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Prior Honorees – 2018

Prior Legal Legends of Color Award Honorees – 2018

To pin down one reason for their impact on the profession is a challenge. Many of the honorees were firsts in the paths they chartered. They impacted the judiciary, the advancement of the civil rights movement, the legal academy, increased access to justice for North Carolinians, and served in local, state and federal government. Many have benefited from their efforts, legal acumen and lifelong contributions to the profession and its members.

Judge Shirley L. Fulton

Shirley L. Fulton of Charlotte is a graduate of Duke University School of Law (1980), Queens University, McColl School of Business (M.B.A., 1988) and North Carolina A&T State University (1977). A past president of the Mecklenburg County Bar, Fulton has served as a senior resident Superior Court judge, resident Superior Court judge, District Court judge and assistant District Attorney in Mecklenburg County. She also practiced with Tin Fulton Walker & Owen. She has provided immeasurable leadership in her community and beyond, including service on the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Task Force and as chair of the Charlotte School of Law Board of Advisors.

Judge Paul L. Jones

Paul L. Jones of Whitsett is a graduate of North Carolina Central University School of Law (1974) and North Carolina A&T State University (1971). A longtime Kinston resident and former senior resident Superior Court judge in Judicial District 8A (Lenoir and Greene counties), he retired from the bench in 2016. Jones served in the U.S. Army and the JAG Corps. He served in active duty and reserves for nearly 29 years, retiring in 2000 as the staff judge advocate for the 108th Division in Charlotte. He is also a former District Court judge, serving from 1996 until becoming a Superior Court judge in 1999. He served on the advisory board that established Eastern Carolina Legal Services, now part of Legal Aid of North Carolina, and served 18 months as its managing attorney. Jones also served as a vice president on the North Carolina Bar Association Board of Governors.

Attorney Glenn B. Adams

Glenn B. Adams of Fayetteville is a graduate of North Carolina Central University School of Law (1984) and North Carolina State University (1981). He is a senior partner with Adams, Burge and Boughman and previously served as director of recruitment and placements at the NCCU School of Law. Adams has served on the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners since 2014 and as chair since 2017. He is a member of the Cape Fear Valley Hospital System Board of Trustees and previously served in an appointed position on the Cape Fear Valley Hospital System Board of Trustees. A past president of the Cumberland County Bar Association, Adams is a former member of the NCCU Board of Trustees (2003-11) and served from 2009-11 as its chair.

Attorney Victor J. Boone

Victor J. Boone of Raleigh is a graduate of North Carolina Central University School of Law (1975) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1972). He serves as senior managing attorney for Legal Aid of North Carolina and was the first Legal Aid attorney ever elected to serve on the N.C. State Bar Council. Boone is also a former member of the NCBA Board of Governors. In 2014 he received the Wake County Bar Association’s highest honor, the Joseph Branch Professionalism Award. Boone has devoted his entire career to serving the needs of North Carolina’s most disadvantaged citizens, joining the Raleigh office of Legal Aid of North Carolina in 1975.

 

Legal Legends of Color Honorees

  • 2022 Honorees – Judge Ola M. Lewis (posthumously), Attorney Arlinda F. Locklear, Attorney Margaret Dudley, Attorney Georgia Jacquez Lewis
  • 2021 Honorees – Judge Elreta Melton Alexander (posthumously), Attorney Karen Bethea-Shields, Judge Wanda G. Bryant, Professor James E. Coleman, Jr., Attorney Julian Pierce (posthumously)
  • 2020 Honorees – Judge Yvonne Mims Evans, Attorney Anthony Fox, Attorney J. Kenneth Lee* (posthumously), Senator Dan T. Blue, Jr., Professor George R. Johnson, Jr.
  • 2019 Honorees – Professor Charles Daye, Former U.S. Attorney Janice McKenzie Cole, Former Legislator H. M. “Mickey” Michaux Jr., Judge Sammie Chess, Attorney Julius Chambers (posthumously)
  • 2018 Honorees – Judge Shirley Fulton, Judge Paul Jones, Attorney Glenn Adams, Attorney Victor Boone
  • 2017 Honorees – Judge Albert Diaz, Former Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson, Professor Irving Joyner
  • 2016 Honorees – Former Chief Justice Henry E. Frye, Attorney James E. “Fergie” Ferguson II, Chief Justice Cheri Lynn Beasley