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2008 News Articles › Judge Osteen Receiving Parker Award
Judge Osteen Receiving Parker Award
Article Date: Sunday, June 15, 2008
Written By: Russell Rawlings
Retired U.S. District Court Judge William L. "Bill" Osteen has
been selected as the 31st recipient of the Judge John J. Parker
Memorial Award. Presentation is scheduled during the General
Session of the 2008 NCBA Annual Meeting in Atlantic Beach on
Saturday, June 21.
The award was established in 1959 by the North Carolina Bar
Association 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 recipients are chosen as merited, not annually.
The award recognizes "conspicuous service" by members of the bar
to the cause of jurisprudence in North Carolina.
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."