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Inductees, front from left, Jim Kimzey, Roy Cooper Jr. and Sally Scherer; back row, Walter Jones, Charles Burgin and Eddie Knox.

The General Practice Hall of Fame of the North Carolina Bar Association enshrined six North Carolina lawyers on Friday evening, June 20, at the NCBA Annual Meeting in Atlantic Beach.

The ceremony took place at the Coral Bay Club.

Attorneys comprising the 2008 induction class are NCBA Past-President Charles Burgin of Marion, Roy A. Cooper Jr. of Nashville, Walter H. Jones Jr. of Mooresville, James M. Kimzey of Brevard, H. Edward Knox of Charlotte and Sally Scherer of Raleigh.

The Hall of Fame, sponsored by the NCBA’s GP, Small Firm and Solo Section, was established in 1989. Membership is granted in recognition of a lifetime of exemplary service and high ethical and professional standards and for serving as a role model for all lawyers in North Carolina.

To be eligible, lawyers must have practiced law for at least 25 years, a significant portion of that time having been devoted to the general practice of law, and be members in good standing of the N.C. State Bar.

Inductees have exhibited throughout their practice the highest standards of ethics and professional competency, and have rendered a high level of service to the legal profession and their communities.

This year’s induction class brings membership in the Hall of Fame to 112 attorneys.

NCBA President Janet Ward Black and Matt Wall, former section chair, shared presentation duties.

Charles E. Burgin
For the past 40 years, Charles Burgin has practiced law in McDowell County where he was born and raised. He is affiliated with one of the oldest law firms in the state, the Dameron Burgin Law Firm, which was founded in 1910 and has existed continuously since that time. The firm has produced two justices of the N.C. Supreme Court, Associate Justice J. Will Pless and former Chief Justice Wallace Winborne.

Burgin graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1961 and the Duke University School of Law in 1964. After a clerkship with Judge J. Braxton Craven Jr., in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of N.C. and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, he served a two-year term as solicitor of the McDowell County Criminal Court. Then he began the private practice of law with E.P. “Sandy” Dameron which he continues today under the firm name of Dameron, Burgin. Parker & Jackson, P.A.

Burgin is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court having argued there and won a case of national import in the area of public employment and constitutional law (Bishop v. Wood). He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a former state chair of the College. He is also a Fellow of the International Society of Banisters and the American Bar Foundation and is listed in several other publications of note, the Best Lawyers In America, North Carolina’s Super Lawyers and North Carolina’s Legal Elite.

His earlier years of practice were, like most small town lawyers, devoted to a legal smorgasbord of cases including a substantial number of death penalty cases, all of which were court appointed. He has in later years, however, restricted his practice primarily to the defense of medical negligence cases.

Burgin is married to the former Bunnie Salsbury of Morganton and they have two children, Ellen and Lucy, and three grandchildren. Bunnie says the proof of their 40-year marriage are her two distinguished service crosses. Charles and Bunnie reside in the area of McDowell County where he grew up as a youngster.

He has been active in his community, serving on the Board of Trustees of South Mountain Children’s Home, the Board of Directors of the County Recreation Commission, Chair of a strategic planning initiative for McDowell County called “Project Outlook,” and as an organizer and past chair of the McDowell Committee of One Hundred, an industry recruiting organization. In addition, he has also served as the city attorney for Marion, the attorney for the McDowell County Board of Education, and as chair of the Democratic Party. He has also served as a member of the board of his local bank, several corporations, and his local hospital.

Burgin is the editor of a number of articles dealing with the trial of lawsuits and has participated in many seminars on the same subject.

He is a former president of the North Carolina Bar Association and, during his term as president in 1993-94, established the section on Constitutional Rights and Responsibilities. It was also during this time, much to his credit and with a little help from his friend, Don Cowan, that he became an honorary citizen of the city of Winslow, Ariz., in recognition of his passion for the music of the Eagles. To understand that last part, you would have to share his passion, or ask him about it.

Roy A. Cooper Jr.
Roy A. Cooper Jr. was born in Nash County in 1927 to Roy A. Cooper and Lois Clark Cooper. Upon graduating from Wake Forest College in 1949, he began his work career as a tax collector and consultant with the N.C. Department of Revenue and as deputy clerk of the Superior Court in Nash County. In 1952 he made the best move of his life when he married Beverly Batchelor. 

In 1956, Cooper received his law degree from the University of North Carolina, was admitted to the bar, and began general practice in Nash County with former state Sen. Claude Abernethy. Their office was located across from the courthouse where Fields & Cooper is located today. In addition, he was expecting the birth of his first son.

