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2010 News Articles › Ayscue Presented John J. Parker Award
Ayscue Presented John J. Parker Award
Article Date: Tuesday, June 15, 2010
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| Ozzie Ayscue, right, accepts award from Charles
Becton. |
E. Osborne Ozzie Ayscue Jr. was honored on Saturday, June 26, as
the 33rd recipient of the North Carolina Bar Associations highest
honor, the Judge John J. Parker Award. The award was presented at
the NCBA Annual Meeting in Wilmington by NCBA Past-President
Charles Becton.
He is a profound and eloquent advocate for legal reform and
professionalism, Becton stated. By his acts, he encourages us to
emulate him and his deep devotion to the legal profession. We honor
him for his enduring contributions to law and the administration of
justice. We honor him for his conspicuous service.
Ozzie is passionate in his efforts to inculcate the values of
honor and professionalism in the next generation. He ennobles
himself, his firm, and the organized bar to the benefit of each of
us.
Ayscue is a past president of the NCBA, the Mecklenburg County Bar
and the American College of Trial Lawyers. He serves of counsel
with McGuireWoods in Charlotte, which merged in 2008 with Helms
Mulliss & Whicker where Ayscue has practiced since 1960.
We are all the products of opportunities that came our way, Ayscue
said in accepting the award, whether or not we had earned them, of
decisions we made, often without knowing the consequences, of those
who have opened doors for us, often without our knowing it, who
gave us support when we needed it and cautionary advice when we
needed that, indeed of everyone who has played a part in our
lives.
I am deeply aware that though this plaque has my name on it, it
really belongs to all those people who have been a part of my life
to this point. It belongs to them, but it is going back to
Charlotte with me, and it is going on my office wall.
I am deeply grateful, and I thank you for this honor, which I will
treasure for the rest of my life.
A native of Union County, Ayscue is a 1954 graduate of the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and 1960 graduate of
the UNC School of Law. In the interim, he served in the U.S.
Navy.
Ayscue was previously honored by the NCBA in 2007 as the second
recipient of the H. Brent McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award. In
2005, Ayscue received the American Inns of Court Professionalism
Award for the 4th Circuit. The Mecklenburg Bar Foundations
professionalism award was established in 2004 and named in honor of
Ayscue, who was also the initial recipient.
Longtime law partner Doug Ey, in nominating Ayscue for the Inns
of Court award, described him as one of North Carolinas leading
trial lawyers.
Ozzies dedication to the highest standards of advocacy for his
clients, civility to his colleagues and service to his profession
are well-documented, Ey stated. Equally important is his dedication
to the training and development of young lawyers. Ozzie is
passionate in his efforts to inculcate the values of honor and
professionalism in the next generation.
Ayscue and his wife, the former Emily Urquhart, have four
children: Dr. Grace Thompson Ayscue, E. Osborne Ayscue III, Emily
Ayscue Hassel, and Margaret Ayscue Certain.
The Judge John J. Parker Memorial 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 recipients are chosen as merited, not annually.
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 as chief judge. In 1944-45, Judge Parker
served as an alternate judge on the International Allied Military
Tribunal, better known as the Nuremburg Trials. 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.