundation, a founder and director on the Board of the Women's Foundation of Arkansas, director on the Board of the Governor's Mansion Association, and past chair of the Gains House Board of Directors. Witherspoon says compassion and balance will distinguish Cherry's term as president. Her professional life, home life and community work seem to flow together seamlessly, one complimenting the other. One way in which home and career come together is she and her husband of 24 years, John S. "Jack" Cherry, share the same profession. "Jack is definitely the best lawyer in the family," Cherry smiles. " In lots of ways, he's encouraged me and I've learned a lot from him about everything from jury selection to trial strategy. It's wonderful for two lawyers to be married to each other because you understand late night trial preparation. You understand the pressure of the trial so you can be understanding when the other person is stressed." Each of these lawyers grew up as an only child, and they have one child, a beloved daughter named Jane. She is a sophomore at Wake Forest University and she recently set her sights on going to law school. After the Cherrys posed for photographs with their pugs, Muffie and Spuds, at the family's home in Little Rock, Jack Cherry took time to talk about going to his first Bar meeting with his longtime friend Gordon Rather in the 60's. Reminiscing, he fondly recalled another time in the 70's when he asked the lawyer who became his wife out on a date to one of those Bar Association Annual Meeting parties at the Arlington Hotel. Lately, he says, "Sandra's been doing (Association work) for both of us." Asked what role he expects to play in the coming year, he chuckled, "My role will be to stay out of the way...She's lucky to have me around." So, what does the power couple do to relax? "We spend weekends at the lake. We've traveled a lot with the Bar and we like that." According to Rather, former president of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Cherrys are great ambassadors. "I put a premium on representing Arkansas and the Arkansas Bar well when you're in a leadership position like this," Rather says. "I think Sandra and Jack will do a great job. Jack Cherry is one of the most genuinely clever people I know. Hayden and I spent a good amount of time with Sandra and Jack at an ABOTA convention in Florence, Italy and I can tell you they're just as gracious when they are away from Arkansas as they are here at home." They are also known to entertain at their home to benefit the community organizations they support. Seamless, right? The well-balanced life Cherry has today follows a couple of early transitions which she made with patience and perseverence. She was a senior in high school just when schools were closed following the Central High Crisis. "One friend went to St. Louis and one went to Dallas. My parents couldn't believe what was happening so I didn't do anything at first," she recalls. "I took a correspondence course and attended high school football games which were played even though there were no classes. My high school group of friends, known as the lost Class of 59, became extremely close and many of us are still very close today. Finally, I went to Hendrix College as a freshman in the Spring semester." She excelled, as did 11 other seniors from Central and Hall High. Within three years, she had transferred to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and graduated with a degree in history. Unable to find work, she decided against law school, returned to college and got a teaching certificate. She enjoyed teaching junior high history and civics and then women began going to law school in greater numbers. Recognizing an opportunity to reclaim her dream deferred, she entered law school ten years after finishing her undergraduate degree. "It was suddenly a feeling that this really is my place, that this is what I should be doing," Cherry says of her law school experience. The sparkle in her eyes as she talks about what the Arkansas Bar Association is and what it can become may be a clue that this is deja vu.
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