Thomas Powers III Leads Mecklenburg’s “New” Mandatory Bar
Thomas Powers III is the first president of the 26th Judicial District Bar.
“July 1st heralds the dawn of a new era – the first day of the Mecklenburg Bar Association, our new voluntary bar organization, as well the 26th Judicial District Bar, which will continue fulfilling the statutory functions of our local mandatory bar.”
NCBA member Cary B. Davis of Robinson Bradshaw in Charlotte, writing in his final President’s Message last summer as the last president of the Mecklenburg County Bar, continues:
“Conversely, June 30th will mark another historic milestone – the last day of the entity we know as Mecklenburg County Bar. The MCB, which currently performs both mandatory and non-mandatory bar functions, will cease to exist as of midnight on June 30 when we formally bifurcate to create the MBA and the 26th Judicial District Bar.”
With that, on July 1, 2024, NCBA member Thomas Powers III of the City of Charlotte became the first president of the 26th Judicial District Bar, and Courtney Ballard of Trane Technologies in Davidson became the first president of the Mecklenburg Bar Association (MBA). Ballard previously served as president-elect of the Mecklenburg County Bar.
Leah Campbell, who steered the Mecklenburg County Bar through its multi-layered bifurcation process, continues her service as executive director of both organizations as well as the Mecklenburg Bar Foundation (MBF).
“Leah is an incredible person, to say the least, and a phenomenal executive director,” Powers said. “I don’t know whether or not we could be in any other position than this without her stewardship. The same goes for ary’s leadership through this tremendous change for our bar.”
Powers is perfectly suited to lead the newly created 26th Judicial District Bar.
“Last year when I was MBF president,” Powers explained, “I assisted the former bar president (Cary Davis) and former bar president-elect (Courtney Ballard) with the bifurcation process. It was more driven by the bar itself, and Leah Campbell was a part of those discussions. The new MBA spun off with all of the voluntary activities that the 26th Judicial District Bar could not undertake as part of the mandatory bar, and we created a brand-new operating structure and board for the new mandatory bar.”
Powers has called on his experience as the former city attorney of Lumberton and current Senior Assistant City Attorney for Charlotte, where he has worked since 2010, throughout the bifurcation process.
“I think it was definitely instrumental in helping folks understand all of the issues that were ongoing,” Powers said. “Across the nation we are seeing lawyers challenging on First Amendment grounds the requirement to be part of a mandatory bar that may be incompatible with their actual views. As part of our bar’s discussion, we were hearing and understanding that there was a need to bifurcate our bar to be more functionally sound on just those core issues of grievance, dues, things of that nature, and our other initiatives that were geared more toward Mecklenburg County should be more of a voluntary aspect.
“Before I was brought in as the (mandatory bar) president this year, one of the pitches I made to my colleagues was that I had already dealt with some of these issues on the periphery and worked with folks and our executive director as the MBF president. I also talked with the incoming MBA president (Courtney Ballard) and others, and had a firm understanding of what we needed do to ensure we got things off the ground and running properly for us.
“That was why I sought the opportunity of being 26th Judicial Bar president in the first instance. It was to ensure we kept the organization running properly, to ensure any bumps, bruises or unresolved issues could be worked through quickly given my past experience as MBF president and my knowledge of those issues. And, also, to support staff with this massive transition from a budgetary standpoint, from an operational standpoint, and also just from an organizational standpoint to make all of this work seamlessly in that regard.”
Seven months in, Powers continued, everything is running smoothly.
“I think it has been going great! It appears to have been seamless. With the bifurcation that occurred, I think the work of the 26th Judicial District has slowed down tremendously. We have been handling core issues – grievance, budgetary aspects, anything that the Chief Justice would like local bars to undertake – those are the things that we are generally doing as part of the 26th Judicial District in its entirety.
“For the other issues that we used to handle in the past – some of our continuing legal education work, some of our engagement, some of our practice-section work – that all went to the MBA under Ballard. We have been doing a lot more outreach as part of the MBA to home in on that type of engagement for our local members to ensure we’re strengthening those bonds and connections in addition to keeping the core work under the 26th Judicial District itself.”
