David Ward Justice Fund
Article Date: Thursday, June 01, 2006
Written By: Russell Rawlings
David L. Ward Jr.
1935
Born and raised in New Bern, North Carolina, David L. Ward, Jr. of Ward and Smith, P.A. is considered a thorough, thoughtful, and tenacious lawyer. David grew up on East Front Street in downtown New Bern during World War II and witnessed the influx of military families in the area during the build up of the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point. His family believed in hard work and following the rules. So starting at the age of eight, he began working in a local grocery store and delivered groceries and newspapers on his bicycle. Later, he worked as a baggage handler in the Jacksonville bus station. During his junior year at New Bern High School, he played tackle and nose guard for Coach Joe Caruso, one of his main mentors. For his senior year, he was "encouraged" by his mother to attend Virginia's Woodberry Forest School, where he received a certificate of merit, but no diploma.
After completion of high school, David enrolled at UNC - Chapel Hill where he earned a degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting. During his college years, David earned membership in Phi Beta Kappa, the Order of the Old Well, and Beta Gamma Sigma. He also was a member and the treasurer of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity at UNC - Chapel Hill. David has remained interested in and active with numerous University boards and affiliations - from chairing the Board of Visitors, to chairing the Arts and Sciences Foundation, to serving on the Board of Trustees where he was Vice Chair, and being awarded the prestigious Davie Award.
After graduating from UNC - Chapel Hill, David served a two-year tour in the US Navy. This experience further shaped David's respect for hard work and following the rules.
David Ward's grandfather and father were both attorneys who practiced in New Bern, so David was destined to become an attorney as well. Following his service in the Navy, David entered law school at Duke where he served on the Editorial Board of the Duke Law Journal and was the Vice President of the Duke Bar Association.
After passing the bar exam in 1962, David returned home to New Bern where he joined his father and J.E. "Hap" Tucker in the firm, Ward and Tucker. One of the reasons David returned to New Bern was that he wanted to give back to his hometown some of what it had given to him. At the time, David felt like he was "searching to survive" in a firm that handled a wide variety of practice areas including corporate work, bank work, defense litigation, estate planning and administration, and white-collar criminal defense work. After David's father passed away and J.E. "Hap" Tucker retired, both in the summer of 1971, Ward and Tucker had two remaining attorneys, David Ward and his partner, J. Troy Smith, Jr.
Today, banking, corporate consultation, and human resources are among David's favorite areas of practice. He takes his legal knowledge and applies it to the client's need while finding ways to add value. "North Carolina today," David Ward says, "is a great place to practice law."
David has been recognized in "Legal Elite," a list of the best attorneys in North Carolina by Business North Carolina, and is a member of the "Legal Elite Hall of Fame" in the field of Corporate Counsel. He has been recognized in "Super Lawyers," a list of top North Carolina attorneys by North Carolina Super Lawyers. David feels blessed to have gained considerable statewide recognition. With this visibility, he has been able to serve on numerous boards. His civic involvement began early in his career, including being a founder of the Christ Episcopal Church Trust, several tours on the Vestry of Christ Episcopal Church, and being recognized as the Boy Scouts of America "Distinguished Citizen of the Year" in 1989. David currently is involved with the Christ Episcopal Church, where he serves as Trustee and Chair; the East Carolina University Medical Foundation, where he serves on the Board of Directors and chairs its Audit Committee; the Research Triangle Foundation, where he serves on the Board of Directors and chairs its Board and its Executive Committee; and the Tryon Palace Council of Friends, where he serves as President.
With years of cases over a strong legal career, the ones David remembers most are those in which he helped "the little people," the clients who lacked the money or the advocate to come to the forefront for them. Today, Ward and Smith, P.A. is a firm that not only has been recognized in Harcourt Brace's America's Greatest Places to Work with a Law Degree, but also is seen as a firm that is committed to quality and responsiveness.
David Ward, who is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association Hall of Fame, has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for 20 years. He is an attorney whose career has taken him from a three-lawyer firm in his hometown, to a firm which he and his long time partner, J. Troy Smith, Jr., have grown to more than 60 attorneys and 200 support personnel, with offices in New Bern, Raleigh, Greenville, and Wilmington, North Carolina. The many outstanding attorneys, past to present, who joined Ward and Smith, P.A. helped to further its growth and continual success. Many of the attorneys who joined the firm in its first few years of existence are, in fact, still practicing law at Ward and Smith today.
David is married to Elizabeth Reese Ward, who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1957. They were married on November 1, 1958. Elizabeth and David have three children - Margaret ("Marty") Neal Ward Andress, Leah Jones Ward Torstrick and David L. Ward, IV - all of whom followed in their parents' footsteps by attending UNC - Chapel Hill. Elizabeth and David also have five grandchildren: David Ka'aumoana Ward, Elizabeth Reese Torstrick, Margaret Ward Torstrick, Caroline Kinnebrew Andress, and Leah DuVal Andress.
Contributors to David L. Ward, Jr. Justice Fund
- William Joseph Austin, Jr., Raleigh
- Carroll M. Baggett, Chapel Hill
- Carl F. Barwick, New Bern
- Albert Robert Bell, Jr., Raleigh
- Jennifer Lynn Bowman, New Bern
- James Lee Davis, New Bern
- Stuart Battle Dorsett, Raleigh
- William S. Durr, New Bern
- Donalt J. Eglinton, New Bern
- Albert Charles Ellis, Greenville
- Lynwood Paul Evans, Greenville
- Paul Adams Fanning, Greenville
- James Michael Fields, Greenville
- First Citizens Bank & Trust, Raleigh
- Michael P. Flanagan, Greenville
- George Kirby Freeman, Jr., Wilmington
- Samuel McKinley Gray, III, New Bern
- Lewis R. Holding, Raleigh
- Merrill Glenn Jones, II, Greenville
- William R. Lathan, Jr., New Bern
- Cheryl Ann Marteney, New Bern
- John M. Martin, Greenville
- W. Daniel Martin, III, Wilmington
- William E. Martin, New Bern
- Jeffrey S. Matthews, Warsaw
- Hugh Robert Overholt, New Bern
- Gregory T. Peacock, New Bern
- C. H. Pope, Jr., New Bern
- Edward Knox Proctor, V, New Bern
- Gary J. Rickner, New Bern
- Clinton D. Routson, New Bern
- Stanley M. Sams, Greenville
- Frank H. Sheffield, Jr., New Bern
- John Reeves Sloan, Wilmington
- H. L. Stephenson, III, Greenville
- Ryal Woodall Tayloe, Wilmington
- Jerry M. Wallace, New Bern
- Leigh Allred Wilkinson, New Bern
- A. Rexford Willis, III, New Bern
- B. Kenneth Ray Wooten, New Bern