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In 1948 Arkansas governor Ben Laney held a statewide conference to promote his idea for a regional graduate school for black students. Branton was so disgusted with the discussion that he declared his intention to register in the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He also persuaded fellow Arkansas AM and N Alumnus, Silas Hunt, to register for the University’s Law School. When they traveled to Fayetteville to attempt registration, accompanied by Pine Bluff attorney Harold Flowers and photographer Geleve Grice, Branton was refused admission but Hunt was accepted. Branton was ultimately admitted to the University Of Arkansas School Of Law in January 1950. In 1952, through a special veterans preference program, Branton passed the bar exam before graduation. In 1953, he was the third African American to graduate from the University of Arkansas School of Law. Branton opened a law office in Pine Bluff after his admission to the bar and conducted a general practice between 1953 and 1962.

In 1956 Wiley Branton shared the National Spotlight with NAACP Legal Defense Fund Director Thurgood Marshall and journalist Daisy Bates as legal counsel for the Little Rock Nine.

In 1978 Wiley Branton became the Dean of The Howard School Of Law in Washington DC.

In 1983, he joined the Washington DC office of the Sidley and Austin Law Firm. Wiley Branton died of a heart attack on December 15. 1988.