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Public: Recent News

Gene Pridgen

Eugene C. Pridgen has been elected president-elect of the North Carolina Bar Association. He will serve as the 116th president of the NCBA in 2010-11.

Formal election of Pridgen, administrative partner for K&L Gates in Charlotte, transpired Saturday morning, June 27, at the NCBA Annual Meeting at the Grove Park Inn. His name was placed in nomination by Janet Ward Black, immediate past president of the NCBA and chair of the Past Presidents’ Council which selected Pridgen.

Seconding speeches were provided by longtime law partner Raleigh Shoemaker and Dean Blake Morant of the Wake Forest University School of Law.

Then, in keeping with the traditions of the NCBA, the past presidents in attendance ushered Pridgen to the stage for a brief acceptance address following his election.

Norfleet Pruden and fellow past presidents usher Gene Pridgen to stage as new president-elect.

“This is a wonderful reminder of the opportunities that our profession offers,” Pridgen said. “This is a very humbling honor, but more than an honor it is an opportunity to serve a profession that has been very good to me for so many years.”

Pridgen is a 1969 graduate of North Carolina State University and served in the U.S. Army from 1969-73, attaining the rank of captain. He earned an MBA from Wake Forest University in 1975 and graduated magna cum laude from the Wake Forest University School of Law in 1978.

He joined Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman in 1978 and has remained with the firm, which combined with K&L Gates in 2008, throughout most of his career. Pridgen served as executive vice president and general counsel of Glenayre Technologies from 1997-99.

Pridgen has an extensive record of involvement within the NCBA, including service on the Board of Governors from 2003-06. He also served as chair of the Development Committee and, most recently, as chair of the Citizen Lawyer Task Force.

“A number of people in our firm have been very active in the North Carolina Bar Association,” Pridgen said. “The first two who come to mind are Ace Walker and Norfleet Pruden who both served as president, and many more have been active in sections, committees and task forces.”

Civic involvement and professional development, Pridgen added, have always been supported and encouraged by firm leadership, at Kennedy Covington and now K&L Gates, as a vital part of each attorney’s professional duties.

“It only takes a little involvement in our bar association to get really excited about working with people across the state,” Pridgen said. “I especially enjoy working with people I would not normally see and getting to know more about them, such as the members of the Citizen Lawyer Task Force.

“That’s what keeps you coming back.”

Pridgen and his wife, Jamie, have a daughter, Laura (now Laura Taylor), and two sons, Blake and Jack. He is the son of Georgia Pridgen and the late T.C. Pridgen of Troy. Pridgen was born in nearby Asheboro and graduated from West Montgomery High School in 1964.

He will succeed fellow Charlotte attorney John R. Wester as president of the NCBA at the 112th Annual Meeting in Wilmington on Saturday, June 26, 2010.