Senior Lawyers Division Welcomes 8 Into NCBA Legal Practice Hall of Fame
The 35th induction class of the North Carolina Bar Association Legal Practice Hall of Fame was enshrined on Thursday, September 14, at the Waynesville Inn & Golf Club.
The induction ceremony coincided with the fall meeting of the NCBA Senior Lawyers Division, led by the Hon. Robert C. Hunter, chair, and NCBA Past President Betty Quick, chair-elect. Hunter also served as emcee for the induction ceremony.
The Hall of Fame was established in 1989 by the NCBA General Practice Section and now includes 186 members. The NCBA Senior Lawyers Division has solicited nominations and selected the inductees since 2019, at which time the General Practice Hall of Fame was renamed.
Hall of Fame inductees, seated from left, William M. Claytor, Fenton T. Erwin Jr., Troy C. Homesley Jr. and Ronald P. Johnson; standing from left, Stephen L. Beaman, Claud R. Wheatley III and Larry S. McDevitt.
“We have eight distinguished awardees tonight,” Hunter said, “and also some wonderful presenters for those eight. I am glad to see all of you.”
Hunter recognized The Van Winkle Law Firm for its sponsorship of the event and paid special tribute to firm member Larry McDevitt and his wife, Dershie. The McDevitts were instrumental in the establishment of the Senior Lawyers Division in 1990 when Larry McDevitt was serving as president of the NCBA.
Hunter then introduced retired Chief Judge Linda McGee of the N.C. Court of Appeals, who is serving this year as chair of the Hall of Fame Committee.
“It is a pleasure to be together in this wonderful place,” McGee said. “I want to begin by saying thank you to Bob Hunter, who has done a wonderful job making certain that all of us have a great evening.”
“Induction in the Legal Practice Hall of Fame,” McGee continued, “signifies recognition of a lifetime of exemplary service and the highest ethical and professional standards as a practitioner of the law, and for serving as a role model for all North Carolina lawyers.”
McGee then reviewed the Hall of Fame criteria statement, which reads:
“Hall of Fame practitioners are outstanding lawyers who have engaged in the practice of law during a significant portion of their legal careers and whose practices have served as models for other lawyers. To be eligible for nomination, lawyers must have practiced law (private or public sector) at least 30 years, primarily in North Carolina, must be members in good standing of the North Carolina State Bar and the North Carolina Bar Association and be living at the time of their nomination. Hall of Fame lawyers have exhibited throughout their practice the highest standards of ethics and professional competency and have rendered a high level of service to the Bar and to their communities.”
“Please look at your list of those who are receiving the awards tonight,” McGee concluded. “Clearly, they meet this criteria, and we are honored to have them here this evening.”
And with that, the induction ceremony was underway!
Stephen L. Beaman, Wilson
Law partner Jennifer Bennington of Beaman & Bennington presented Steve Beaman for induction.
“Despite all of his accomplishments and achievements, his character is what stands out most to me,” Bennington said. “He is humble. When something is in need of being fixed, he fixes it – he is the one we call our handyman. And if somebody needs help, he’s the one we call. If somebody’s passed away, or given birth, he’s the one we call.
“Our office has been a family, and Steve Beaman is the one who runs it. Your humility and dedication to Wilson County and the extended area is why we believe you should be in the Legal Practice Hall of Fame.”
Beaman is the founding partner of Beaman & Bennington, PLLC. He has practiced law since 1974 and has served as a bankruptcy trustee for the Eastern District of North Carolina for over 30 years. He has also represented the Wilson County Department of Social Services for more than 30 years and Wilson County for more than 10 years.
Beaman has represented debtors and creditors in all chapters of bankruptcy while also practicing in the areas of real estate, estate planning, estate administration, collections, and business and corporate law. He is a graduate of East Carolina University and the University of North Carolina School of Law.
“Coming from a very, very long line of eastern North Carolina tobacco farmers, I had little information or experience, and I applied to law school not knowing what practicing law would be like,” Beaman said. “Looking back with the advantage of hindsight from this end of my career, I can say absolutely that I could not have chosen a more satisfying and fulfilling profession than what I chose.”
