NCBA Honors Former Chief Justice

The Board of Governors of the North Carolina Bar Association, convening on Thursday, Jan. 22, at the N.C. Bar Center, honored retired N.C. Chief Justice Sarah Parker during a special recognition luncheon.

The event featured remarks by Chief Judge Linda McGee of the N.C. Court of Appeals.

Chief Justice Parker, who retired last year, began her service on the Supreme Court in 1993 and became chief justice in 2006. She was North Carolina’s 27th chief justice.

A Charlotte native, she spent 15 years in private practice prior to serving from 1985-92 on the N.C. Court of Appeals.

Parker attended Meredith College for two years prior to earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1964. Following service in the U.S. Peace Corps, she earned her law degree from the UNC School of Law in 1969.

Current members of the Supreme Court were unable to attend, but several members of the Court of Appeals and four former chief justices – I. Beverly Lake Jr., Burley Mitchell, Jim Exum and Rhoda Billings – were in attendance.

The recognition event traditionally highlights the NCBA’s winter board meeting.

Previous honorees include William Johnson, chairman, president and CEO of Progress Energy; Bill Friday, longtime president of the UNC system; Mecklenburg County District Attorney Peter Gilchrist; N.C. Sen. Dan Clodfelter; John G. Medlin Jr., who chaired the Commission on the Future of Courts and Justice in North Carolina; U.S. Rep. Howard Coble; N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr.; Superior Court Judge Howard Manning; AOC Director Ralph Walker and former ABA President A.P. Carlton.

NCBA President Catharine Arrowood presided over the recognition event.