Patricia D. Wise 

Judge Patricia D. Wise is one of four chancellors of the Fifth Chancery Court District of Hinds County, Mississippi. Before being elected chancellor in 1989, Wise was managing attorney and partner in the law firm of Dockins and Wise, located in Jackson, Miss. Her private practice was in the area of domestic relations-family law, personal injury and general civil practice. She also served as family law resource attorney for Central Mississippi Legal Services.

An Oxford native, Wise has lived in Jackson for the past 25 years. She received a bachelor's degree in special education, master's degree in communicative disorders and a juris doctor degree from The University of Mississippi. She is past president and first female president of the Magnolia Bar Association, an association comprised primarily of African- American attorneys throughout the state, a member of the American Bar Association, Hinds County Bar Association, Conference of Chancery Court Judges, National Bar Association, and a graduate of the National Judicial College. She has served as seminar faculty speaker for the Magnolia Bar Association, Mississippi State Bar, Mississippi Pro Bono Project, Mississippi Women Lawyer's Association, Mississippi Judicial College, and National Judicial College. She also is a member and former state coordinator of the National Association of Women Judges and served as the district director for the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Louisiana. Judge Wise teaches torts and family law at Hinds Community College and Mississippi College. She was appointed by the state Supreme Court as a member of the Complaint Tribunal, which hears all formal complaints concerning attorney misconduct.

Prior to being elected chancery judge, Wise served as a special master of the chancery court. She is a member of the Mississippi Judicial Performance Commission, which studies all complaints concerning the state judiciary. A 1990 recipient of The University of Mississippi's NOW Award for outstanding leadership, Wise also is the first recipient of the Black Women's Political Action Forum Brown-Hall-Young Achievement Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the legal profession.