Health Law Section Honors Sam Southern

Article Date: Sunday, May 02, 2010

Written By: Russell Rawlings

Samuel O. Southern was honored Friday, April 16, as the 2010 recipient of the Health Law Section’s Distinguished Service Award.

Sam Southern, center, accepts honor from William Forstner, left, and Leighton Roper.

The award was presented during the section’s annual meeting at the N.C. Bar Center “in recognition of his lifelong achievements and outstanding contributions to health law, and his exemplary service to health care professionals, the bar and the general public.”

 

Southern, who served as chair of the Health Law Section in 1998-99, practices in the Raleigh office of Smith Moore Leatherwood. A veteran practitioner of 40 years who has tried more than 200 cases in the Superior Courts of North Carolina and elsewhere, Southern has broad experience in health law and litigation.

 

“Outside the courtroom, Mr. Southern is the consummate professional, upholding the ethics and representing the aspirations of the profession,” his nominators stated. “Sam has mentored and trained young lawyers for much of his professional career, instilling the values that define his career and the legal profession.”

 

Recognized for his service by two governors and one U.S. president, “Southern,” they continued, “has remained committed to the development of North Carolina law, including personal involvement in the development of the peer review protections in our state.”

 

“I am very humbled and honored that my peers would recognize me in that way,” Southern said. “Recognition by one’s peers is probably the most meaningful and legitimate form of recognition that a professional can receive. We know each other fairly well.

 

“There are so many awards that one can simply apply for, and to that extent they become self-bestowed. This award clearly is not that. I could not apply for it, and I did not know that I had been nominated. So to have your peers do so on their own is very humbling, and I am very honored that they would do that after 40 years of practicing law.”

 

Southern is a 1966 graduate of Duke University, where he was an Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholar, and a 1969 graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he was a Law Alumni Scholar.

 

Among his numerous civic and community contributions, Southern has served since 1992 as a commissioner for the U.S.S. North Carolina Battleship Memorial. He attained the rank of captain in the U.S. Navy and served in the U.S. Naval Reserve’s JAG Corps from 1969-99. He is a recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal and served five years as a U.S. Navy Military Judge.

 

The award has been presented only five times since it was established in 1993. Previous recipients are Roddey M. Ligon Jr. (1993), John Anderson Jr. (1995), Wendell H. Ott (1996), John G. Shaw (2003) and Leighton P. Roper III (2008).