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Awards Presented at NCBA Annual Meeting

The North Carolina Bar Association honored numerous individual and group award winners on Friday, June 21, at the Charlotte Convention Center. The Awards Dinner and Presidential Installation was a featured event of the 2024 NCBA Annual Meeting.

The Citizen Lawyer Awards, Pro Bono Awards and Young Lawyers Division Awards were presented along with the Paralegal Division’s Distinguished Paralegal Award and the Professionalism Committee’s H. Brent McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award.

President Patti Ramseur also recognized the 2024 Legal Legends of Color, who were honored the previous evening, and the 2024 Open Door Fellows, who were honored earlier in the day.

The 2024 induction class of the Legal Practice Hall of Fame, who will be honored at the fall meeting of the Senior Lawyers Division in Winston-Salem, was announced. This year’s inductees will be A. Charles Ellis, Edward T. Hinson Jr, Robert B. (Bob) Long Jr, William P. Pope, Elizabeth L. (Betty) Quick, Edwin M. Speas Jr., the Hon. Linda Stephens, and Joseph A. Williams.

Individuals and groups honored at the Awards Dinner and Presidential Installation included:

Citizen Lawyer Awards

  • Diana Santos Johnson, Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC, Winston-Salem
  • Afi S. Johnson-Parris, Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro
  • Katie King, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Winston-Salem
  • Kate Maynard Gordon, Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte
  • Perry Morrison Jr., Morrison Law Firm, Wilson
  • Elysia Prendergast-Jones, Legal Aid of North Carolina, Raleigh
  • Susan Vanderweert, Law Offices of James Scott Farrin, Durham

Leila Hicks, chair of the Membership Engagement Committee, presented the awards. 

Pro Bono Awards

  • Greenblatt Outstanding Legal Services Attorney Lawyer Award – Rona Karacaova, Legal Aid of North Carolina, Charlotte
  • Thorp Pro Bono Service Award – Kerry A. Friedman, Patla, Straus, Robinson & Moore, PA, Asheville
  • Younger Lawyer Pro Bono Service Award – Palmer E. (Tripp) Huffstetler III, Sosna & Huffstetler, Rocky Mount
  • Outstanding Paralegal Pro Bono Service Award – Andrea M. Blosser, Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte
  • Law Firm Pro Bono Award – Robinson Bradshaw (Julian Wright and Emma Perry accepted the award on behalf of the firm.)
  • Outstanding Collaborative/Group Pro Bono Service Award – NCBA SOGI LGBTQ+ Legal Clinics (Collins Saint, SOGI Pro Bono and Public Service co-chair, accepted the award.)
  • Law School Pro Bono Service Award – “Better Together” project of Duke University School of Law, North Carolina Central University School of Law and the University of North Carolina School of Law (DJ Dore, Director of Pro Bono at Duke University School of Law; Lakethia Jefferies, Director of the Pro Bono Legal Clinic at NC Central School of Law; and Meghan Moran, Director of Pro Bono Initiatives from UNC School of Law, accepted the award.)
  • The Filling the Justice Gap Award – Rachel Royal, Royal Touch Project Solutions, LLC, Wilmington

NCBA Pro Bono Committee Co-chair Mary Irvine and DEI Subcommittee Co-chair Alison Ashe-Card presented the Pro Bono Awards.

Young Lawyers Division Awards

  • Charles F. Blanchard Young Lawyer of the Year Award – Sidney Thomas, North Carolina Commissioner Office of the Banks, Raleigh
  • Robinson O. Everett Professionalism Award – William Walton, North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections, Raleigh

Jonathan Bogues, outgoing chair of the Young Lawyers Division, presented the awards.

Distinguished Paralegal Award

  • Distinguished Paralegal Award – Margaret M. (Peggy) Pardue, Hampson Family Law, Raleigh

Lakisha Chichester, outgoing chair of the Paralegal Division, presented the award.

Brent McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award

  • Brent McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award – Mike McIntyre, Ward and Smith, P.A.

Gill Beck, chair of the Professionalism Committee, presented the award.

Additional coverage will be devoted to this year’s NCBA Annual Meeting award winners in the August edition of North Carolina Lawyer digital magazine.