Meet This Year’s Eight Citizen Lawyer Award Recipients

How can one cultivate a lifelong devotion to service? One way is to learn from the lives of others who have made a lasting impression on their communities.

The Citizen Lawyer Award is an opportunity to recognize and honor NCBA members who model the ideals of a citizen lawyer by volunteering their time through community or civic involvement, and, as a result, benefit the lives of others in their communities.

Their efforts encourage other attorneys to share their time and talents in acts of service – acts that echo throughout time, inspiring all who hear them.

In 2022, eight NCBA members were named as Citizen Lawyer Award recipients:

The award winners were recognized during the Annual Meeting Awards Dinner and Presidential Installation, which took place on June 24. This year’s recipients are the 15th class of honorees.

The eight recipients have played a role in making the world a better place. The call to serve led them to various paths: roles in government, the military, and public service, on volunteer boards, and more. Throughout their careers, the honorees have experienced what it is like to give back to those in need, lend a helping hand and improve the lives of others.

Celebrating the Citizen Lawyer Award winners, front from left, are: Martha Bradley, Deborah Sandlin, Brad Schulz, Judge Carrie F. Vickery, and Mary Nash Rusher. Back: NCBA Executive Director Jason Hensley, Robert Laney, Jocelyn Mallette, Cecil Whitley and NCBA President Jon Heyl. Martha Bradley is a white woman with medium-length red hair. She is wearing a white shirt with green and peach flowers, a navy-blue jacket, and black pants. Deborah Sandlin is a white woman with shoulder-length blond hair, and she is wearing a pale blue button-down shirt and a navy-blue pantsuit. Brad Schulz is a white man with grey hair, and he is wearing a white shirt, red and white bowtie, grey suit jacket, and khaki pants. Judge Carrie F. Vickery is a white woman with shoulder-length brown hair, and she is wearing a white blouse with a black jacket and skirt, and a circular white pin on her lapel. Mary Nash Rusher is a white woman with short brown hair, and she is wearing a black dress and silver beaded necklace. Jason Hensley is a white man with brown hair who is wearing a red tie and a grey suit with an American flag pin on his lapel. Robert Laney is a white man with grey hair, and he is wearing a white shirt, red tie, and black suit. Jocelyn Mallette is a Black woman with short black hair, and she is wearing a dark grey dress and gold necklace. Cecil Whitley is a white man with a white beard, and he is wearing a red tie, a blue shirt, and a blue, white, and red plaid jacket and light khaki pants. Jon Heyl is a white man with brown hair who is wearing a navy blue and grey striped tie and black suit. The recipients stand in front of a blue backdrop with the white NCBA logo scattered throughout the backdrop.

Celebrating the Citizen Lawyer Award winners, front from left, are: Martha Bradley, Deborah Sandlin, Brad Schulz, Judge Carrie F. Vickery, and Mary Nash Rusher. Back: NCBA Executive Director Jason Hensley, Robert Laney, Jocelyn Mallette, Cecil Whitley and NCBA President Jon Heyl.

In this article, the 2022 recipients reflect on where their passion for service began. They speak to how service overlaps with the practice of law, and the ways it has been rewarding to become involved in their communities.

Read more about the recipients and view their remarks below.

Martha Sharpe Bradley

Martha Bradley is a white woman with brown eyes and red hair. She is wearing a white shirt and black suit jacket. She stands against a white background.Martha Sharpe Bradley is Founder and partner of One Sharpe Lawyer: Law Office of Martha Sharpe Bradley, PLLC, in Waynesville. Bradley focuses on business and real estate transactions in western North Carolina. She has 10 years of experience practicing civil litigation.

She has served in several capacities with the NCBA, including her role on the NCBA Board of Governors and on the Young Lawyers Division Executive Committee. In recognition of her leadership, Bradley received the NCBA Young Lawyers Division Robinson O. Everett Professionalism Award in 2018. She was also highlighted in the Biltmore Beacon’s Asheville Forty Under Forty list in 2019.