Joseph B. Cheshire V, Raleigh
Joe Cheshire is the senior partner of Cheshire Parker Schneider, PLLC. Following graduation from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University School of Law, and service in the U.S. Army, Cheshire entered the practice of law with Ragsdale Liggett in 1973, becoming the fifth Joseph Blount Cheshire to practice law in North Carolina.
He soon became a named partner in the firm, which became Ragsdale, Liggett and Cheshire in 1975, and fulfilled his desire to practice criminal law while handling more than 15 first-degree murder cases in his first five years of practice. Cheshire left to form his own firm, specializing in criminal law, in 1978, and has remained there ever since.
Hall of Fame inductee Joe Cheshire, left, prepares for Leadership Academy session with co-presenter and longtime friend Wade Smith.
Cheshire regretfully had to miss the induction ceremony in order to participate in the memorial service of Ragsdale Liggett founding partner Frank Rahm Liggett III.
“My first job as a licensed lawyer was with Frank,” Cheshire wrote in his acceptance address, which was read by the emcee. “In the first six years of practice, we traveled all over the country and Caribbean representing the firm’s biggest clients. Frank taught me patience. He taught me how to deal with clients, even the most difficult ones, with grace. When I decided to go on my own, Frank blessed the decision and, later while his son David was in law school, Frank asked if I would mentor him. I did so and David and I developed a wonderful personal and business relationship that still exists today.”
“I imagine all of us in this room had someone who inspired us and took the time to teach us and love us when we were struggling with how to be a lawyer. Frank was that person to me, and I thank you for understanding why I felt the need to stay in Raleigh, close to Frank and his family at this trying time.”
Cheshire invoked the name of another mentor in explaining why the Hall of Fame induction was so meaningful to him.
“I am old, so I can say this: I have received many awards and played a big role in modernizing women’s prisons, getting open file discovery through the Legislature, developing the Indigent Defense Services and chairing it for eight of its first 10 years, and with great teams, walked two innocent people off death row.
“But no award means more to me than this one because of who is awarding it to me – the Bar that represents us all, no matter what side we are on. This organization has allowed me so many opportunities, from being on the board and the executive committee to being head of the Criminal Law Section, giving and receiving innumerable presentations, and much more, but my favorite was teaching at the Bar’s Leadership Academy every year with my mentor and best friend, Wade Smith, for over a decade.”
William M. Claytor, Charlotte
Ken Benton introduced Bill Claytor, his law partner at Baucom, Claytor, Benton, Morgan and Wood, for induction.
“If you ask Bill Claytor today, ‘what is your profession,’ he would tell you that he is a citizen lawyer,” Benton said. “If you look at his resume, you will see and understand what I mean.
“Bill has been awarded the highest civilian honor that any resident of North Carolina can have, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, because of all the things that he has done. So, it is my great pleasure and my great honor to introduce to you my good friend, my law partner of 49 years, Bill Claytor.”
Claytor is a shareholder in Baucom, Claytor, Benton, Morgan and Wood, P.A. He attended Rhodes College in Memphis and is a graduate of Truman State University (B.A.), the University of Memphis (M.A.) and the University of Memphis School of Law (J.D.)
Claytor worked for the Internal Revenue Service for three years prior to joining Baucom Claytor in 1973, thereby marking 50 years with the firm in April. His practice has been focused on the areas of estate planning, estate administration, elder law, corporate law and tax law, and he has administered over 750 decedent’s estates through the courts and planned over 1,500 estates for clients.
“To be among those honorees inducted into the General Practice Hall of Fame in previous years as well as those being inducted today is a mountaintop experience,” Claytor said. “I share this honor with my wife, Ann, and my family. Webster defines privilege as a special benefit or advantage granted to and enjoyed by an individual. In that regard, I have enjoyed a very privileged life. I am privileged to have spent my career in the legal profession. I have been privileged to have been sought for guidance by others in the legal profession, especially newly licensed lawyers.
“I have been privileged to have witnessed the joy of families moving into their first house built by Habitat for Humanity, privileged to have attended and participated in mortgage burning ceremonies for Habitat homeowners, privileged to have been able to donate blood and blood products to help ease the burden faced by cancer patients, privileged to have experienced the stories told by my students while attending college for the first time in their family, privileged to have witnessed firsthand lifechanging moments in the lives of others.
