Platt Walker Society Membership Continues To Grow

Platt Walker Society member James W. Narron with NCBA President Catharine B. Arrowood.

Membership in the Platt D. Walker Society continues to grow as North Carolina Bar Association members invest in the future of the NCBA Foundation.

“The North Carolina Bar Association has probably been the most important institution in my working life,” said James W. Narron of Smithfield. “I have made annual contributions to it for many years.”

“When I recently reviewed my estate planning documents after too long a time,” Narron added, “I decided that I needed to make a meaningful contribution to carry on the work of the Bar which has done so much for me, in the certain confidence that it will continue its good work for the generations of lawyers to follow.”

Narron previously chaired the NCBA Senior Lawyers Division and the N.C. Community Foundation. Sandra Martin Clark of Raleigh, another new member of the Platt D. Walker Society, is a former chair of the Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Section.

“The NCBA Foundation provides so many great programs that enhance our legal profession and the community that we serve that it was an easy decision to provide a testimonial bequest for the benefit of the Foundation,” Clark stated. “Many attorneys across North Carolina donate their time and talent to legally related service projects.

“These efforts are vital and can be greatly enhanced through donations to the NCBA Foundation. I would encourage all attorneys in North Carolina to consider making a testamentary bequest for the benefit of the NCBA Foundation in order that these programs will continue to grow and prosper.

The Platt D. Walker Society, established in 1996 by the North Carolina Bar Association Foundation, recognizes those individuals who have made a planned gift to support the NCBA Foundation. Members or friends of the bar who provide written notification of their gift to the Foundation become a member of the Society. Planned gifts that qualify a donor for membership in the Society include a testamentary bequest, a charitable trust, a gift of life insurance, a 401k/IRA/retirement plan beneficiary or other deferred gifts.

The Society will help ensure that the Foundation has the financial resources to fund excellent programs to serve the profession and the people of North Carolina in the future primarily through our endowment grants program, which has awarded more than 600 grants valued at more than $4.7 million since its inception.

The Society honors Platt D. Walker, who was elected the first president of the North Carolina Bar Association in 1899. A Wilmington native, Walker practiced law in Rockingham and Charlotte before serving on the N.C. Supreme Court from 1903 until his death in 1923. The story behind each Platt Walker Society member is special and unique. Each gift, like each donor, holds a special place in the legacy of the NCBA, the NCBA Foundation, and the legal profession at large.

To learn more about the Platt D. Walker Society, please contact Tom Hull, director of development for the NCBA Foundation, via email ([email protected]) or phone (1-800-662-7407; 919-677-0561)