While still in private practice, Cooper was also prosecuting attorney of the Recorders’ Court of Nash County from 1957-60 when Abernethy died unexpectedly. Cooper and Milton P. Fields formed the law firm of Fields & Cooper with offices in both Nashville and Rocky Mount. The practice later expanded to include a number of attorneys: Leon Henderson (who later became a Superior Court judge), and Roy’s sons, Roy A. Cooper III (who later became N.C. attorney general) and Pell C. Cooper (who later became a District Court judge). Over the years, Fields & Cooper varied from two to seven lawyers. One big help to Cooper in his later years of practice was his wife Beverly who retired from teaching and became a paralegal in his office.

Cooper spent 48 years in the general practice of law until he became “of counsel” with the firm in 2004. His practice included real estate, leases, contracts, estates, wills, business transactions, criminal law and domestic law. As the practice of law became more specialized, Cooper concentrated more on real estate and estates during the last 20 years of his practice even though he assisted clients and other lawyers in the firm in other areas.

Roy Cooper’s special skill was helping people in different ways. He was always “on call,” including nights and weekends, and he made “house calls” on clients who were shut-ins. He represented the towns of Bailey, Spring Hope, Middlesex and Nashville, and served many clients in central and southern Nash County. He had a knack for recognizing what clients needed and solving their problems. If a client had little money, he charged only a little and sometimes nothing at all. Many times he saw an injustice and helped to make it right. Widows who had never been involved with their husband’s finances and other clients who had no business experience trusted Roy Cooper.       

Hundreds of people trusted him with all of their money and knew he would help them make good decisions regarding their property and finances. He had a keen eye for recognizing times when a client needed a specialized area of practice. After referring his client to a specialist, he would follow the case to make sure his clients were properly served. He helped people move through domestic disputes and he successfully counseled many families whose children ran into trouble with the law. A testament to his ability and trustworthiness is the fact that generation after generation of clients continued to come back to see him. In a few families, he represented five generations of clients.

Roy Cooper is well regarded among his peers for his legal ability, high ethical standards, service to his community and devotion to his family. He has an AB rating with Martindale-Hubbell.         

He has received the Distinguished Service Award and has served as chair of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, the state chair of the Jaycee Rehabilitation Work for Prisoners and as chair of the Red Cross and Heart Association drives. He was an original active member of the Board of Trustees for Nash General Hospital. He has served as a Nashville Baptist Church deacon, Sunday school teacher and choir member.       

After his tenure as prosecuting attorney of Recorders’ Court, he never ran for public office again but remained active in politics and government service. He managed four gubernatorial campaigns in Nash County. He instilled this desire for public service in his sons. His older son served 14 years in the legislature, became Senate majority leader and later attorney general. His younger son served as an assistant district attorney and later became a District Court judge.

Roy Cooper has been an active member of the bar, serving as secretary- treasurer of the 7th  Judicial Bar, and continues to be a mentor and a role model for young lawyers.

Cooper will publish his first book, “Between the Creeks: My Sapony Adventures,” this summer, featuring memories of his own Nash County childhood adventures with the family and friends who shaped his life.

Walter H. Jones Jr.
Walter Jones is a senior partner in the law firm of Jones, Childers, McLurkin & Donaldson, PLLC, in Mooresville. He began practicing law with T.C. Homesley Jr. in 1970 and has continued to practice with him over the past 38 years) with the firm of Collier, Harris & Homesley, from which the existing firm evolved. Jones grew up in eastern North Carolina, primarily in Rocky Mount, earned a B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1963 and graduated from the Wake Forest University School of Law in 1966. He was president of his third-year class and a member of Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity.

Jones was licensed and admitted to practice law in North Carolina and in the U.S. Court of Military Appeals in 1966. He served in the U.S. Army from 1966-70, as a member of the JAG Corps, serving at Fort Jackson, S.C., and in Vietnam. While in the Army, he earned the Army Commendation Medal and the Bronze Star Medal.

He is the loving husband of Maggie and devoted father of Russell and Lynn.

For many years, Jones’ legal practice consisted primarily of civil litigation, family, corporate and criminal law matters, during which time he was a member of the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He has, for approximately the past 10 years, practiced primarily in the areas of estate planning and estate administration, corporate and business transactional law and commercial and residential real estate law. He is a member of the State Bar and the Iredell County and American Bar associations.

