Home ›
About ›
Communications ›
NCBA News ›
2008 News Articles › NCBA Past-President W. W. Taylor Dies
NCBA Past-President W. W. Taylor Dies
Article Date: Monday, May 19, 2008
Written By: Russell Rawlings
"T" Taylor addresses 2006 Justice Fund dedication ceremony. |
William Woodruff “T” Taylor Jr., who served as president of the North Carolina Bar Association in 1957-58, died Wednesday in Lexington, Va. He was 96.
Taylor’s remarkable longevity was reflected in his legal career, during which he practiced law in North Carolina for more than 60 years. It could be said about Taylor that he actually had two careers, one in his native Warrenton and one in Raleigh where his name adorned the nameplate of Maupin Taylor & Ellis.
Born April 1, 1912, to Dr. and Mrs. W. W. Taylor, he was educated in public and private schools in Warrenton. He received undergraduate instruction at Davidson College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but was forced to delay his education following the onset of the Great Depression.
He resumed his studies in 1932 at what was then the Wake Forest College School of Law and passed the N.C. bar exam in 1933. He then returned to Warrenton where he practiced law some 30 years, excepting the time he served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
While practicing law in Warrenton, Taylor served as town attorney, county attorney for Warren County and as prosecuting attorney for the Recorder’s Court. He served in the General Assembly from 1951-56.
Around the time he was completing his service in the legislature, Taylor was elected president-elect of the North Carolina Bar Association. To this day, he is the only Warren County attorney to serve as president of the NCBA.
Taylor enjoyed a successful tenure of service as president-elect and president. His parting column from the July 1958 edition of Bar Notes spoke to his affinity for the NCBA and its members.
“It has been a wonderful and unforgettable experience serving as president of this splendid organization,” Taylor wrote. “I am deeply grateful to all of you for giving me this honor and this opportunity for service to our profession, and for making this year such an enjoyable one.
“Let me also thank you for the fine work you have done for our profession. You have in recent years made this Association a dynamic force in this state and it truly has become the voice of the organized bar in North Carolina.”
Among the NCBA’s youngest presidents, Taylor was only 46 when he completed his term. Shortly thereafter, he set about to carve yet another chapter in the legal history of North Carolina when he joined Armistead Maupin and Thomas F. Ellis in the formation of Maupin Taylor & Ellis on July 1, 1962.
In concert with the NCBA mission statement, Taylor continued to serve the public and the profession throughout his years in Raleigh. He served on the General Statutes Commission from 1975-77 and was a member of the Board of Trustees at East Carolina University from 1955-72. He served a three-year term on the UNC Board of Governors, and received an honorary doctorate from Campbell University in 1991.
In 1978, Taylor played a prominent role in the establishment of Lawyers Mutual Liability Insurance Company of North Carolina and served on its board of directors until 1994.
Taylor provided leadership within the firm, which merged last year into Williams Mullen, until his retirement on Dec. 31, 1993.
Even after he retired and moved to Virginia, Taylor maintained a presence within the law firm and the bar association, where his appearances were always denoted with reverence and appreciation.
Taylor returned to the N.C. Bar Center in June 2006 to participate in the dedication of a Justice Fund in honor of Armistead Maupin, sharing the podium with his former protégé, Keith Kapp.
Kapp, a Williams Mullen partner and officer who served as managing partner for Maupin Taylor, was assigned to Taylor when he joined the firm at the onset of his career in 1981.
“He was a wonderful teacher, a very fine editor and a true Southern gentleman,” Kapp recalled. “He was also a guiding force of the creation of the firm we are today.”
Memorial services for Taylor are being held Friday, May 16, at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Lexington and at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Warrenton on Tuesday, May 20 at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to the William W. and Ida W. Taylor Honors Fund at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, c/o Office of University Development, PO Box 309, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-0309.
Click here to access the complete obituary, which has also been posted on the In Memoriam section of the NCBA Web site.