Bankruptcy Section Honors Terri Gardner
Terri L. Gardner of Raleigh received the Lifetime Achievement Award this spring at the annual meeting of the NCBA Bankruptcy Section in Greensboro. Gardner retired in January following nearly 40 years of distinguished service with Nelson Mullins, Poyner Spruill and Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers.
Ashley Rusher, past chair of the Section and chair of its awards committee, presented the award.
Gardner, who chaired the Bankruptcy Section in 2000-01, is also a past president of the Wake County Bar Association and 10th Judicial District Bar. She is a 1978 graduate of Wake Forest University, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and a 1981 graduate of Wake Forest University School of Law, where she was a member of Phi Delta Phi and served on the Wake Forest Law Review.
“Receiving this award is one of the highlights of my career,” Gardner said. “I could not have chosen a better practice area and career than being a bankruptcy attorney. Honestly, bankruptcy law chose me with the help of a dear friend, Judge Catharine Carruthers Aron.
“Catharine and I met in law school, and after law school she had a clerkship with Judge Rufus Reynolds in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. When she left the clerkship to have her first child, she recommended me to Judge Reynolds, and he offered me the position.”
It was through Judge Reynolds and her colleagues at the Bankruptcy Court that Gardner learned not only about a new area of law, but also about the NCBA Bankruptcy Section.
“I attended conferences put on by the Bankruptcy Section,” Gardner said, “and I met the founding members and early bankruptcy attorneys who played a key role in establishing the bankruptcy practice in North Carolina. They were always an inspiration and help to me.”
The Bankruptcy Section took on even greater meaning in Gardner’s career when she completed the clerkship and began practicing law in Raleigh.
“The members of the Bankruptcy Section became like family to me,” Gardner said. “Even though we were on opposite sides in cases, we remained professional and courteous. Of course, there were occasional aberrations due to client pressure and other stresses, but they were few and far between.
“I always tried to be prepared, honest, and reasonable in seeking fair solutions in my cases, and in particular, chapter 11 cases, I believe my biggest strength was finding a creative solution and persuading the parties to agree most of the time. Interestingly, my father was a fine lawyer and that was his talent as well.”
The Bankruptcy Section, Gardner added, also afforded her outstanding educational opportunities through its Annual Bankruptcy Institute.
“I was very involved in the American Bankruptcy Institute and knew bankruptcy attorneys throughout the country,” said Gardner, who was certified as a Business Bankruptcy Specialist by the North Carolina State Bar and American Board of Certification. “In our Bankruptcy Section, we have had some of the best bankruptcy attorneys in the country. We are problem solvers, not litigious unless necessary.”
“The prior winners of the lifetime achievement award are all fabulous attorneys. I will forever be grateful that my peers selected me to join this esteemed group.”
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a bankruptcy practitioner who, for not less than 25 years, has contributed to the betterment of the NCBA Bankruptcy Section and the profession, and who has set an aspiring example for those who follow.
Previous recipients of the award are:
2011 Trawick H. Stubbs
2012 Richard M. Hutson II
2013 John A. Northen
2014 William E. Brewer Jr.
2015 Christine L. Myatt
2016 Albert F. Durham
2017 David R. Badger
2018 Wrennie Pitt
2019 Kenneth Greene
2020 Ben Hawfield
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.