2025 Citizen Lawyer Award: John R. Cella Jr.
John Cella is Of Counsel with Ragsdale Liggett PLLC in Raleigh. A North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law, John is a 4ALL participant, Pro Bono Committee chair of the NCBA Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Section, NCBF board member, and a frequent presenter, most recently to Legal Aid of North Carolina on ethics in estate planning and administration.
John is a longtime volunteer in his hometown of Raleigh. He was a founder and board chair of an elementary school foundation with 501(c)(3) public charity status, and he is a former board chair of St. Saviour’s Center (now Diaper Train), an outreach ministry where he called bingo to Raleigh Housing Authority Carriage House community residents for ten years. John also has served on the Needham B. Broughton Capital Foundation board of directors.
John has especially enjoyed his involvement at White Memorial Presbyterian Church, including his roles as a Deacon, a Confirmation Partner, and a Merit Badge Instructor and Sea Base High Adventure Advisor with Boy Scouts of America Troop 395.