Wester Will Lead NCBA In 2009-10

Article Date: Monday, June 01, 2009

John Wester accepts nomination at 2008 NCBA Annual Meeting.

John R. Wester of Charlotte will serve as the 115th president of the North Carolina Bar Association in 2009-10. He will be installed on Saturday, June 27, at the 111th Annual Meeting of the NCBA at the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa in Asheville.

Wester grew up in Rockingham and graduated from UNC as a Morehead Scholar. He received his law degree with high honors from Duke Law School, where he was an editor of the law review and inducted into the Order of the Coif.

Wester has since called Charlotte home, devoting his entire career to Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, where he has concentrated in the trial and appeals of business disputes, securities regulation and employment cases. He has served the NCBA as a member of its Board of Governors and as chair of the Audit and Finance, Appellate Rules and Nominations committees.

In legal circles, Wester’s name is permanently affixed to Hyatt v. Shalala, the landmark class action suit against the Social Security Administration on behalf of thousands of disabled citizens whose benefits had been denied or terminated. Wester and his firm, in partnership with Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, took the case through the federal courts for 20 years, including two reviews by the U.S. Supreme Court and five opinions by the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Approximately 150,000 North Carolinians won new disability hearings under new standards as a result of this litigation.

Wester’s service as lead counsel was provided pro bono, earning his firm recognition from the NCBA and the American Bar Association as recipient of their first Pro Bono Publico Service awards.

Wester was also tapped as lead counsel when Gov. James Martin and his cabinet were sued in a federal court class action challenging the constitutionality of employment practices in state government. The opinions in that case articulated the right of the Governor and his cabinet to utilize policymaking positions to change the direction of state government.

Wester is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Bar Foundation.

His community involvement includes board service for Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, the Mecklenburg County Bar, and the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. He has also served as chairman of the Arts & Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg and ArtsTeach, Inc., and on the Boards of Visitors of UNC and the Duke Law School.

Wester is married to the former Cam Lucas. He has two sons, McNeill and Forest, a daughter, Jane, and a stepson, Lucas.