Jones has been a strong leader in the Mooresville-South Iredell County area. He is a past chair of the Mooresville Board of Elections, past president of the United Way of Mooresville, past president of the Mooresville-South Iredell Chamber of Commerce, past president of the Mooresville Merchants Association, past chair of the board of the former Lowrance Hospital (which has evolved into the Lake Norman Regional Medical Center) and past president of the Iredell County Bar Association.

Jones is a longtime active member of the Mooresville-Lake Norman Rotary Club. He has served for the past few years as chair of the board of First Charter Bank and is a long-time member of the board of directors of First Charter Corp., after serving on the boards of Piedmont Bank and the former Lincoln Bank.

He received the Distinguished Service Award as Young Man of the Year by the Mooresville Jaycees. He was voted the Outstanding Business Person of the Year by the Mooresville-South Iredell Chamber of Commerce in 1998. Jones served as the attorney for the Mooresville Graded School District during the years 1985-2000 and served as the town attorney for Mooresville from 2000-02.

Jones is a strong believer in and advocate of community service, and during his career has put into practice the Biblical teaching that “those to whom much has been given, much is expected.” He has, throughout his practice of law, devoted countless and unselfish hours to community good works. He is a member of First Presbyterian Church of Mooresville, where he has actively served as a deacon and an elder. He is serving his 12th year as a member of the board of directors and is currently the vice chair of Hospice and Palliative Care of Iredell County, Inc.

Jones has long been committed to Hospice for the unique and much-needed services Hospice provides to families, and he participated in a successful capital campaign which allowed the construction and operation of the Gordon Hospice House, an in-patient Hospice facility in Statesville, the first such facility in Iredell County. Recently, he established a scholarship in memory of Joe Knox, beloved mayor of Mooresville for 32 years and the brother of former Charlotte Mayor Eddie Knox, which will fund scholarships for children in need.

He frequently provides his services, pro bono, in various matters such as assisting with the start-up of many local non-profit groups such as Lake Norman Animal Shelter, Inc., HealthReach Community Clinic, Lake Norman Youth Lacrosse Association and several area churches. He has also given many hours of his legal services to uneducated and economically disadvantaged clients, assisting with various matters ranging from preparation of wills and interpreting and completing legal forms to preparing necessary documents and giving advice. For many years, he has given one full day of his time each spring to assist the State Bar with interviewing potential bar candidates. He has consistently shown others that he is never too busy to provide help where there is a need.

Walter Jones has consistently represented the best of what it truly means to be an effective and successful general practitioner and committed community servant.

James Morris Kimzey
James Morris Kimzey was born on April 15, 1936, in Brevard to Transylvania County educators Margaret and Robert T. Kimzey. In Jim and his older siblings, Bob and Carolyn, their parents instilled honesty, tolerance, fairness, diligence and a love of learning. Jim has three sons, James, Brad and Tabor and one granddaughter, Jess. He is married to the former Janet Jenkins of Raleigh.  

At Brevard High School, where his father was the principal, Kimzey played football and basketball, was on the debate and clogging teams, acted in drama productions and graduated as salutatorian of his class. He was selected as a Morehead Scholar in 1954. At UNC-Chapel Hill, he was a member of the 1954-55 “Suicide 25,” a group of selected freshmen who took accelerated classes in math, English, history and philosophy. In law school, Kimzey was an editor of the North Carolina Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. He graduated with honors in 1964.

Kimzey began his practice in Asheville with Parker, McGuire and Bailey, where his focus was transactional law. When he decided that he wanted to be a trial lawyer, he moved to Raleigh where he practiced for the next 30 years, first with the legendary Col. William T. Joyner of Joyner and Howison and subsequently as a successful solo practitioner.

Before the Equitable Distribution Act was passed, Kimzey handled many domestic cases. Back then, women often fared poorly when their marriages dissolved and the property was divided. Kimzey believed wives were entitled to competent representation. He was one of the few lawyers willing to help the wives of powerful men.

Kimzey and other eager young Wake County lawyers developed strong and fast friendships. They created the Will Turner Hiking Club. For over 15 years these legal stalwarts, led by their imminent elders Robert McMillan and Wright Dixon, took a yearly one-week hike of the Appalachian Trail.

In 1986, Kimzey, Robert McMillan, Steve Smith, Duncan McMillan and William Plyler formed McMillan, Kimzey, Smith and Plyler. In that firm, Kimzey focused his practice on commercial litigation. Beginning in the mid 1980s, he represented many clients engaged in litigation against banks who had made large commercial loans to his clients. He was one of the few lawyers in North Carolina to do so.

