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Home › About › Communications › NCBA News › 2010 News Articles › Citizen Lawyer Profile: Jimmie Hicks
Citizen Lawyer Profile: Jimmie Hicks
Article Date: Tuesday, June 01, 2010
JIMMIE B. HICKS JR.
Residence: New Bern
Education: North Carolina State University (B.S.), University of North Carolina School of Law (J.D.)
Firm: Sumrell, Sugg, Carmichael, Hicks & Hart
Practice areas: Local government law, business/corporate law, commercial transactions, franchise law, non-profit organizations, real property, estate planning and administration, intellectual property law
On being a Citizen Lawyer: “I found out a long time ago that, no matter how busy you are, you find the time to do what’s important, and I think it’s important to serve the community.”
STORY
Jim Hicks likes to say that New Bern is one of the only towns in America where the mall is empty and the downtown is full of people on any given day. It’s nice to know he’s had a role in making that become a reality.
For many years, Hicks has been heavily involved with Swiss Bear, a nonprofit corporation developed in the late 1970s to revitalize downtown New Bern and foster its growth. As a result of Swiss Bear’s efforts, New Bern’s downtown has transformed from an area of commercial warehouses and dilapidated buildings to a bustling district full of coffee shops, restaurants, renovated historic buildings and beautiful parks next to the waterfront.
“It’s a jewel,” said Hicks, a 2010 recipient of the N.C. Bar Association’s Citizen Lawyer award. Hicks is a New Bern native who spent the early part of his professional career in computer engineering with IBM. Instead of returning to IBM after law school, however, he returned home and built a legal practice that has a heavy focus on representing local governments.
As the county attorney for Craven, Pamlico and Jones counties, he has played a part in building up the area’s infrastructure. Along those lines, his community service and civic efforts have focused on creating and maintaining the infrastructure that drives the area’s economic growth.
He is particularly proud of his work with Swiss Bear, which created an extra tax district in downtown New Bern. Merchants and property owners have willingly paid the additional tax given that any revenue from it has been directed solely towards revitalizing the downtown.
“It’s really been a success story,” Hicks said of the results the tax has produced. For the past year, the downtown has been on full display as New Bern celebrates its 300th anniversary. As the chair of the New Bern Chamber of Commerce, Hicks has spearheaded the celebration, which has featured weekly events ranging from reenactment of a Civil War-era naval bombardment to a reunion between Swiss families and Swiss-Americans that will take place in September.
The celebration has generated the type of economic impact, especially from tourism dollars, that Hicks and others had envisioned. “There was a perception among a few that this was just going to be an expensive, year-long party, but what people realize now is that it’s not only a celebration, paying tribute to our past, but in this recession and economy, it’s been like a magic bullet,” Hicks said. “We’re seeing hotels booked and restaurants hopping. It’s just been huge for the community.”
About the Citizen Lawyer Award
The NCBA Citizen Lawyer Award was established in 2007 to recognize lawyers who provide exemplary public service to their communities. Honorees include elected and appointed government officials, coaches, mentors and voluntary leaders of non-profit, civic and community organizations. Since 2007, there have 64 recipients of the award.
About the N.C. Bar Association
The North Carolina Bar Association, founded in 1899, is a voluntary organization of lawyers, paralegals and law students dedicated to serving the public and the legal profession. The N.C. Bar Center in Cary serves as headquarters for the NCBA and the NCBA Foundation, Inc. Though similar, the NCBA (www.ncbar.org) and the mandatory North Carolina State Bar (www.ncbar.gov) are not affiliated.
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