Bradley is active in the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, where she is the secretary of the board of directors and treasurer of the Judicial Endorsement Committee. She is a former president of the Rotary Club of Waynesville Sunrise and has served on the boards for several organizations in her community, including Haywood Habitat for Humanity, Haywood County Chamber of Commerce, and Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont.

Bradley holds a J.D. from Campbell Law School. After graduating from Campbell, she was a law clerk to Judge Ann Marie Calabria of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

She completed dual degrees in history and anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Where does your interest in being a citizen lawyer and volunteer in your community come from? 

I became involved in volunteer work, initially, as a way of making connections in a new community when I relocated from Raleigh to Waynesville.

How does your passion for improving your community overlap with your legal practice and other significant pursuits in your life? 

In the practice of law, at times it can feel like lawyers only complicate situations (particularly in litigation) and that you, as a professional, very rarely have an opportunity to change people’s lives or problems for the better. I think it’s part of why we, as a profession, struggle with poor mental health, because practicing law can feel like a sisyphean trek up a mountain of other people’s poor judgment and problems. Volunteering is one of the most effective antidotes to that sense of hopelessness that I’ve found. I may not have been able to improve my clients’ situation on any given day, but I do know that by cooking dinner at the veterans’ recovery home or collecting blankets for the domestic violence shelter, someone’s life is better because of my small contribution.

What are some specific ways that volunteering in your community has been rewarding for you? 

The relationships I’ve built with the people with whom I’ve worked on various projects have absolutely been the most rewarding aspects of volunteering for me. The vast majority of my current friendships came about because of some connection to one volunteer project or another. Whatever small contribution I’ve made to the community through the various groups with which I interacted has been repaid to me tenfold.

Bob Laney

Bob Laney is a white man with grey hair and a grey mustache and beard, and he is smiling. he sits in a maroon office chair with a windowsill and blinds behind him. On the windowsill sits a plant on his left and a decorative quail to the fair right. Bob is wearing a white shirt, black suit, and black and gold tie.Robert P. (Bob) Laney was attorney in North Wilkesboro for 45 years. In 2021, he retired from the law and relocated to New Bern. During his tenure as an attorney, Laney managed a solo firm and served in the McElwee Law Firm. He held a general practice with a focus in bankruptcy.

Laney has extensive experience giving back to his community by serving as a volunteer with MerleFest, an annual Americana music festival that takes place at Wilkes Community College. Approximately 80,000 people visit Wilkesboro to attend the festival. Laney, who coordinated the North Wilkesboro Kiwanis Club’s food concession during MerleFest, was nicknamed “Duke of Merle” and the “Supreme Allied Commander” to recognize his leadership and role with this large-scale event. His service to the community has played a role in raising more than $2.5 million dollars for charities in Wilkes County.

Laney has also served as the chair of the Brushy Mountain Ruritan Club’s Wilkes County Apple Festival, which is held yearly. He has held additional roles, such as the position of past president of the North Wilkesboro Kiwanis Club and president of the Brushy Mountain Ruritan Club.

Laney graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law and Wake Forest University.

Where does your interest in being a citizen lawyer and volunteer in your community come from?

When I first moved to North Wilkesboro 46 years ago, I was befriended by an insurance agent acquaintance Chuck Forester, who introduced to the Jaycees civic club. I made many friendship, business, sports and social connections there. About the same time, I joined the Kiwanis Club with my employers Larry Moore and John Willardson. Then, a few years later, I followed my law office computer manager and good friend Carroll Lowe to the Brushy Mountain Ruritan Club. After I joined each club, I found that I had a talent for, and an enjoyment of, managing fairly large business matters, including supervising the Wilkes County Apple Festival; and supervising food booths at the Apple Festival and the Wilkes Community College music MerleFest; and dozens of other smaller fundraising projects for charities. Adding the three clubs together, I spent about 85 years in service and was involved in raising about $3,000,000 for local needs.

How does your passion for improving your community overlap with your legal practice and other significant pursuits in your life?

