Legal Legend of Color: Karl Adkins (posthumously)
Karl Adkins was a husband, father and grandfather who was loved and cherished by Carrietta, his wife of 52 years, his daughters Brandie Harris (Ben Harris) and Kristan Adkins (Dana Lumsden) and his beloved grandchildren, Karly and Maxwell.
Adkins attended UNC-Chapel Hill for his undergraduate work. During the summer of his junior year, Karl worked for Youth Educational Services. He convinced Carrietta, a school and church friend since ninth grade, to volunteer daily to teach dance to children participating in the non-profit camp. Because he liked the way she worked with children, he asked her out to dinner. They were engaged three months later when he gave her a diamond ring circled around the glass stopper of a perfume bottle. They married in 1969.
Adkins was the 1968 recipient of the distinguished John Hay Whitney Fellowship to attend the University of Michigan Law School. After receiving, his Juris Doctor Degree in 1971, Karl clerked for District Court Judge Damon Keith in Detroit, Michigan. Immediately after his clerkship, he moved to Charlotte where he was hired by Chambers, Stein, Ferguson and Lanning. At the time, fifteen attorneys were working in the Charlotte and Chapel Hill offices.
The firm had a national and international reputation in school desegregation, employment discrimination, voting rights, general civil rights litigation and criminal defense. Karl focused his practice on criminal defense and personal injury. Karl and Jim Fuller, a former law partner, were co-counsel for the now-famous Ronnie Long case. Fuller describes Karl’s closing argument as the best he had seen. They were haunted by losing the case and worked with others to obtain Long’s release and wrongful conviction after forty-four years in prison. After thirty-two years, Karl left the firm when he was appointed as a Superior Court Judge by Governor Mike Easley in 2005. He relished being a judge and served for three years. There were many highlights in his legal career including: President, Board of Directors of Legal Services of Southern Piedmont; Member of the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners; President of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers; and North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers (Member of the Board of Governors).
Adkins and his wife were fortunate to be able to enjoy fourteen retired years together. Adkins read voraciously and played golf often with the Charlotte Golfing Seniors and friends. He loved seeing plants grow and added some new plants to his yard every spring. The couple traveled extensively and cherished precious times with their family, especially Karly and Maxwell.
Adkins taught his family many lessons: to be supportive of others, to be tenacious in going after dreams, to be proactive in admitting and correcting mistakes, to listen fully with your ears and heart, to use good grammar, to go after a bargain and to boldly use titles bestowed upon you like “King” and “Judge.” He leaves a rich legacy of perseverance, thoughtfulness and love.