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Public: Recent News

Commemorating Charlie Dixon's $100,000 contribution to the newly established LANC Fund are, from left, NCBA Executive Director Allan Head, LANC Executive Director George Hausen, 2007-08 NCBA President Janet Ward Black, Dixon, outgoing NCBA President Clark Smith and LANC Board Chair Glenn Barfield.

Hickory Attorney Provides Major Support to New Endowment Fund

Standing ovations at the Grove Park Inn are becoming commonplace for Charles D. “Charlie” Dixon.

Four years ago when the North Carolina Bar Association convened in Asheville for its annual meeting, the Hickory attorney was inducted into the General Practice Hall of Fame.

This year, annual meeting attendees rose to their feet again to recognize Dixon for his $100,000 gift to the newly established LANC Fund.

The biggest difference between the two events is that the Hall of Fame, while still an exclusive group, numbers more than 100 members, whereas Dixon’s gesture in fulfilling the LANC Fund is virtually unprecedented.

The NCBA and the NCBA Foundation Endowment have received gifts of this magnitude, just not in the manner in which Dixon stepped forward to help launch the new fund, which will benefit Legal Aid of North Carolina.

Established recently in conjunction with the new “4ALL” initiative that is the centerpiece of Janet Ward Black’s presidential agenda for 2007-08, the LANC Fund was making headway toward its initial goal of $100,000, the minimum amount required before a named fund can be activated.

An initial canvas of the NCBA Board of Governors had resulted in $20,000 in gifts and pledges, and dues statements containing a new charitable contribution option were making their way to the membership.

Then Dixon stepped forward and provided a grand dose of momentum to the fund, which is now capable of providing returns to LANC while continuing to grow toward previously unimaginable levels.

“We hope that lawyers and law firms from all across this state will follow Charlie’s powerful example in supporting the provision of legal services to North Carolina’s poor,” said Black. 

Charlie Dixon address the NCBA Board of Governors.

Dixon humbly accepted the praise and applause of the NCBA at its annual meeting, stepping forward to the microphone at the June 22 meeting of the NCBA Board of Governors and NCBA Foundation Board of Directors to receive congratulations from then-President Clark Smith.

The term “benefactor,” Dixon noted, was not something that one would generally consider in describing him. Yet the NCBA Foundation will do just that as Dixon’s gift is formalized through the establishment of the Charles D. Dixon Restricted Justice Fund, the proceeds of which are permanently earmarked for distribution through the LANC Fund.

Born on Dec. 12, 1926, in York County, S.C., Dixon began his law practice in 1952 as an associate in the Hickory firm of Patrick & Harper; he was named partner of Patrick, Harper & Dixon in 1957. After decades of service as its managing partner, he became of counsel with the firm in 2003.

A 1943 graduate of Belmont High School, Dixon proceeded to North Carolina State University (then College) where he attended classes for two years. He joined the U.S. Army in 1945 and attended Japanese language school at Yale University where he was trained as a counterintelligence investigator.

Upon his honorable discharge in 1947, he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He attended Harvard Law School as a National Scholarship Student, earning his law degree in 1952.

A past president of the Catawba County Bar Association and the 25^th Judicial District Bar, Dixon is married to the former Dorothy Lindsay. He has four children and 11 grandchildren.

Moving forward, the Dixon gift provides inspiration to the NCBA and the NCBA Foundation on two fronts. First, there is the aforementioned LANC Fund and dreams of driving its corpus upward to $1 million and beyond, which is a distinct possibility given the potential of the current and ongoing appeal to the membership.

Second, and perhaps lesser known to NCBA members, is the manner in which Charlie Dixon funded his gift. Taking advantage of the tax provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which allows tax-free withdrawals from IRAs for direct gifts to charities for donors who are 70½ years of age and older, Dixon realized added incentive in making his gift at this time.

Better still, the big winners will ultimately be those citizens afforded legal representation through Legal Aid of North Carolina, made possible by the generosity of Charlie Dixon.