Legal Legend of Color: Charles L. Becton
Charles L. Becton received his B.A. degree from Howard University in 1966, his J.D. degree from Duke University School of Law in 1969, and his L.L.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1986. For nine years, from 1981 to 1990, he was a Judge in the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and in 1985 he was named North Carolina Appellate Judge of the Year. For 30 years, Becton was a litigator who tried scores of major Criminal and Civil Trials. Becton has been included in The Best Lawyers of America since 1993, and he is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Trial Attorneys and the International Society of Barristers. He was President of the North Carolina Bar Association in 2008, the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers in 1995, and President of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers in 1980.
Becton was one of ten attorneys selected to demonstrate trial advocacy skills on an ATLA/ABA/NITA video series, Winning at Trial, in April 1986; one of twelve attorneys selected to demonstrate cross-examination skills on an ABA/NITA video project, Mastering the Art of Cross Examination, in June 1986; one of eight attorneys selected to demonstrate trial advocacy skills on an ATLA Video Series “Anatomy of a Personal Injury Lawsuit” in October 1993; and one of a select number of attorneys to demonstrate trial advocacy skills at the American Folklife Festival in 1986.
During the past 35 years, Becton has taught trial advocacy skills to more than 40,000 lawyers, and he has served as the John Scott Cansler Lecturer at the University of North Carolina School of Law, and as a Senior Lecturer in Law, as well as a Professor of the Practice, at Duke University Law School. He has taught and lectured at trial advocacy skills institutes across the country, in Canada, and in the Republic of South Africa. From 2016-2020, Becton served as the RJR Nabisco Endowed Chair at North Carolina Central School of Law where he taught Rhetoric and Advocacy.
Becton has received numerous awards including three national trial advocacy teaching awards. In January 1988, Becton received the William J. Brennan, Jr. Trial Advocacy Award for his work in improving the skills of trial lawyers. In June 1990, Becton was the first recipient of the Charles L. Becton Trial Advocacy Award given annually by the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers. In July 1990, Becton was a co-recipient of the Roscoe Pound Foundation’s Richard S. Jacobson Award from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America recognizing the nation’s best trial advocacy teacher.
In January 1990, he received the North Carolina Association of Educators “Excellence in Equity” Award. In May 1995, Becton received the South Carolina Trial Jury Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award. In October 1995, Becton received the Robert Keeton NITA Trial Advocacy Teaching Award.
In May 2006, Becton was the first recipient of The Advocate’s Award from the NC Bar Association Litigation Section. In October 2006, he was appointed to the NC Innocence Inquiry Commission, and he received the American Bar Association’s Torts and Insurance Practice Section’s Pursuit of Justice Award.
In 2013, Becton received the Elon University School of Law Leadership in the Law Award. In 2013 and 2014, Becton was asked to lead institutions of higher education. He served as Interim Chancellor at North Carolina Central University 2013-14 and as Interim Chancellor at Elizabeth City former Administrative Law Judge Brenda Becton, and they have three children — Nicole, Kevin and Michelle.