Many civic club acquaintances became clients; and to a lesser extent, vice versa. I was raised by my parents on a cattle farm to work hard so I did not feel put upon to do work when I was not getting paid. Also, if I did not have something else important to do, I enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment by being productive with a bunch of friends and people to whom I looked up to and admired.

What are some specific ways that volunteering in your community has been rewarding for you?

I made many friends. I enjoyed the feeling of being depended upon when I was occasionally elected to club offices like President or Project Chairman. I liked feeling the respect of my comrades when the group did a good job, and we earned a significant amount of money to support the club budgets.

Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette

Jocelyn Mallette is a Black woman with brown eyes and curly, shoulder-length hair. She is wearing a teal blouse, gold necklace, and black suit jacket, and she is standing against a warm camel-colored wall. Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette is a senior associate with McGuireWoods LLP. She practices in the firm’s Raleigh office as a trial attorney.

She earned a bachelor of science in legal studies from the United States Air Force Academy, and following her graduation, she joined the Air Force, where she completed 10 years of active duty. During her military service, Mallette was a diversity recruiter in the USAFA Admissions Office, an intelligence officer, and a Wing Executive Officer. She joined the Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps in 2014, practicing as a prosecutor, general practice attorney, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of North Carolina. She was a clerk to Associate Justice Barbara A. Jackson in the North Carolina Supreme Court (2017-2018).

Mallette has served as a leader both in the NCBA and in her community. She is the NCBA Military & Veterans Law Section Communications Chair. She is a past president of the Capital City Lawyers Association, the former second vice president of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers, and a member of the Junior League of Raleigh. Mallette is on the advisory board of the Southeast Raleigh YMCA, where she is also a member of the Racial Equity Committee.

She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Where does your interest in being a citizen lawyer and volunteer in your community come from?

I became a lawyer to help people who feel powerless to stand up for themselves when they’ve been treated unfairly, to let them know that they can and should speak up for themselves and seek redress. I have long been inspired by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that “a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

How does your passion for improving your community overlap with your legal practice and other significant pursuits in your life?

Before entering private legal practice, I served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force for ten years, as a diversity recruiter, then an intelligence officer, and finally as a prosecutor and general practice attorney in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. Based on that experience, I find it particularly rewarding to assist veterans in my community who need pro bono legal services. I feel like I connect easily with other veterans and service members due to our shared service. I’ve assisted on a number of legal issues, such as helping disabled veterans obtain the additional benefits they need and deserve. I’m also a council member and communications chair for the North Carolina Bar Association’s Military and Veterans Law Section, working with attorneys across the state who are as passionate as I am about providing veteran-focused legal services.

What are some specific ways that volunteering in your community has been rewarding for you?

I find great personal satisfaction in the work I do as the chair of the Southeast Raleigh YMCA’s Advisory Board. One of our recent significant accomplishments was an initiative that we led in the community for over one year: to make the Southeast Raleigh YMCA an early voting site. Our board members researched the criteria from the Wake County Board of Elections for selecting an early voting site, set up a tour of the facility for the Board of Elections staff, and finally, we spoke during the public comment section at two Board of Elections meetings. Last month, they voted to make our YMCA an early voting site, which will create an opportunity for so many people who live, work and commute through southeast Raleigh to easily access their right to vote this fall.

I also found my work with SAFEchild to be exceptionally rewarding. SAFEchild – Stop Abuse for Every Child – fights to eliminate child abuse in Wake County. The Junior League of Raleigh, of which I am a member, established this organization in 1992. To support the effort, I helped feed dinner to and babysit the young children whose mothers are domestic violence survivors. While the mothers focused on the counseling they were receiving upstairs, we were downstairs taking care of their children.

It sounds simplistic, but it’s really a vital need. Someone in an abusive situation who gathers her courage to seek help won’t have this additional obstacle in her way because of the services SAFEchild provides. A mom just brings her kids to counseling with her and gets the help she needs while knowing her kids are nearby, safe and cared for. Volunteers go through extensive training, and SAFEchild annually serves nearly 9,000 children and families, so this is truly having an impact and is so rewarding.

