2026 Legal Legends of Color Honored at Annual Meeting
The North Carolina Bar Association honored the 2026 Legal Legends of Color (LLOC) on Thursday, June 25, during a featured event of the NCBA Annual Meeting at The Westin Charlotte.
Presented by the Legal Legends of Color Subcommittee of the NCBA Minorities in the Profession Committee, the LLOC Awards “honor attorneys and other legal professionals of color whose legacies represent ceilings broken for all attorneys who follow in their footsteps and whose impacts on the legal profession are undeniable.”
This year marks the 11th annual ceremony and celebrates the following honorees: the Honorable Rickye McKoy-Mitchell, Sharon Bey-Christopher, Andrea Leslie-Fite, Eric Pristell and William T. Wilson Jr. (posthumously).
Pictured left to right: Leslie-Fite, Bey-Christopher, McKoy-Mitchell, Ikea Sellers (daughter of Wilson Jr.) and Pristell.
The Honorable Rickye McKoy-Mitchell is Mecklenburg County’s longest-serving District Court judge, serving for nearly 25 years, presiding in every district court and most recently serving as child support court lead judge. She has also served as a faculty member for the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, training judges across the country and internationally through institutes focused on domestic violence, elder abuse and human trafficking.
Judge McKoy-Mitchell has been deeply engaged in bar and community service, including serving in leadership roles within the Mecklenburg County Bar, founding the Excellence in Youth Awards through Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and helping lead youth-centered racial equity initiatives. Her many honors include being a two-time recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the Julius L. Chambers Diversity Champion Award and the Ayscue Professionalism Award.
Sharon Bey-Christopher began her career in commercial defense litigation, handling matters involving employment discrimination, construction defect defense, real estate and creditors’ rights. In 2005, Bey-Christopher joined Legal Aid of North Carolina, where she focused on consumer advocacy, foreclosure defense, loss mitigation, debtor representation and client counseling, eventually serving as managing attorney of the Wilson office. In 2014, after her work with Legal Aid’s Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Project, she was recognized as a co-recipient of the 2013 Defenders of Justice Award for Litigation.
Bey-Christopher also advised nonprofit organizations on formation, governance and tax-exempt compliance. She remains active in leadership roles with the NC Association of Community Development Corporations, Legacy Bridge of North Carolina and the Fertile Ground Food Cooperative.
Andrea Leslie-Fite’s prior roles include serving as city attorney for Shelby, senior assistant city attorney for Charlotte, assistant county attorney for Cleveland County and, earlier in her career, as an associate and later partner with Yelton Farfour. She most recently served as Guilford County attorney, where she was instrumental in supporting major economic development efforts, including JetZero, Cascade and Lenovo, and also advised on the county’s $1.7 billion bond initiative and important land-use matters, including the adoption of Guilford County’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
Leslie-Fite’s leadership extends beyond her day-to-day practice. She recently served as president of the North Carolina Association of County Attorneys, is a member of the International Municipal Lawyers Association and the North Carolina Bar Association’s Government and Public Sector Section, and has been recognized as an IMLA Local Government Fellow.
Eric Pristell serves as principal, shareholder and vice president of The Banks Law Firm, P.A., one of the nation’s largest minority-owned law firms, and manages the firm’s Atlanta office. Pristell has built a respected practice centered on affordable housing and community economic development. He has structured and closed complex public-private partnerships that have expanded economic opportunity and helped develop and preserve thousands of affordable and workforce housing units in communities across North Carolina.
Pristell leads The Banks Law Firm’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities practice and has advised institutions and related foundations on development, governance, compliance, financing and student housing matters, supporting the growth of North Carolina A&T State University, Bennett College, North Carolina Central University and Saint Augustine’s University. His career reflects a sustained commitment to opportunity, institutional advancement and strengthening communities throughout North Carolina and beyond.
William T. Wilson Jr. (posthumously) devoted his legal career to making a difference in the lives of everyday people. After serving in the United States Army and later working as a civilian with the Department of Revenue, he was inspired to pursue the law after observing the judicial system while serving on jury duty. He opened a law practice in Sanford that grew into the firm now known as Wilson, Reives & Doran, where he spent decades helping lead a team committed to serving clients and community with integrity, compassion and skill.
Throughout his career, Wilson represented clients in matters involving automobile accidents, workplace injuries and wrongful death while maintaining a practice rooted in trust, respect and client-centered service. He earned honors such as the Governor’s Volunteer of the Year Award and Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce Member of the Year. His service extended to numerous local and statewide organizations, including the NC Community Development Initiative, the Central Carolina Community College Board of Trustees, Brick Capital Community Development Corporation and the Kiwanis Club of Lee County.
Thank you to the generous sponsors of LLOC Awards Celebration: friends sponsors Buchanan, Campbell University School of Law, Elon University School of Law and Robertson & Associate; supporter sponsor Robinson Bradshaw; contributor sponsors Fox Rothschild and Rob and Sharon Harrington; and advocate sponsor Dean Andrew R. Klein of Wake Forest University School of Law.
Access additional information on this year’s recipients and a complete listing of previous LLOC honorees and more photos from the LLOC Awards Celebration.