“My journey to this point has not been traveled alone but with other people, each of whom in their own way has contributed to me and made a lasting impression on me, and guided me in terms of their dedication, determination, integrity, perseverance and willingness to make the world in which I live a better place. Being inducted into the Legal Practice Hall of Fame means the world to me.”
Fenton T. Erwin Jr., Charlotte
Fenton Erwin was introduced by his son, Lex Erwin.
“I recently heard a wise person talk about the purpose of life,” Lex Erwin stated. “That person said, ‘do stuff that matters, do stuff that matters.’ Fenton Erwin has done stuff that matters. In his personal life, he’s raised five children. He has been blessed with eight grandchildren. He has a wonderful marriage to my mother, and his wife, Jane, for 52 years. Fenton worked exceedingly hard. He was hard at work when we were kids growing up, but he never missed a ball game. He never missed an opportunity to spend one-on-one time with each of his children – each of his children!
“Fenton did stuff that matters. In his professional life, Fenton practiced law in Charlotte for 56 years, focusing on civil litigation and construction law. After I graduated from law school and spent five years in Atlanta, I was lucky enough to come back to Charlotte and work with my dad for the last 18 years. Fenton retired last year at the age of 81 years young. Practicing with Fenton, I got to see firsthand the empathy that he had for each of his clients and the passion that he had for each of his cases. On more than one occasion, he would tell me that we need to step into the shoes of our clients and argue the case as if they were arguing the case, but only with a law degree and the experience and knowledge that we have. That’s how he treated each of his cases.”
Fenton Erwin began practicing law in 1966 following his graduation from the University of North Carolina School of Law and retired at the end of 2022 from Nexsen Pruet. Erwin began his career with Lindsey & Schrimsher, P.A., where he maintained a general practice.
He joined law partner John Beddow to form Erwin & Beddow, P.A. in the 1980s, during which time his practice began to focus on construction litigation and real estate litigation. Erwin also became counsel for the local chapter of the American Subcontractors Association and served in that capacity for more than 20 years.
He was a named partner in multiple firms over the course of his career, culminating in 2011 with the formation of Erwin, Bishop, Capitano & Moss (EBCM), where he enjoyed a successful practice for 11 years.
Fenton Erwin acknowledged his induction with a tribute to his family and colleagues. “It is common to talk about needing a village to raise children,” Fenton Erwin said, “and we all know that it takes more than a lawyer to be able to practice law.”
“It has been a privilege for me to practice with Lex for 18 years,” Fenton Erwin continued. “I will tell you truthfully, I have learned more from him than he has learned from me. I have learned that there are cases that I took that I shouldn’t have taken. There are cases that I thought were worthy of representation by the client and I thought, ‘Lex would love this case,’ and I was mistaken. He did not want to touch it. But he was there for me as well and was a sounding board.
“I wanted to tell everyone how fortunate I have been. I appreciate and thank the Senior Lawyers Division of the bar for making possible this opportunity to receive this recognition that not everyone can attain. I had a friend who asked me, when he found out I was semi-retiring, ‘What would you differently?’ After thinking, I told him that I would have won all my cases. And then I thought at some length, that I learned more from the cases that I lost than from the cases that I won. I want to suggest to each of you who are still practicing, look at each case and don’t be concerned so much with whether you win or lose; be concerned about the individual who needs the representation.”
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Troy C. Homesley Jr., Statesville
Cliff Homesley introduced his father, Troy C. (TC) Homesley, for induction.
“When we talk about what a privilege it is to practice law, ultimately I tell the young lawyers who come into my firm that the privilege allows us to be a gatekeeper,” Cliff Homesley said. “We’re a gatekeeper when a person walks into our office, and they can be in the most indigent situation in our society. But if we take their case, they have the power to take on the biggest corporate entity or the United States government and have the same representation as those entities.”
“His practice of law has always been that he opened that gate. (TC) opened that gate to the most indigent people, the people in our community who needed representation, and he really didn’t care about the money.”
