Borden Parker Receives Grainger Barrett Award
E.B. Borden Parker of Goldsboro received the 2025 Grainger Barrett Award for Excellence from the NCBA Government & Public Sector Section on June 11 at the N.C. Bar Center.
Parker served as Wayne County Attorney for 50 years (1975-2025), preceded in that regard by his father, Fred Parker Jr., who served from 1936-1975. Borden Parker also served as Greene County Attorney for 20 years (2000-20) and represented the Wayne County Department of Social Services in legal proceedings involving child welfare and child support until his retirement in February 2025.
E.B. Borden Parker, left, accepts award from Skye David.
The Wayne County Board of Commissioners voted in December 2024 to name the new Wayne County Department of Health and Human Services Building in his honor. The Board of Commissioners also named Parker “County Attorney Emeritus” in recognition of his 50 years as continuous service as county attorney.
Skye David, chair of the Government & Public Sector Section, presented the Grainger Barrett Award during the section’s annual meeting. Jordan Smith, county attorney for New Hanover County, provided comments about his mentor and friend.
“I met Borden in 2013,” Smith stated. “I got hired to work at his firm doing personal injury workers’ comp. He took me to lunch one day. He found out that I had an MPA (master of public administration) and interest in local government, and then I worked for him a lot that summer.
“Just to kind of show you the type of person that he is and what an impact he’s had on me professionally, I was studying for the bar exam in 2014 and I thought, ‘If I pass the bar, great, but I need a job’ So I emailed Borden because I knew the county attorney summer conference was going on that weekend. He took my resume to Asheville that summer, and on the first day of the bar exam, I go to my car during the lunch break, because you want to get away from your classmates when they’re asking you about that secured transactions question that you thought was a criminal law question.
“I go to my car, turn on my phone, and I have a voicemail from the county attorney in Pitt County. She says, ‘I understand that you’re looking for a job. I was given your resume by Borden Parker, and he says I should hire you, so will you please apply for my job?’ So I applied for her job as assistant county attorney for Pitt County, and that brought me into local government law. Most of you in the room who work in this space know how great a career it can be, and I give so much credit to Borden for getting my foot in the door and getting me where I am now.”
Borden Parker began his acceptance remarks with a tribute to the man for whom the award is named.
“Grainger Barrett was a brilliant lawyer,” Parker responded. “I’m honored to get this award. I want to thank Jordan Smith and Andrew Neal for putting me up, and I want to thank the committee which has said I should get this award. I was told that I might want to say something to a bunch of young lawyers in here. I don’t see any real young lawyers, but everyone here is younger than I am.
“My first recommendation is you never argue with the board member publicly. And if you are asked whether or not the board can do something, make sure they’re not asking you how can you tell us that we can do it and get it done for them. The other thing that you need is to have somebody as a backup who is going to follow you. I was lucky enough for Andrew Neal to be hired by Wayne County. The second best thing is to know when to quit. And I thought 50 years was enough. Your board needs to know that the best advice that you have given to them is to hire the person who is going to follow you.
“I thank you all for this.”
Parker is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1966) and UNC School of Law (1969). He served in the U.S. