Ramseur Brings Established Record of Leadership, Service Into New Role as President-Elect

The election of Patti Ramseur of Ramseur Maultsby LLP in Greensboro as the new president-elect of the North Carolina Bar Association was greeted with abundant enthusiasm at the 2022 NCBA Annual Meeting in Winston-Salem.

From her service as chair of the Young Lawyers Division through numerous responsibilities she has undertaken since, Ramseur is widely known throughout the NCBA as a dedicated volunteer and skillful leader.

Ramseur will serve throughout 2022-23 as president-elect of the NCBA and the North Carolina Bar Foundation, and as chair of the Audit & Finance Committee of both organizations. She will be installed next June at the 2023 Annual Meeting as the 129th president of the NCBA.

Patti Ramseur is a white woman with shoulder-length blond hair. She is wearing small pearl earrings. She stands at a podium, and from the angle, only her head is visible. In front of the podium is a white sign with the NCBA logo in blue. In the lower right of the photo, a few feet away from the stage, stand Shelby Benton and Caryn McNeill, two past presidents. Shelby Benton is a white woman with short dark hair, who is a past president. Shelby is wearing a dark blouse and a white and pale blue pinstripe jacket with a multi-layered strand of pearls. Caryn McNeill, stands to the right of Shelby, and Caryn has short light brown hair and is wearing it in a bob, and she is wearing a gold and black button down dress with gold jewelry. The backdrop behind the stage is a periwinkle blue that appears like long lit streamers.

Patti Ramseur delivers acceptance remarks after being elected president-elect.

She entered private practice in 2000 with Haynsworth Baldwin Johnson & Greaves. In 2003 she joined Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP and continued as a partner with the firm when it merged into Fox Rothschild LLP in 2018. She joined Alex Maultsby in 2020 to establish the employment law firm of Ramseur Maultsby LLP, where she focuses her practice on employment litigation and counseling.

Ramseur is a native of Burke County. She graduated with honors from North Carolina State University, where she majored in applied sociology with a concentration in criminal justice, and Wake Forest University School of Law. She began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Ralph A. Walker of the N.C. Court of Appeals.

She served on the NCBA Board of Governors and NCBF Board of Directors in 2014-17. In addition to leadership of the Young Lawyers Division, she has served as chair of the Leadership Academy and Membership Values Task Force, and as co-chair of the Young Lawyers Initiatives Task Force.

Ramseur has also served on the Citizen Lawyer Task Force, the Nominations Committee, the Strategic Planning & Emerging Trends Committee, and has held various positions within the Litigation Section and the Workers’ Compensation Section. Most recently she has been a member of the Diversity Task Force and the Talent Development Committee.

She received the YLD’s Robinson O. Everett Professionalism Award in 2012.

Ramseur’s name was placed in nomination by Immediate Past President Mark Holt, who served as chair of the NCBA Past Presidents’ Council, which annually nominates the president-elect.

“Throughout her service to our organization,” Holt said, “Patti has displayed thoughtful leadership and excellent judgment. She encourages and inspires others. She is an enthusiastic leader and a consensus builder. Patti’s depth and breadth of experience in doing the work of our organization uniquely qualify her to lead us. Patti would provide outstanding leadership at any time. But in this time, we will especially benefit from her gifts and talents.”

Ramseur, he added, is calm under pressure and always well prepared. She invites dialogue and promotes collaboration, is a good listener, and thoughtfully processes what she hears.

“To her family, her clients, her community, her church, and her profession, Patti has generously dedicated herself with heartfelt care and concern,” Holt said. “I’m pleased to present a nominee who possesses the skills, talent, and experience to be an outstanding leader.”

“More importantly, it is with great confidence and appreciation that I present a nominee who possesses a heart for service and who will provide careful stewardship of our association and foundation and the vital role these organizations play in the lives of our members and in the life of our state.”

Immediate Past President Mark Holt ushers President-elect Patti Ramseur to the stage, followed by the additional past presidents in attendance at the NCBA Annual Meeting. Patti Ramseur stands next to Mark Holt. Patti is a white woman with shoulder-length blond hair, and she is wearing a white blouse with black flowers and detailing, a navy blue suit jacket and matching skirt, cream-colored shoes, and pearl earrings and a silver necklace. Patti is pictured smiling. Mark Holt is a white man with grey hair, and he is wearing a white shirt with a blue tie and a black suit with black shoes, and he is also smiling. Patti and Mark are standing in a large hotel conference room, where other individuals are seated around tables. One past president is also standing behind Patti, and he has dark hair, black glasses, a white shirt, a red tie and a black suit jacket.

Immediate Past President Mark Holt ushers President-elect Patti Ramseur the stage, followed by the additional past presidents in attendance at the NCBA Annual Meeting.

Seconding speeches were provided by former Smith Moore Leatherwood/Fox Rothschild law partners Clark Smith and Alex Maultsby, with whom she now practices.

“Patti has a special love for this bar association,” Smith stated. “She has dedicated a large part of her life to service to this bar.” Smith went on to highlight Ramseur’s service as co-chair of the NCBA Leadership Academy for five years, which required her presence on numerous weekends.

“She will give whatever it takes to lead this association into the future with her good judgment and people skills,” Smith said. “She will be successful as a future president of the NCBA.”

Maultsby described Ramseur as “an incredible lawyer” and leader. He cited her competitive spirit and commitment to the principles of truth, objectiveness, fairness and, most importantly, family.

“Patti is foremost a wife, mother, daughter, sister and aunt,” Maultsby said. “Her family comes first, a true model for today’s lawyers. Together with (her husband) Chris, they are raising two smart, active, well-balanced daughters.”

Ramseur was elected unanimously by acclamation and, in keeping with NCBA tradition, was ushered to the stage by those past presidents who were in attendance at the event.

“Our bar association and foundation touch communities in real and meaningful ways,” Ramseur stated in her acceptance remarks. “As members of the legal profession, we are uniquely situated to serve and help in ways that other cannot.”

“Without a doubt, while things have changed over my time with this association, one thing remains true, and it is extremely important. Now, more than ever, we need a strong Association and Foundation. We have the opportunity to continue to do great work together; this is our opportunity to thrive. I look forward to serving alongside all of you.”

Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.