Kimzey was elected by his peers in 1992 to serve as a State Bar councilor. He co-chaired the State Bar’s committee to implement statewide fee arbitration. Kimzey has been a member of the North Carolina Bar Association his entire career. From 1970-71, he served as chair of the Young Lawyers Division, and has been a member of the Administrative Law, Litigation and General Practice sections. He was a member of the Wake County Bar Association from 1965-95 and has been a member of the Transylvania County Bar Association since 1995. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the American Judicature Society and the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers. He served as adjunct professor at N.C. State University and Peace College.

Kimzey moved back to Brevard in 1995 and opened a solo practice. Many assumed he was retiring, but his practice is as active today as it has ever been. Kimzey still enjoys many of the outdoor activities he enjoyed in his youth, including grouse hunting, fly fishing, dove hunting and teaching the next generation about the need to preserve the splendor of our western N.C. mountains.

Kimzey has worked tirelessly to improve the communities in which he has lived. He has promoted career opportunities for students, sponsoring students and speaking at career day events. He has served on the Morehead Scholarship Selections Committee. He has been a Sunday school teacher and a church youth group leader. He has been a member of the Zeb Vance Debating Society, the Raleigh Board of Adjustment, the Raleigh Kiwanis Club, the Community Foundation of Western N.C. and the Transylvania County Endowment.

After his family and friends, Kimzey gets the most happiness from helping clients and winning cases. In the last 44 years, he has represented defendants in criminal cases, buyers in real estate and other business transactions, utilities in rate-making cases and plaintiffs and defendants in lawsuits involving divorce, lender liability, defamation, will caveats, riparian rights, airport nuisance, railroad rights-of-way, administrative law, condemnation, corporate dissolution, personal injury and bankruptcy. His cases have ranged from the routine to the fantastic, as in the case of a man who found the world's largest and most perfect ruby in the mountains of North Carolina. He has appeared before the N.C. Court of Appeals and the N.C. Supreme Court dozens of times. He has appeared in all of the federal district courts in North Carolina and before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

He is indeed a general practitioner of the law.

H. Edward “Eddie” Knox
H. Edward “Eddie” Knox was born on Jan. 22, 1937, in rural Davidson to Ralph and Annie Knox, and raised on the family farm. From humble beginnings he worked and paid his way through N.C. State University, finishing as Most Distinguished Graduate in Agricultural Education, and the Wake Forest University School of Law, where he was a Babcock Scholar, was on the Law Review and graduated summa cum laude. He served as student body president at both institutions.

After passing the bar in 1963, Knox began practicing in Charlotte with his brother, Charlie, and has been there ever since. Over the years, he has successfully handled cases in almost every conceivable area of the law, at all levels of state and federal courts and agencies. In addition to his litigation practice, he has served as counsel for corporations, estates, real estate developers, neighborhood groups, country clubs, etc. It is difficult to imagine a more general, diverse practice. The common thread throughout has been his desire to help almost every person that came to him as their lawyer, no matter what type of problem they were confronting.

At age 71, Knox still loves the fight, maintaining a vigorous practice as the lead partner of what is now Knox, Brotherton, Knox & Godfrey in Charlotte. For example, last year he tried five cases to jury verdicts, along with dozens of appearances in non-jury matters and numerous cases settled just short of trial. Earlier this year, he obtained a $150,000 verdict in a soft-tissue case where the insurer refused to make an offer, and the next week settled a complex matter involving application of Canadian no-fault insurance coverage for close to a million dollars.

At the same time, he spent hours resolving complicated property and debt issues in a pro bono representation of the estate of a long-time client. Just a few weeks ago he represented a doctor in a lengthy and hotly contested case before the medical review board, which essentially required trying 4 malpractice cases at once.

His reputation among the bench and bar is at the top of the profession. He is a Board Certified Trial Specialist with the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He carries an AV Martindale-Hubbell rating, and has been recognized on multiple occasions both as a “Legal Elite” by Business North Carolina magazine and as one of the “North Carolina Super Lawyers” by the magazine of the same name.

Knox has always treated his clients as more than a business interest, showing care and concern for them as people. He has gone the extra mile to ensure they suffer as little as possible while he seeks justice for them in the courts. It is not unusual for his former clients to return again and again, for legal matters or just to visit. Often they prepare and bring lunch for the entire firm as a sign of gratitude and friendship. They think of Knox as “my lawyer” in general, no matter what the legal question.

Knox has been willing to hire young lawyers and take time to share his knowledge and experience with them. He has taught them to vigorously represent clients while maintaining the highest ethical standards, to show respect for the courts, and to maintain friendly relations with opposing counsel.

