Thigpen Receives Tax Section Award
Richard E. Thigpen Jr. of Charlotte received the NCBA Tax Section’s Lifetime Achievement and Service Award on Thursday, June 20, during the summer meeting of the NCBA Board of Governors.
Dick Thigpen, right, accepts award from Wells Hall.
The meeting coincided with the 2024 NCBA Annual Meeting in Charlotte.
Thigpen is a past president of the NCBA (1988-89) and served as founding chair of the Tax Section in 1979-80. His father, the late Richard Elton Thigpen, was also a president of the NCBA (1948-49) and his son, Richard M. Thigpen, currently serves on the NCBA Board of Governors and NCBF Board of Directors.
C. Wells Hall III, who last year became the initial recipient of this honor, presented the award to his longtime friend and former law partner.
“I had the privilege of starting my career practicing tax law with Dick Thigpen Jr. and the law firm of Thigpen & Hines, PA in Charlotte, North Carolina,” Hall said. “My corporate tax professor at Duke Law School, Richard D. Hobbet, had recommended me to Dick and we hit it off at once. Thigpen & Hines had the top tax practice in the state, hands down.”
“I loved my work and the people I was working with at Thigpen & Hines. Dick’s father, Richard E. Thigpen, was still practicing and took an interest in me, giving me interesting tax problems and matters to work on and always giving me constructive feedback.”
And his namesake made sure Hall had plenty to do.
“Dick always made sure my plate was full of work, and I could not have been happier. In those days, tax lawyers had to cover everything – individual, trust, estate, wills, partnership, corporate, audits, appeals, and litigation. There were times when the entire Tax Court calendar was dominated by Thigpen & Hines. Most important, Dick enjoyed the practice of law himself, and he made it fun for me as a young associate!”
“It is my pleasure,” Hall concluded, “to recognize my mentor and respected colleague, Richard E. Thigpen Jr., for the Tax Section Lifetime Achievement and Service Award in 2024.”
“Being recognized by my peers in the world of taxation is truly a great honor,” Thigpen said. “Receiving the NCBA Tax Section Lifetime Achievement and Service Award is very humbling and greatly appreciated. It is especially meaningful since it recognizes ‘achievement’ and ‘service.’”
The award recognizes “attorneys who have demonstrated outstanding professional work and exemplary reputation in tax matters and have provided extraordinary service to the section, the legal profession and the public in endeavors relating to the field of tax law and the mission and activities of the section.”
“Having the opportunity to work with and exchange knowledge with my fellow tax attorneys in the section was always helpful,” Thigpen added. “I am proud of the leaders who have developed in the Tax Section and their contributions to the world of taxation at both the state and national levels.
“The services rendered by these professionals have had a favorable impact on our system of taxation and on the lives of many tax-paying citizens.”
Thigpen was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Charlotte, where he was educated in the city schools. He is a graduate of Duke University (A.B., 1951) and the University of North Carolina School of Law (LL.B., 1956). He served as an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1951-53.
Thigpen began his legal career as an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., from 1956-58. In 1958 he joined Thigpen & Hines, where his father practiced until his retirement in 1976, and remained with the firm through its subsequent mergers into Moore & Van Allen.
In 1994 he joined the Carolina Panthers fledgling NFL franchise as general counsel and remained with the organization until his retirement in 1998.
Thigpen has been active in the North Carolina Bar Association throughout his career.
“Long-term involvement with the NCBA and the Tax Section in particular provided me with many opportunities to know and to work with the finest tax attorneys in the country,” Thigpen said, “and to have input on state and federal tax policies.”
“Participation was invaluable!”
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.