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Leary Davis

F. Leary Davis, founding dean of law schools at Campbell University and Elon University, is the 32nd recipient of the North Carolina Bar Association’s highest honor, the Judge John J. Parker Award.

The award was presented on Saturday, June 27, at the NCBA Annual Meeting in Asheville. Past-President Clark Smith joined outgoing NCBA President Charles Becton in presenting the award.

Click here to access text of Clark Smith's presentation address.  

A 1967 graduate of the Wake Forest University School of Law, Davis also holds a bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest (1964) and a Master of Laws from Columbia University (1984).

Prior to entering the legal education field, Davis practiced law in Zebulon and Raleigh. He served as assistant prosecutor for Wake County and town attorney for Zebulon. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserve and the N.C. National Guard.

Clark Smith. left, presents award to Leary Davis.

Davis has been a prominent member of the NCBA, the American Bar Association and the N.C. State Bar. He previously served on the Governor’s Commission on the Future of North Carolina and on the boards of BarCARES of North Carolina and the Raleigh Business and Technology Center. He is currently a member of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism and is founding president of the National Institute to Enhance Leadership and Law Practice.

Previous honors extended to Davis include the ABA’s E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award presented in 2003 in recognition of the Professional Development Program he built at Campbell and the Ferd Leary Davis Justice Fund of the NCBA Foundation Endowment which was established in his honor in 2002.

The Judge John J. Parker Memorial Award was established in 1959 by the NCBA as “the highest honor of this association bestowed in recognition of conspicuous service to the cause of jurisprudence in North Carolina.”

Underscoring the significance of the award is the fact that recipients are chosen as merited, not annually.

Judge Parker served with distinction on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1925 until his death in 1958, including 27 years of service as chief judge. He practiced law in Greensboro, Charlotte and his native Monroe, and served as special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General prior to his appointment to the bench.

Nominations are sought from all judicial districts and voluntary bars statewide and reviewed by the Past Presidents’ Council. Recipients have their names inscribed on the Lake Public Service Award plaque that remains on permanent display at the N.C. Bar Center and designate, subject to the concurrence of the NCBA, the presentation of an honorarium to a non-profit organization.

The Judge John J. Parker Memorial Award was established in 1959 by the NCBA as “the highest honor of this association bestowed in recognition of conspicuous service to the cause of jurisprudence in North Carolina.”

Underscoring the significance of the award is the fact that recipients are chosen as merited, not annually.

Judge Parker served with distinction on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1925 until his death in 1958, including 27 years of service as chief judge. He practiced law in Greensboro, Charlotte and his native Monroe, and served as special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General prior to his appointment to the bench.

In 1944-45, Judge Parker served as an alternate judge on the International Allied Military Tribunal, better known as the Nuremburg Trials.

Previous Recipients of the

Judge John J. Parker Memorial Award

1959    J. Spencer Bell, Charlotte                                

1961    Hoyt Patrick Taylor Jr., Wadesboro                

1962    Robert Franklin Moseley, Greensboro 

1963    J. Will Pless Jr., Marion                                   

1964    Albert Coates, Chapel Hill                               

1966    David Maxwell Britt, Fairmont &

            Lindsay C. Warren Jr., Goldsboro              

1969    Raymond Bowden Mallard, Tabor City

1971    William Marion Storey, Raleigh            

1972    Carroll Wayland Weathers, Winston-Salem

1975    James Dickson Phillips Jr., Chapel Hill 

1977    Hamilton Harris Hobgood, Louisburg

1978    Susie Marshall Sharp, Raleigh

1981    Sam J. Ervin Jr., Morganton

1984    William F. Womble Sr., Winston-Salem

1986    Harry E. Groves, Durham

1987    Joseph Branch, Raleigh

1989    James B. McMillan, Charlotte

1991    Franklin T. Dupree Jr., Raleigh

1992    Carmon J. Stuart, Greensboro

1993    Russell M. Robinson II, Charlotte

1994    Julius L. Chambers, Durham

1996    William L Thorp, Chapel Hill

1997    James G. Exum, Jr., Greensboro

1999    Dr. Norman A. Wiggins, Buies Creek

2000    Walter F. Brinkley, Jr. Lexington

2002    Harry C. Martin, Asheville

2004    Robinson E. Everett, Durham

2006    Clarence W. “Ace” Walker, Charlotte

2007    Henry E. Frye, Greensboro

2008    William L. Osteen, Greensboro