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Public: Recent News

President Catharine Arrowood displays Gambrell Award, joined from left by Ed Gaskins, Alice Roman, John McMillan, Sid Eagles, John Mabe and Mel Wright.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Wake County Bar Association and the Tenth Judicial District Bar shared in a special moment on Friday, Aug. 10, as recipients of the American Bar Association’s E. Smythe Gambrell Award. 

The award was presented during a luncheon gathering of the National Association of Bar Executives, the National Association of Bar Presidents and the National Conference of Bar Foundations. The affiliate groups were conducting annual meetings in conjunction with the ABA Annual Meeting.

Funded by the E. Smythe Gambrell Fund for Professionalism, this cash award recognizes bar associations, law schools, law firms and not-for-profit law-related organizations that have established effective, on-going programs to help ensure the maintenance of the highest principles of integrity and dedication to the legal profession and the public.

“It was our great pleasure to accept the Gambrell Award on behalf of the members of the Wake County Bar Association and Tenth Judicial District Bar,” said Catharine Arrowood who currently serves as president of both organizations.

“This award acknowledges a decade long effort to put into place programs and initiatives to preserve the principles of professionalism in an increasingly challenging legal environment. Despite our growing numbers and the specialization of practice, these bar programs have provided a network of support of which we can be most proud.”

Sharing in the moment was a distinguished gathering of Wake County Bar representatives, including President-Elect John Mabe, Immediate Past-President Sid Eagles, longtime Professionalism Committee member Ed Gaskins, Executive Director Alice Roman, State Bar Vice President John McMillan and Executive Director Mel Wright of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism.

NCBA Executive Director Allan Head who serves as treasurer of the Wake County Bar was also in attendance, seated on the dais in conjunction with his concluding duties as president of the NABE.

In 1991, the Tenth Judicial District and Wake County Bar Association established a Professionalism Committee with the goal of identifying and addressing issues affecting members of the local bar in the broadest sense of professional responsibility, including the member’s obligation to the system of justice, their clients, themselves, their colleagues, and their community.

Some of the projects the committee has undertaken include:

• The annual Joseph Branch Professionalism Award, which was established in 1991 to honor attorneys who are universally recognized as exemplifying the ideals of professionalism displayed by Joseph Branch, former Chief Justice of the N.C. Supreme Court;
  
• Development of a Professionalism Creed, which was adopted by the Bar Association in 1997 and which is distributed to all new members;
  
• Implementation of the Professionalism Support Initiative, which provides confidential peer counseling for attorneys and judges perceived to have evidenced a lack of professionalism;
  
• Implementation of an annual round-table discussion on ethics and professionalism issues; and
  
• Organization of a countywide mentoring program.

The committee helps promote professionalism by recognizing lawyers who exemplify professionalism in their practices; promoting relationships among lawyers who might not otherwise have professional contact with each other; building a strong relationship and rapport between the Bar and the bench; and recognizing and addressing quality of life issues.