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Whereas a challenge presented itself, opportunity has followed bar members and their leaders in Mecklenburg County.
“Oh yeah!” Powers agreed. “In June of last year, we were at two presidents, and now we have three: the MBF president, the MBA president, the 26th Judicial District president and 51 board member and officer positions across the three organizations. And I think we have created new opportunities for members of our bar to get engaged, whether it’s fundraising on the nonprofit side with the MBF or doing other types of engagement and development for our members with the MBA, or trying to implement and execute the vision of our Chief Justice here locally with the 26th Judicial District and, by extension, the State Bar. We have three different paths for our members to engage with the local bar, regardless of their viewpoints from a First Amendment standpoint, and to really have them actively engaged short-term and long-term with the bar itself.”
To that point, Powers continues, bifurcation had an immediate impact on dues.
“When we looked at our bar previously, our bar dues were much higher than they are now. Before we bifurcated, our dues were $225 plus the State Bar dues. After we bifurcated, our dues are $60 plus the State Bar dues – a $165 savings for our members. With many of the other services and engagement opportunities that we had as part of the Mecklenburg County Bar, we shifted that over to the MBA. Individuals who wish to be a part of the MBA can spend an additional amount of money to get those other types of opportunities, which may mean playing in our recreational sports league, participating in other functions such as CLE, participating in some of the practice-area sections, or participating in our clerkship initiatives as well.”
Central to the reorganization process and a major undertaking for all involved, Powers said, has been the sale of the Mecklenburg County Bar & Foundation Center on Yellowstone Drive.
“I can talk about that one all day,” Powers laughed. “I was completely involved in all of that. The MBF was the owner of the building and property, and it leased the building to the Mecklenburg County Bar as a tenant. As the MBF president, the building sale was one of the things to get off my plate before I transitioned into the 26th Judicial District presidency.
“Needless to say, it was a great endeavor. The MBF authorized the previous president, and then myself, to engage with brokers to sell the building. After offers came in, the MBF settled on selling the entire property to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. We closed on that transaction on April 10, 2024.” Fellow NCBA member LaToya Parker of Parker Poe in Charlotte assisted the MBF with the real estate transaction.
The 26th Judicial District Bar, the MBA and the MBF have since relocated to space that is being leased on East Morehead Street in Charlotte.
“Everybody – all nine members of the staff – are located uptown in this one location,” Powers said. “Based on how the operations work, staff basically had their time divided among the various entities with everything being managed by Executive Director Leah Campbell.
A graduate of North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (2003), Powers holds a master’s in public administration from the University of Georgia (2005) and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law (2008). He has lived in Charlotte most of his life, but his service as Lumberton’s city attorney straight out of law school opened his eyes to the benefits of serving in rural communities.
“Lawyers need to think about opportunity versus location,” Powers said. “One of the things I see in some of the students coming out of law school is that they’re focused on a particular location to work and, therefore, ideally thrive. What I’ve tried to tell those who I’ve come across is that you can get experience all over the state, and due to the thinking of our General Assembly and our governors, we are building roads for you to get anywhere you need to be as quickly as possible.
“As least in my case, going out to Lumberton when I did was a great experience. I was the sole attorney providing legal advice to the city council and municipal employees. I had nine elected officials, and one of my council members joked that he had been on the council for 40 consecutive years: I was only 27 years old at the time! But it was great serving them as they were trying to serve their community.”
In a similar vein, Powers continued, he has also gained useful experience through his membership in the North Carolina Bar Association.
“I would definitely say yes,” Powers said, “I have used the North Carolina Bar Association for the Zoning, Planning & Land Use Section. Separately, I have presented continuing legal education programs for the North Carolina Bar Association’s Government & Public Sector Section and the Public Records Program.
“It has definitely supported my municipal law practice with zoning, litigation and all types of activities. It has also helped me provide better legal guidance, when asked, to the Mayor and City Council for Charlotte. Needless to say, from my perspective, the North Carolina Bar Association has been outstanding to help to develop individuals who want to use those resources.”
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.