Legal Practice Hall of Fame Award: Dan McLawhorn
Dan McLawhorn was admitted to practice in 1974 following graduation from the UNC School of Law. After a year in private practice, he began his public service career as an Assistant District Attorney. In 1976, he was selected as the Chair of the Legal Department of the N.C. Justice Academy. Three years later he moved to the Attorney General’s Office as the head of the Administrative Law Section. He joined the Environmental Law Section in 1980. In 1985, he joined the newly created Special Litigation Section as its first environmental attorney. He continued with the attorney General’s Office until 1998 when he was appointed General Counsel of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He completed his career in State government in 2003 after three years implementing the Master Tobacco Settlement.
His environmental practice involved State and federal complex litigation including cases concerned with the public trust doctrine, separation of powers, and the constitutionality of the Water Supply Watershed Protection Act. He also represented the attorney General in the 1985 negotiation for the revision of the Administrative Procedure Act. Dan actively was involved in drafting numerous environmental laws for more than 20 years. Dan was active in the Bar Association serving as the chair of three sections and two committees.
He served on the Board of Governors between 2008 and 2011. Dan was awarded the Outstanding Government and Public Sector attorney in 2006 and the Administrative Law Section Award of Excellence in 2020.
Dan joined the Raleigh City attorney’s Office in 2003 as its first environmental law specialist. He was an active participant in the National Clean Water Association and was awarded its Clean Water Advocate Award in 2023. Dan’s article on the law governing local government ownership and allocation of water rights was published by the Campbell Law Review in 2009. Dan served as chair of the Lower Neuse Basin Association and the Neuse River Compliance Association for 11 years and is counsel to the associations now. After retiring from the City in 2020, Dan opened a solo practice to continue work on the nutrient problems impacting Falls Lake and the Neuse Estuary. That work remains important to Dan since he enjoyed the Neuse River when he grew up in Harlowe, N.C.
Dan graduated from Davidson College in 1970 where he continues to serve as a longtime member of the Art Collection Advisory Committee. Dan chaired the ACAC for a three-year term beginning in 2020.