Clarence Benjamin Jones (January 8, 1931 – May 22, 2026) was an American lawyer and the personal counsel, advisor, draft speech writer and close friend of Martin Luther King Jr. He was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Jones was a scholar in residence at the Martin Luther King Jr. Institute at Stanford University. He was the author of What Would Martin Say? (HarperCollins, 2008) and Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech that Transformed a Nation (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2011). His book Last of the Lions was released on August 1, 2023 (Redhawk Publications). Jones served as chairman of the non-profit Spill the Honey Foundation.

In 1962, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter recommending his lawyer and advisor, Clarence B. Jones, to the New York State Bar, stating: "Ever since I have known Mr. Jones, I have always seen him as a man of sound judgment, deep insights, and great dedication. I am also convinced that he is a man of great integrity."

Jones was born January 8, 1931, to parents who were domestic workers in Philadelphia. He was raised in a foster home and brought up in the Catholic religion; he attended a Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament boarding school in New England, as did his mother. Later he and his family moved to Palmyra, New Jersey; he graduated from Palmyra High School.

He earned a bachelor's degree from Columbia College in 1953. Following his graduation he was drafted into the United States Army in 1953 and spent nearly two years at Fort Dix when he declined to sign a loyalty oath.

In 1956, he began attending Boston University School of Law, obtaining his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1959. He and his wife Anne moved to Altadena, California, where Jones established a practice in entertainment law.

In 1967, at age 36, Jones joined the investment banking and brokerage firm of Carter, Berlind & Weill where he worked alongside future Citigroup Chairman and CEO, Sanford I. Weill and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman, Arthur Levitt. Jones was the first African-American to be named an allied member of the New York Stock Exchange.

Jones joined the team of lawyers defending King in the midst of King's 1960 tax fraud trial; the case was resolved in King's favor in May 1960. Jones and his family relocated to New York to be close to the Harlem office of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and he joined the firm of Lubell, Lubell, and Jones as a partner. In 1962, Jones became general counsel for the Gandhi Society for Human Rights, SCLC's fundraising arm.

Later 1962, Jones advised King to write President John F. Kennedy on the Cuban Missile Crisis. He urged King to make a statement because "your status as a leader requires that you not be silent about an event and issues so decisive to the world" (Jones, 1 November 1962).^{[full citation needed]}