TC Homesley moved to Mooresville and opened the office of Collier, Harris and Collier in 1962, and has maintained firms with offices in Mooresville and Statesville for more than 50 years.
Homesley is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC School of Law, and veteran of the U.S. Army, where he served in the Army JAG Corps from 1958-62 before being honorably discharged with the rank of captain. His practice has focused on criminal and civil litigation, and Homesley has also served as a court-appointed attorney for indigent defense services for more than 50 years.
TC Homesley lightened the mood considerably with his acceptance remarks.
“Back in June when I got notified that I had been selected to join this elite group of people,” Homesley began, “I had a little meeting with my brain. I told my brain that we need to come up with an acceptance speech, and I want you to work on it, and these are the parameters that I want you to use, and we’ll get back together.
“But later, when I got back together with my brain, it’s been about 35-40 days, and I found out that my brain was down to a speech that would take about 25 minutes. And now I want you to know I was perfectly happy with that. But the very next day I got an email telling me the speeches were limited to two minutes. I told my daughter that’s what happens when you let your brain overload your mind.”
On a more serious note, Homesley expressed his gratitude to the NCBA and its Senior Lawyers Division, family and friends, and especially his wife, Jacquie, with whom he recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
Ronald P. Johnson, Greensboro
Davis McDonald introduced longtime law partner Ronald Johnson.
“Ron has been blessed with intellect, compassion, and seemingly boundless energy,” McDonald said. “He has an outgoing personality, intellectual curiosity, the drive to achieve, a very active imagination, a willingness to work hard, and a heart to serve. He has used these traits to develop into one of the preeminent estate planning and probate attorneys in our state.”
McDonald shared comments from numerous colleagues before closing by stating, “Personally, I don’t know of anyone more deserving of induction into this group than Ron.”
Johnson serves as special counsel with Carruthers & Roth, P.A. in Greensboro. A graduate of the University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina School of Law, he began his practice in 1974 with Jordan, Nichols & Caffrey, focusing on estate planning, estate administration, business law and nonprofit organizations law.
Johnson became a board-certified specialist in estate planning and probate law in 1987, and 1997 joined in the formation of what ultimately became Johnson, Peddrick & McDonald, PLLC. The firm was dissolved in October 2021 and Johnson and his partners joined Carruthers & Roth. Johnson will celebrate 50 years of practicing law next year.
“I’ve been extremely privileged to have practiced law in Greensboro for 49 years, almost exclusively in the area of estate planning and the estate administration,” Johnson said. “I’ve been privileged to represent many of my clients for four and five decades, and many of the families in Greensboro for three or four generations.
“Recently, one of my clients that I started representing in my first year of practicing law in 1974 passed away in 2022. And he said right before he died that he had four daughters, but that I was the son he should have had. And then he said with a gleam in his eye, ‘you know, the son who doesn’t inherit.’
“Having grown up in rural South Carolina with little or no athletic skills, the thought of ever attaining a hall of fame was way beyond! I can’t wait to tell all of my high school cronies who were all of these great football, baseball and basketball stars that I am in the hall of fame, and they’re not!”
Larry S. McDevitt, Asheville
Dale Curriden, who serves as president of The Van Winkle Firm, introduced Larry McDevitt.
“First and foremost, Larry is a trial lawyer,” Curriden began. “His trial work has involved the range from humble individuals to large multinational corporations, from general to highly specialized. I had the privilege to sit with Larry in a trial for three weeks in Gaston County early in my career, and Larry successfully defended our client in what has infamously become known as the ‘Touched by an Angel’ case.”
“Whether it was in trial work or in leadership roles,” Curriden added, “the common thread of Larry’s career has been his commitment to pro bono work for those who need justice but cannot afford to hire a lawyer.
“In addition to his work as a trial lawyer, or as part of his work as a trial lawyer, Larry has been a member of The Van Winkle Law Firm for over five decades serving in every official and unofficial leadership capacity possible. Larry has also served the bar – locally as president of what is now the Buncombe County Bar, statewide as president of the North Carolina Bar Association, regionally as a permanent member of the Judicial Conference of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and nationally as the North Carolina state delegate to the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association.”