Mary Nash Rusher

Mary Nash Rusher is a white woman with grey eyes and short brown hair with grey highlights. She is pictured wearing a maroon blouse and black suit jacket, and she is smiling.Mary Nash Rusher is the managing partner in the Raleigh office of McGuireWoods LLP. She has more than 30 years of experience practicing as a public finance law attorney.

In her practice, Rusher assists local governments, state agencies, nonprofits and affordable housing developers finance capital improvements, primarily through tax-exempt bonds. Her clients also include first-time borrowers and large frequent issuers.

Rusher has given back to her community in a number of ways. She has a longstanding record of service with the YMCA of the Triangle. She was on the Board of Directors from 2010-2016, serving as chair from 2013-2014. She is a member of the Finance Committee and the chair of the Board of Trustees with the organization.

She also holds leadership roles with the NCBA, as she is on the NCBA Board of Governors and Board of Directors. Rusher is a past chair of the NCBA Women in the Profession Committee. She is on the Board of Directors for WakeMed Health and Hospitals. She is involved in First Baptist Church on Salisbury Street and chairs a strategic planning committee with the church.

Rusher received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif. She earned her B.A. from Wake Forest University.

Where does your interest in being a citizen lawyer and volunteer in your community come from?

My interest in volunteering in the community began with a belief that I have a responsibility to give back, both as a lawyer and as a member of the community. It is a message I received at home growing up, at summer camp where we were taught that of those to whom much is given, much is required, and at Wake Forest, where the motto of pro humanitate was a calling to use our knowledge, talents and compassion to better the lives of others.

How does your passion for improving your community overlap with your legal practice and other significant pursuits in your life?

As a transactional attorney, as a young lawyer it was more difficult to find pro bono opportunities that did not involve going to court. I found that providing legal advice to nonprofit organizations was a meaningful way to provide pro bono work, and at the same time often led to a much deeper involvement in the organization.

What are some specific ways that volunteering in your community has been rewarding for you?

My involvement with local nonprofits helps me be connected to the local community, and to find ways to use my legal training to help these organizations. Many of those connections have become deeper than just board service; for example, while I have served on the Board of Directors of the YMCA of the Triangle, our whole family has been involved through membership, attendance at the day and overnight camp, first employment opportunities, and fund raising that have made this a passion for the whole family. The volunteer work I have been involved in, and the connections it has allowed me to make, have been some of my most meaningful involvement in this community.

Debbie Sandlin

Debbie Sandlin is a white woman with short, light-blonde hair. She is wearing a pink button-down shirt and a grey jacket, and she is pictured smiling outdoors with a blurred green field and trees behind her. Debbie Sandlin is the founding partner of Sandlin Family Law Group in Raleigh. She is a board-certified specialist in family law and appellate law.

Deborah Sandlin earned her B.A. in political science from Eastern Kentucky University. She focuses her practice on family law, adoption, appellate advocacy, collaborative law, mediation and arbitration. She is a Certified Family Financial Mediator as well as a Certified Parenting Coordinator. She volunteers with Volunteer Lawyer’s Program, which helps citizens in Wake County who are not able to afford an attorney.

She is an experienced trial attorney and has litigated cases in district court and Superior Court on the prosecutorial side and on the defense in issues of marital torts. She has presented oral arguments at the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the North Carolina Supreme Court. She has published opinions from the appellate courts.

Sandlin volunteers with Pawfect Match Rescue and Rehabilitation, a non-profit providing dog rescue services. Sandlin serves on the rescue’s board and as intake manager and coordinator with the non-profit. She manages the application process and assists by fostering and transporting dogs, training volunteers, volunteering at events and offering legal advice to the non-profit.

She holds a J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law.

Where does your interest in being a citizen lawyer and volunteer in your community come from?

I have always been a huge animal lover and advocating for animals, especially dogs and cats.  My focus in volunteering has been on dogs because it is easier for me to  assist with the dogs since I have always had several dogs and not all dogs are cat friendly. Since the southern states, and, in particular, North Carolina and South Carolina, have such dismal euthanasia rates and low spay/neutering numbers, I believed I could make a difference not only in physically saving the animal but also in educating people. Also, I have hopes that we can have stronger animal protection laws and my legal background may be of some assistance with that.

