YLD Award Recipients Honored for Service to Their Communities
Two YLD members, Michele Livingstone and Andrew Atkins, were recognized during the Annual Meeting Awards Dinner and Presidential Installation on Friday, June 24, 2022, as part of the 124th Annual Meeting held in Winston-Salem.
Michele Livingstone is the recipient of this year’s Charles F. Blanchard Young Lawyer of the Year Award. Andrew Atkins is the recipient of the Robinson O. Everett Professionalism Award.
Below, learn more about each recipient, their interest in serving their communities and what it has meant to them to give back to others.
Michele Livingstone: Charles F. Blanchard Young Lawyer of the Year Award Recipient
The Charles F. Blanchard Young Lawyer of the Year Award was created to celebrate young lawyers for their outstanding and commendable service. The award is named for Charles F. Blanchard, who in 1953-55, was the founding chair of the Young Lawyers Division.
Michele Livingstone is an attorney with Kennon Craver, PLLC in Durham specializing in civil litigation.
Livingstone was born in California and attended Santa Clara University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in political science and economics. She moved to North Carolina and earned her J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law. She practiced law as a defense attorney before joining Kennon Craver.
Livingstone has been an active member of the Young Lawyers Division for several years, and in 2020, she stepped into the role of chair of the Legal Feeding Frenzy.
Legal Feeding Frenzy is an annual event in which North Carolina law firms, law schools and organizations join together to help fight hunger by raising food and funds for Feeding The Carolinas Food Banks. The program held a kickoff event on February 28, 2020. A few weeks later, as the COVID-19 pandemic began, food banks were experiencing a large increase in the number of clients reaching out to receive aid.
Livingstone, along with co-chair Erin Ball, led the Legal Feeding Frenzy in March of 2020. They promoted the event, writing blog posts to encourage others to take part in the competition. Livingstone and Ball’s initial goal was to raise 300,000 ($75,000) pounds of food. As a result of their efforts, Legal Feeding Frenzy surpassed its goal and raised 604,332 pounds of food ($151,083), the highest amount reached since the program began.
Livingstone once again chaired the Legal Feeding Frenzy in the 2021-22 bar year with the goal of reaching $150,000 in donations. As in the previous year, the total funds exceeded the initial goal, reaching $230,000, which equates to 930,000 pounds of food.
Beginning in 2021, Livingstone also became YLD Community Outreach Division Director. In this role, she actively supported many communities. She also assisted Legal Feeding Frenzy chairs, was the captain of her LFF team and served at the food bank in Raleigh.
In 2022, Livingstone was selected as the recipient of the Altruist Award, which is given to honor a volunteer, participant and partner in Legal Feeding Frenzy who has made a significant impact through their volunteer work with the program.
Livingstone continues to serve as the YLD Community Outreach Division Director in the 2022-23 bar year.
Here, she talks with us about her interest in serving her community and what it means to her to give back to others.
In what ways is it meaningful for you to receive this award?
It was great to be recognized by my peers for the work that I do. Most of the work is behind the scenes and it was rewarding to be recognized for those efforts.
Describe some of the service projects you have worked on or some of the volunteer roles you have held. How is service integral to your practice?
I was co-chair of Legal Feeding Feeding Frenzy for two years before becoming the Community Outreach Director for the YLD. I also regularly participate in the Grab-a-Coffee Program and other YLD events. I think the YLD and its service projects are a great way to meet other attorneys in the area all while giving back.
Describe how serving others has been important throughout your life. What fuels your passion for serving your community?
Giving back has always been important to me and I regularly volunteered growing up. Volunteering and giving back is a great way to remember what is important and how fortunate we are to be doing what we are doing.
How has being a member in the Young Lawyers Division been rewarding for you?
I have truly enjoyed getting to know all of the other young attorneys and having that friend and support system. Also, as I continue in my career, it has been rewarding to help even newer attorneys and answer any questions they might have as an almost informal mentor.
Andrew Atkins: Robinson O. Everett Professionalism Award
The award, created in 2010, was named for Judge Robinson Everett, who was a Duke law professor and former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. The award highlights young lawyers who exemplify legal professionalism and service and who are dedicated to volunteering their time in their communities.
Atkins practices in the Construction and Commercial Litigation practice group at Smith Anderson. He is a partner with the firm.
His clients include owners, contractors, and developers in multi-party disputes involving public and private commercial projects. He assists clients in matters of risk management and claim development.
He was appointed by speaker Tim Moore to the North Carolina Rules Review Commission, where he has served for five years. He is currently first vice chair. Atkins was previously appointed by Chief Justice Mark Martin as a Reporter on the North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law Justice.
He has prior experience as an attorney for the office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Dallas, Texas. He also was a judicial clerk for Justice Mark D. Martin on the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
Atkins has been an active member of the NCBA and the Young Lawyers Division, serving as the co-chair of the Law Week and Liberty Bell Committee from 2018-20. He also was the Division Director in 2020-21. As Director of Section Liaisons in 2021-22, Andrew led the Section Spotlights initiative, which was created to help YLD members become connected to NCBA sections and offered a lunch and learn series of presentations during the bar year.
He is also involved with the Construction Law Section. As Communications Co-Chair, he serves by editing NCBarBlog posts and by writing pieces for the blog. One of the articles he has written is “Representing Your Clients Before Licensing Boards.”
Atkins was a member of the NCBA Leadership Academy Class of 2018.
His articles have appeared in the Pace Law Review and the North Carolina Banking Institute Journal.
He earned his J.D. with high honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif. He holds a B.A. with highest distinction from UNC.
Below, Atkins shares more about his community involvement and describes how volunteering is a meaningful way to make a difference.
In what ways is it meaningful for you to receive this award?
I have enjoyed working in a variety of roles within the North Carolina Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, the North Carolina Bar Association Construction Law Section, the North Carolina Rules Review Commission, and, previously, the North Carolina Commission for the Administration of Law and Justice. Working in those roles is rewarding in itself; however, it is also meaningful to be recognized by the YLD, whose recognition was completely unexpected.
Describe some of the service projects you have worked on or some of the volunteer roles you have had. How has serving others contributed to your understanding or definition of legal professionalism?
My first leadership role within the North Carolina Bar Association Young Lawyers Division was as a Committee Chair for the Law Week/Liberty Bell Committee. That committee is responsible for organizing a number of contests for middle and high school students, which culminates in a Law Day ceremony attended by contest winners, senior members of the bar, and several judges and justices. The ceremony is a wonderful representation of legal professionalism. It combines service to the community and, possibly, future lawyers and the partnership between the YLD, the judiciary, and more senior members of the bar. It is also an opportunity to honor one person for that person’s exemplary service to the State.
Describe how serving others has been important throughout your life. What fuels your passion for serving your community?
Our communities are only what we make them. We cannot control every aspect of the community, and one person is unlikely to accomplish great change on their own. However, we are in control of how we serve our community and how we treat others. I like to see people succeed. Serving others is an opportunity to put someone else in a better position to succeed. While the success may be only of a small matter, success builds on success. Not only can that person build on success, that person’s success puts them in a better position to help put others in a position to succeed. The result can be that, collectively, we are improving our communities as those successes build and more people who are in a position to succeed.
How has being a member in the Young Lawyers Division been rewarding for you?
Being a member of the Young Lawyers Division has been a great opportunity to interact with other lawyers from across the state. Many of them are in practices that would result in us never crossing paths otherwise. In my opinion, part of professionalism is the collegiality built around the profession. The Young Lawyers Division and other similar groups is a great way to build relationships and collegiality across the bar.
Jessica Junqueira is communications manager for the North Carolina Bar Association.