State of Mississippi Judiciary

Former Justice Charles R. “Chuck” McRae to present portrait to Supreme Court on January 5

December 30, 2025

Former Justice Charles R. “Chuck” McRae will present his portrait to the Mississippi Supreme Court on Jan. 5, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. during a ceremony at the Supreme Court in Jackson.

Justice McRae was elected to the Supreme Court in a special election in 1990 and began his service on the court in January 1991. He was re-elected in 1994 to a term that began in 1996. He served until January 2004. He was a Presiding Justice at the time he left the court.

McRae’s daughter, attorney Rebecca McRae Langston of Southlake, Texas, commissioned the portrait and donated it to the Supreme Court. The portrait will become part of the Supreme Court’s historic collection, which includes more than 40 portraits of justices who served from the 1800s to modern times.

Langston said, “When I commissioned my father’s portrait for the Mississippi Supreme Court, I wanted the image to capture the full essence of who he is, not only as a Justice, but as a man. My father is larger than life in spirit: a man of dignity, grit, and deep compassion, who has never forgotten where he came from.”

She said, “He began life with profound loss, losing his mother at age 12 and his father at 15, and growing up essentially an orphan. Through determination and hard work, he earned a football scholarship to attend college, worked as an insurance adjuster, and attended law school at night, always pushing forward, always reclaiming the life that circumstances tried to take from him.

“The portrait shows him in a suit, standing before the Supreme Court, grounded in the dignity of the office he served. But beside him is his motorcycle, a quiet but powerful symbol of his true essence. Riding always returned him to his roots – to freedom, humility, and being one with the wind and the earth. It reflects a man who lives life at full throttle, who does not shy away from adversity, and who has devoted his legal career to protecting the rights of the ‘little guy.’ ”

Langston said, “This portrait honors not just a Justice, but a life defined by resilience, adventure, service, and heart.”

Artist Trevor Goring painted the portrait. Goring has worked closely with the international trial lawyer community for many years as an artist, conference speaker, author and consultant. He founded the Trial Lawyer National Portrait Gallery in 2017. The online portrait art gallery documents and celebrates the trial lawyer community throughout history.

Goring was born in London. After postgraduate studies at Saint Martin’s College of Art in London, Goring began painting for exhibition in galleries and museums while teaching at the Montreal Museum School of Fine Arts. Goring now lives in France.

McRae grew up in Pascagoula, Mississippi. He moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his father after his mother’s death. He worked his way through high school and college with the help of friends. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962 from Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio, with a concentration in English and speech. He taught and coached in high schools in Moss Point, Mississippi, and Panama City, Florida. He earned his Juris Doctor from the former Jackson School of Law, now Mississippi College School of Law, in 1970, graduating cum laude.

He was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1970. He has been a member of the Bar for 55 years. He began his private law practice in Pascagoula. He has spent his private practice career representing plaintiffs in personal injury and complex litigation. He also served as attorney for the Jackson County School Board and the Pascagoula Police Association. He served by appointment as special chancellor and special circuit judge in 1990.

He returned to private law practice after he was defeated in a re-election contest for the Supreme Court. He formed the McRae Law Firm in Jackson in 2004, and continues an active practice across the country.

He is a Past President of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, now the Mississippi Association for Justice, and is a member of the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice. He is a member of the Southern Trial Lawyers Association, the Western Trial Lawyers Association, and the National Trial Lawyers Association. He received four Lifetime Achievement Awards. The Mississippi Association for Justice honored him with Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2008 and 2023, and the Western Trial Lawyers Association presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. The Southern Trial Lawyers Association honored him with the War Horse Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024. He received the Magnolia Bar Association Neal Green Service Award in 2003.

In his personal time, he enjoys riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle cross-country, international travel and spending time with his daughter, son-in-law and five grandchildren.

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