McDevitt is a senior partner at The Van Winkle Law Firm and a former president of the firm. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC School of Law, and he has been practicing law for more than 47 years. His practice places special emphasis on patent and trademark infringement cases as well as antitrust matters.
McDevitt began by thanking his partners who nominated him.
“I want you to know that that act has really touched my heart, and I appreciate it,” McDevitt said. “When I was told of my nomination for the hall of fame, I reflected back to 1975 when I was made a full partner in the law firm, and it took me to my first partners meeting. At the end of the meeting, I thanked my partners for making me a partner, and jokingly, I promise, nominated myself for president of the firm.
“The silence that followed that nomination was nothing short of deafening. But the silence was broken when the senior partner, who sat at the head of the table, jumped up and said, ‘I told you! I told you!’ and stormed out of the room. I inferred by that that my selection as a partner had not been unanimous.
“At any rate, if he were here today – and he became a beloved partner – he would be amazed that I’m standing at the podium tonight. Quite frankly, I am amazed myself.”
In conclusion, McDevitt added, “Where I have landed with membership in the hall of fame, despite what I probably think of the appropriateness of my selection, I’m not turning it down. I’m not sending it back. I’m appreciative, grateful, and deeply honored to be chosen, and I will cherish it, not only as a recognition by my peers in my past, but also for the rest of my personal and professional life to be inspired to live up to the values it represents.”
Claud R. Wheatley III, Beaufort
Claud Wheatley was introduced by Wheatly Law Group partner Jeff Newton.
“If it sounds like I’m a fan, it is because I am,” Newton said. “For nearly 60 years, from when I first started watching him play football and basketball for the Beaufort Seadogs, I’ve been a fan.”
“Rob is the third-generation Wheatley in our law firm,” Newton added. “His dad, who gave out compliments sparsely, said, ‘Juries like you,’ and they do.”
Wheatley practices with the Wheatly Law Group in Beaufort, preceded in that regard by his grandfather, Claud R. Wheatly Sr., who opened his office in 1908, and his father, Claud R. Wheatly Jr., a charter member of the General Practice Hall of Fame.
Now in his 51st year of practicing law, Claud Wheatly III is a graduate of The Citadel and the University of South Carolina School of Law, and earned the rank of captain while serving in the U.S. Army. He focuses his practice on real property, estate planning, business, corporate, environmental law, maintaining a civil trial practice in all of the state and federal courts.
Wheatley provided the perfect walk-off to the evening’s festivities.
“You know, I grew up in Beaufort,” Wheatley began. “Small town. Small county. People who were fishermen and farmers. I remember receiving a call when the bar was starting all of this pro bono work, and the caller asks, ‘Mr. Wheatley, I want to know if you ever do any pro bono work?’ And I said ‘yeah, much more than I thought I was going to be doing; some of it I just didn’t know at the time.’ And who hasn’t?
“I appreciate being inducted as a member of this organization. My grandfather started our firm in 1908, and my father, who was inducted into this (hall of fame) in 1989 in the first class, and was also a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers. I never had any idea that I’d be asked to join this exclusive group, and I cannot tell you what a great honor it is.”
Betty Quick provided closing remarks for the induction ceremony.
“Every time I attend one of these dinners,” Quick said, “I leave so inspired and in awe of all of the lawyers who were inducted in all of those years, many times moved to tears, and tonight is no exception. What a wonderful group of inductees, and I congratulate you all.”
Quick then asked all of the inductees to stand for one final round of applause.
“And I think it’s important that we also thank the nominators,” Quick continued. “If you had not stepped forward, if you had not brought forward the names of the people who have been inducted tonight, we wouldn’t have heard these wonderful stories and we wouldn’t be memorializing the accomplishments of all these people, so thank you for what you did to make this evening as successful as it has been.”
Quick concluded by recognizing Dan Hartzog, who served last year as chair of the Hall of Fame Committee which selected these eight inductees; Bob Hunter, who worked so diligently to bring the fall meeting and awards dinner to Waynesville; and staff liaison Cheyenne Merrigan who serves as director of communities for the NCBA.
Biographical information on each of this year’s inductees was derived from their nominations and firm websites.
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.