How does your passion for improving your community overlap with your legal practice and other significant pursuits in your life?

I have always loved animals and believe they do not have enough protections. I provide legal services to nonprofit rescues to assist them with their contracts and also in enforcing the contracts. My love of animals and desire to protect them is at the forefront of nearly everything and every pursuit I have in life. My goal is to have better spay/neuter laws and better animal protection laws and I think of that with every life endeavor I choose.

What are some specific ways that volunteering in your community has been rewarding for you?

A sense of accomplishment is important, and I am a task master. In May 2021, we were contacted regarding a hoarding situation in South Carolina. Initially, we were told there were about 40 dogs on the property. In the 14 months following May 2021, we rescued nearly 200 dogs from this property. It was a challenge, it was nasty, it was hard, it was sad at times, but mostly it was rewarding and these dogs have a good life with good family because of the volunteering I have done through Pawfect Match. There have been other situations, but this is the one that comes to my mind first and foremost. It is like watching a caterpillar turn into a butterfly except it is not expected. Words cannot explain the joy that comes from watching the transformation for these dogs.

Bradley N. Schultz

Brad Schultz is a white man with grey hair and dark eyes. He is wearing a blue and white checkered shirt yellow bowtie with red, blue and white squares and a grey and white pinstripe jacket. He is photographed standing with red foliage in the background. Bradley N. Schultz practices law at Schulz Stephenson Law in Beaufort, where his wife, Sundee G. Stephenson, also is an attorney. He has practiced law for 37 years and focuses on civil litigation, estate planning and administration, and legal work connected to his clients with small businesses. He is licensed to practice law in North Carolina, New York and New Jersey. Prior to moving to Beaufort, Schultz practiced law in Smithfield for 24 years. He received a B.A. in political science and sociology from Wake Forest University, where he was a member of Theta Chi Fraternity.

Schultz is active in his community. He is the chairman of the board for Crystal Coast Habitat for Humanity. His interest in hunting and dog training has provided him opportunities to share knowledge about firearm safety and the outdoors with younger citizens in Johnston and Carteret counties. He served on the Johnston County Planning Board. A baseball coach for more than 20 years, Schultz led three summer teams to state tournament competitions. He also has mentored students in the local school system.

An NCBA member for 25 years, Schultz has served as the Chair of the Law Practice Management Section (2008) and on the Board of Governors (2009-2012).

He holds a J.D. from New York Law School.

Where does your interest in being a citizen lawyer and volunteer in your community come from?  

I can give the credit for my initial interest to my parents Mary Jane and George Schulz. Both of them gave significant volunteer time in Johnston County, after we moved there in 1972. My dad served on the Selma Planning Board, and my mother was a Board member of the Johnston County Chamber of Commerce for many years. While attending Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, I volunteered on several community projects. When I attended New York Law School, in New York City, my school had many outreach and internship programs, and I was involved. After returning to Smithfield, North Carolina to begin the practice of law, I was working with George Mast, a past president of the NCBA, and volunteering time to organizations was one of his passions, and he instilled me with that same ideology. As I grew older, I was able to volunteer as a coach, and many other roles with baseball leagues and organizations. Although I never served in the military, a number of my relatives did, and American Legion baseball became very important in my volunteer life, and my life in general, through the present. I could not have done any of this without the support of my wife Sundee Stephenson, who is also my law partner, and without my family support.

How does your passion for improving your community overlap with your legal practice and other significant pursuits in your life?  

As attorneys, we are blessed with a wonderful profession, where we interact with many members of society. We have an opportunity to make a positive impact, with many folks or organizations.  I true to be the best attorney I can when I try cases, and I also try to give the same effort in my volunteer time. We can choose as attorneys to make a positive impact, and to assist society in a small manner, and my mindset is that if many of us choose to do this, our country and the world should be a better place. As Allan Head used to say, “make an effort to leave the campsite better than you found it.” I could not agree more.

