Judge Osteen Receives Parker Award
Article Date: Friday, June 20, 2008
Judge Osteen Accepts Parker Award |
Retired U.S. District Court Judge William L. "Bill" Osteen
became the 31st recipient of the North Carolina Bar Association's
John J. Parker Memorial Award on Saturday, June 21. The award was
presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting in Atlantic Beach by Judge
Allyson K. Duncan.
Judge Duncan, who serves on the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals, is also a past present of the NCBA. Outgoing NCBA
President Janet Ward Black of Greensboro also participated in the
presentation ceremony.
The award was established in 1959 by the NCBA as "the highest
honor of this association bestowed in recognition of conspicuous
service to the cause of jurisprudence in North Carolina."
Underscoring the significance of the award is the fact that it is
only awarded as merited.
Judge Parker served with distinction on the U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1925 until his death in
1958, including 27 years of service as chief judge. He practiced
law in Greensboro, Charlotte and his native Monroe, and served as
special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General prior to his
appointment to the bench. In 1944-45, Judge Parker served as an
alternate judge on the International Allied Military Tribunal,
better known as the Nuremburg Trials.
Judge Osteen was appointed to the U.S. District Court in 1991. A
former NCBA vice president, Osteen assumed senior status in 2006
and was succeeded last year on the Middle District bench by his
son, Judge William L. Osteen Jr.
A Greensboro native and longtime resident, Osteen is a 1953
graduate of Guilford College and 1956 graduate of the University of
North Carolina School of Law. He began his law practice in North
Wilkesboro in 1956 but soon returned to Greensboro as a solo
practitioner in 1958.
He joined in the forming of Booth & Osteen in 1959 and
remained a partner in the practice until 1969, at which time he was
appointed U.S. Attorney for the Middle District. He served in that
capacity until 1974, then practiced in partnership with Osteen,
Adams & Osteen prior to serving on the bench.
Osteen served in the General Assembly from 1961-65 and chaired
the Guilford County Economic Opportunity Council in 1963. He was
president of the Greensboro Bar Association in 1989-90 and received
its Distinguished Service Award in 2004. Osteen also served as
president of the 18th Judicial District Bar in 1985.
A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and past
member of the Federal Bar Association, Osteen is a permanent member
of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judicial Conference. He
served a member of the State Bar Council from Guilford County from
1989-91.
"Judge Osteen has contributed significantly to the legal
profession and has provided exemplary service in both the public
and private sector for over 51 years in the state of North
Carolina," writes Chief Judge Louise Flanagan of the U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of N.C.
"Judge Osteen's influence not only on members of the bar but on
members of the federal judiciary is profound. Through his service
on the Judicial Conference's Committee on Codes of Conduct, and the
time Judge Osteen personally took for so many years (and still
takes) to answer judges' questions bearing on conduct, he has
greatly enhanced the strength of the judiciary."
Previous Recipients of the Judge John J. Parker Memorial
Award
- 1959 J. Spencer Bell, Charlotte
- 1961 Hoyt Patrick Taylor Jr., Wadesboro
- 1962 Robert Franklin Moseley, Greensboro
- 1963 J. Will Pless Jr., Marion
- 1964 Albert Coates, Chapel Hill
- 1966 David Maxwell Britt, Fairmont & Lindsay C. Warren Jr.,
Goldsboro
- 1969 Raymond Bowden Mallard, Tabor City
- 1971 William Marion Storey, Raleigh
- 1972 Carroll Wayland Weathers, Winston-Salem
- 1975 James Dickson Phillips Jr., Chapel Hill
- 1977 Hamilton Harris Hobgood, Louisburg
- 1978 Susie Marshall Sharp, Raleigh
- 1981 Sam J. Ervin Jr., Morganton
- 1984 William F. Womble Sr., Winston-Salem<
- 1986 Harry E. Groves, Durham
- 1987 Joseph Branch, Raleigh
- 1989 James B. McMillan, Charlotte
- 1991 Franklin T. Dupree Jr., Raleigh
- 1992 Carmon J. Stuart, Greensboro
- 1993 Russell M. Robinson II, Charlotte
- 1994 Julius L. Chambers, Durham
- 1996 William L Thorp, Chapel Hill
- 1997 James G. Exum, Jr., Greensboro
- 1999 Dr. Norman A. Wiggins, Buies Creek
- 2000 Walter F. Brinkley, Jr. Lexington
- 2002 Harry C. Martin, Asheville
- 2004 Robinson E. Everett, Durham
- 2006 Clarence W. "Ace" Walker, Charlotte
- 2007 Henry E. Frye, Greensboro