Knox also has a long history of giving of his time in public service, including everything from two terms as mayor of Charlotte and two terms as state senator to 18 years coaching youth baseball. He was instrumental in developing the 1979 “Fair Sentencing Act” overhaul of criminal sentencing, such that the Commission on Correctional Programs was dubbed the “Knox Commission.” As a volunteer, he has chaired or served on boards, commissions and task forces for state and local governments, charities, service organizations and schools that are too numerous to mention.

Knox has still had time for other passions outside of the law and public service. He is an avid golfer and is the owner/developer of Verdict Ridge Golf and Country Club, located just north of Charlotte in Lincoln County. He also sings tenor for “Witness,” a Southern gospel quartet that performs around the state. He is a Christian and active in his church. Eddie and wife, Frances, particularly love spending time with their three children and seven grandchildren, and are eagerly anticipating the imminent arrival of their eighth.

Sally Hamilton Scherer
Sally Hamilton Scherer was born and raised in Richmond, Va. However, her remarkable character was formed in a beloved and isolated place called Dutchman's Point on Mobjack Bay. With her family, Scherer spent her childhood summers in "glorious peace and solitude" where only an occasional guest or hurricane paid a visit. She describes the place as "pure heaven" where she was "lost in the wonder of the woods and the water."

Scherer has three children and five grandchildren who are scattered throughout the country, but live close to her heart.

After earning her Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy from Sweet Briar College in Virginia, Scherer began her work on behalf of children as a kindergarten teacher. She later trained at the University of Virginia School of Medicine to become a medical technologist. Her deep concern for women and children motivated her to pursue a career in law, earning her Juris Doctor from the Franklin Pierce Law Center in 1981. She was admitted to the North Carolina State Bar the same year.

Scherer has devoted her career to the general practice of law in the areas of criminal defense, mediation, arbitration, and family law. Her reputation for integrity and high ethical standards are well-known in the legal profession. She is widely respected by judges, attorneys, clients and the community she faithfully serves. She was recently elected by her peers to serve as a councilor to the North Carolina State Bar representing the Tenth Judicial District Bar.

In 2007, Scherer received the Gwyneth B. Davis Award from the N.C. Association of Women Attorneys in recognition of her public service promoting the participation of women attorneys in the legal profession and the rights of women under the law.

Scherer is well known for her advocacy of the best interests of children and is respected by her colleagues for her ability to counsel her clients in making decisions that lessen stress and benefit their families. Her practice has also included helping victims of domestic violence navigate the criminal and civil domestic court systems. In Rosaro v. Blake, she litigated pro bono through the state Supreme Court over the question of a mother's presumptive right to custody and tried to get the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. She has had some leading cases in the criminal and domestic arenas, including State v. Knoll, in which she and her law partner successfully challenged the denial of access to counsel for a criminal defendant.

Scherer has dedicated her life to service to others, her community and her profession. She is one of the founding members of the N.C. Association of Women Attorneys and served as a board member of the N.C. Academy of Trial Attorneys for six years. She has also been president or chair of several organizations, including the N.C. Conference of Bar Presidents, the Wake County Academy of Trial Lawyers, the NCBA Committee on Women in the Legal Profession, and the Tenth Judicial District Bar.

Scherer is widely recognized as an expert in family law and has been appointed to work on several North Carolina government task forces, including the Commission on Domestic Violence, the Family Court Advisory Committee and the Custody Mediation Advisory Board.

In addition to very active service to the profession, Scherer finds the time to give to her community. In 1994, she helped organize the Summit House in Raleigh, a residential treatment program for nonviolent women offenders and their children 7 years of age or under. She is currently a member of the Raleigh Community Drum Circle and serves as a judge and mentor for Teen Court. Her long and varied service and commitment to the community and her ideals include volunteering for Legal Aid, working with high risk teens and prison inmates and dogged opposition to the death penalty.

In addition to her selfless commitment to her practice and to bar activities and goals, Scherer directly confronts problems that she perceives, and she sets about trying to remedy them. One example is the new non-profit organization she initiated, The Child's Advocate. She plans for this organization to provide representation for children who are caught in the crossfire of domestic disputes and to protect them against harmful actions of their parents or the confusion of the legal system.

Sally Scherer has been giving back to the community throughout her entire life. When she joined the legal profession thirty years ago, she immediately began devoting her education, skills and compassion to improve the lives of others. Sally Hamilton Scherer possesses the finest qualities of human nature and represents the highest ideals of the legal profession.