What are some specific ways that volunteering in your community has been rewarding for you? 

I have had the opportunity to follow a number of kids that I have coached in baseball in years past. Some of them had difficult home situations. I tried to be a good role model, to let them know that the future was what they would make of it, with hard work, diligence, and education, be it college or trade school. I tried to instill confidence in them. It has been incredibly rewarding to see how many of them have turned out to be contributing members of society. As the players got older, I have encouraged many of them to “pay it forward” and to take of their time to do what I have done. A number of them have done so, and it has been rewarding to see it take place.

Carrie Vickery 

Judge Carrie Vickery is a white woman with brown eyes and shoulder-length dark brown hair, and she is pictured wearing a black judge’s robe with a white pearl necklace and pearl stud earrings. She is photographed against a white background.Carrie Vickery was elected as District Court judge in Forsyth County in 2016, and in 2020, she was reelected.

She has prior experience in district courts through her work as an attorney in private practice, where she focused on family law. Vickery became a board-certified specialist in family law in 2015. She has litigated in cases involving criminal defense, juvenile justice, and traffic. Vickery has taught courses at the Paralegal Technology Program at Forsyth Technical Community College and was a member of the North Carolina State Bar’s Paralegal Examination Committee.

She volunteers in her community by serving on the Executive Board of the Junior League of Winston-Salem and on the Board of Directors for the Forsyth Human Society. She has served on the Board of Directors for Liberty Street Community Development Corporation and the Children’s Museum of Winston Salem. Vickery, who is a high school graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, is a member of the Board of Trustees. She also volunteers with the Triad Golden Retriever rescue.

Vickery was honored with a 2015 recognition for Outstanding Women Leaders by the City of Winston-Salem and in 2013 for a Special Recognition Award from the Winston-Salem Chronicle.

She earned her J.D. from Elon University School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from Western Carolina University.

Where does your interest in being a citizen lawyer and volunteer in your community come from?

I have always been guided by the principle best expressed by Martin Luther King Jr., “life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?” This is a sentiment I enjoy sharing with others and hope to pass on to my young daughter. I regularly include my daughter in volunteer activities and hope this immersion in volunteering will bring her the same lifelong passion for helping others that it has for me.

How does your passion for improving your community overlap with your legal practice and other significant pursuits in your life?

I believe that I can best improve my community by serving others. As a District Court judge, I spend my days with people who are going through a particularly tough time. I firmly believe that by being a knowledgeable and fair judge, I am serving those people in a time of need. I served as an adjunct professor for several years in the Paralegal Program at Forsyth Technical Community College. While teaching those students, I often learned more than I felt I imparted. Whether my service is in the courtroom or in the larger Winston-Salem community, I find energy and renewal of purpose in serving others.

What are some specific ways that volunteering in your community has been rewarding for you?

Different types of volunteer work have led to different feelings of reward for me. I have spent time volunteering in a local community garden, where I have helped to harvest tomatoes, plant vegetables, and pull weeds. Those vegetables went on to the homes of children in need of fresh produce. I have experienced no better feeling than seeing a small child get excited about the fresh green beans and tomatoes that I helped to harvest.

At the other end of the volunteer spectrum, I have been able to serve and lead numerous charitable boards. Those volunteer board experiences are rewarding in different ways, and the reward also comes in the form of noise. When I chaired the Forsyth Humane Society, I was motivated by the sounds of dogs barking, cats meowing, and kids squealing as they took home their new best friend. When I served on the board for the local Children’s Museum, it was the laughter of children running through the museum. Whether my volunteering has included getting my hands dirty or spending my time in a board room, they have all provided me the continuous privilege of helping others.

Cecil Whitley

Cecil Whitley is a white man with a white beard, and he is wearing a blue shirt, black tie and black jacket with small white specks. He is pictured smiling and standing outside in the sun with a blurred fountain behind him. Cecil Whitley, a native of Union County, is a senior partner at Whitley Jordan, Inge, & Rary, P.A. in Salisbury. He has practiced law for more than 40 years. Whitely focuses on criminal, traffic and domestic law. He served in the U.S. Army as a Platoon leader and Company Commander. During his years in the military from 1967 to 1970, he was in the 1st Infantry Division and the 101st Airborne Division. Whitely earned a B.A. from Catawba College.

