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2009 News Articles › Pridgen Is New NCBA President-Elect
Pridgen Is New NCBA President-Elect
Article Date: Sunday, June 28, 2009
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Gene Pridgen
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Eugene C. Pridgen has been elected president-elect of the North Carolina Bar
Association. He will serve as the 116th president of the NCBA in 2010-11.
Formal election of Pridgen, administrative partner for K&L Gates in
Charlotte, transpired Saturday morning, June 27, at the NCBA Annual Meeting at
the Grove Park Inn. His name was placed in nomination by Janet Ward Black,
immediate past president of the NCBA and chair of the Past Presidents’ Council
which selected Pridgen.
Seconding speeches were provided by longtime law partner Raleigh Shoemaker
and Dean Blake Morant of the Wake Forest University School of Law.
Then, in keeping with the traditions of the NCBA, the past presidents in
attendance ushered Pridgen to the stage for a brief acceptance address following
his election.
This is a wonderful reminder of the opportunities that our profession offers,”
Pridgen said. “This is a very humbling honor, but more than an honor it is an
opportunity to serve a profession that has been very good to me for so many
years.”
Pridgen is a 1969 graduate of North Carolina State University and served in
the U.S. Army from 1969-73, attaining the rank of captain. He earned an MBA from
Wake Forest University in 1975 and graduated magna cum laude from the Wake
Forest University School of Law in 1978.
He joined Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman in 1978 and has remained
with the firm, which combined with K&L Gates in 2008, throughout most of his
career. Pridgen served as executive vice president and general counsel of
Glenayre Technologies from 1997-99.
Pridgen has an extensive record of involvement within the NCBA, including
service on the Board of Governors from 2003-06. He also served as chair of the
Development Committee and, most recently, as chair of the Citizen Lawyer Task
Force.
“A number of people in our firm have been very active in the North Carolina
Bar Association,” Pridgen said. “The first two who come to mind are Ace Walker
and Norfleet Pruden who both served as president, and many more have been active
in sections, committees and task forces.”
Civic involvement and professional development, Pridgen added, have always
been supported and encouraged by firm leadership, at Kennedy Covington and now
K&L Gates, as a vital part of each attorney’s professional duties.
“It only takes a little involvement in our bar association to get really
excited about working with people across the state,” Pridgen said. “I especially
enjoy working with people I would not normally see and getting to know more
about them, such as the members of the Citizen Lawyer Task Force.
“That’s what keeps you coming back.”
Pridgen and his wife, Jamie, have a daughter, Laura (now Laura Taylor), and
two sons, Blake and Jack. He is the son of Georgia Pridgen and the late T.C.
Pridgen of Troy. Pridgen was born in nearby Asheboro and graduated from West
Montgomery High School in 1964.
He will succeed fellow Charlotte attorney John R. Wester as president of the
NCBA at the 112th Annual Meeting in Wilmington on Saturday, June 26, 2010.