Judge Brown served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Alabama until 1976 when he entered private practice in Birmingham. In 1982, at age 35, he campaigned for and won election to the District Court of Jefferson County, Civil Division, and was subsequently elected to serve two additional terms. During his tenure as District Court Judge he was selected by his peers to serve as the President of the State District Court Judges Association. He also served on the Supreme Court of Alabama's Rules of Civil Procedure Committee.

After retiring from the bench in 2001, Judge Brown has provided mediation/arbitration services throughout the State of Alabama. Judge Brown has participated, both as a student and teacher, in well over 200 hours of mediation/arbitration training, including being selected to participate in a 40 hour course at Harvard University in October 2006, serving as group leader in the section on advanced mediation and negotiation training.

In pursuit of his interest in mediation/arbitration, Judge Brown has served on the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committees with the Jefferson County Bar Association, the Alabama Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Judge Brown. early in his career on the bench, was selected as one of the Outstanding Young Men of America, and is still actively engaged in varied civic endeavors, including the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity, the YMCA, Kiwanis, Lions Club, the Police Athletic Team and in the past serving on the faculty of Miles Law School