Whitley has given back to his community in many ways. He and his wife run a youth program, one which they have led for 43 years. He created the Red Cardinal program in his church, which hosts a community outreach event each year. He has volunteered with a number of organizations committed to serving veterans, including the Rowan County Honor Guard.

He has given back to others through his legal practice. Whitely assisted in founding a pro bono program in his law firm that provides veterans with free legal services. The program assists veterans with wills, durable powers of attorney, health care powers of attorney and living wills.

Whitley has also written about Motor Vehicle Law and professionalism. He is a recipient of the North Carolina State Bar’s John B. McMillan Distinguished Service Award (2016).

He holds a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law.

Where does your interest in being a citizen lawyer and volunteer in your community come from?

My passion for community service comes from several different times in my life.

First: my childhood living in a tenant log home with no electricity nor running water. We basically lived on a cotton farm but grew other crops.  We had to share with other families as they shared with us to survive.  If they had food, we had food and vise versa. We did not know color and church was very important.

Second: Dean Weathers – Wake Forest School of Law. He told us many, many times that honesty, integrity, knowledge of the law and service to the community you lived in were the most significant traits of a lawyer. He, also, said we must always keep God in our heart.

Third: The Salisbury Jaycees had a Creed which we quoted at the end of every meeting – the last line was “Service to Humanity Is The Best Work of Life.” Two projects greatly impacted my life. Special Olympics – This was my first project. Two six-year-olds were competing in the 100-yard dash. Both were very handicapped with braces on both legs. We set up a 10-foot dash for them. Neither could take a full step. They could take a partial step – the boy’s stride was slightly longer. He was one step away from victory when he looked back at the young lady who was about two steps behind him. As victory for him was a short step away, he turned and grabbed the young girl by the hand and helped her to finish the race at the same time. They raised their hands and arms, together as “Champions.” This touched my heart.

We ran a needy children’s Christmas project. We asked local educators to help by providing a list of true needy children. The first time we used children recommended by the educators, the young man with us had no winter clothing on his person nor socks nor shoes that fit correctly. He said if we were going to get him anything, he would like to have some warm clothing for the winter and hopefully a pair of winter shoes that fit his feet. We asked if he would like a nice toy for Christmas, and he responded, “Instead of a toy for me, could you possibly get some warm underwear and socks for my younger brother?” I told him we were going to get him a toy and get his younger brother all the same apparel he had and a toy also. This is service to humanity.

Fourth: I served our country in the U.S. Army with the 1st Infantry Division and the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam as a 1st Lieutenant (Infantry). I had young soldiers in combat on Search and Destroy missions for one year (1969). When you see the enemy and young American soldiers die in front of your own eyes, your life changes forever. I deal with mental health issues (PTSD) every waking hour of the day. I feel that I can never give enough back to the community in which I live. This includes my church work as well as our Pro Bono Program for veterans who have served in any capacity with the military.  The military has had the greatest impact on my life.

How does your passion for improving your community overlap with your legal practice and other significant pursuits in your life?

My life is very simple.  My God, my family, my office family, my friends, our youth program of forty-three years, the Red Cardinal program at our church and fifty hours of office-related work per week consumes my waking hours. Ever since 1969, I usually sleep about three hours per night. This affords me time to try to accomplish many things. God has blessed me in so many different ways.  Especially my wife of 48 years, my children and grandchildren who understand me. My partners and office staff understand me as well.

What are some specific ways that volunteering in your community has been rewarding for you?  

When I look back each day, I often wonder if there is something else I could have done to make the community I live in a better place. If I can reach out and touch a life of someone, that’s what God plans for me to do. It brings a special feeling to my heart. I am so blessed in so many, many ways.

Jessica Junqueira is communications manager for the North Carolina Bar Association.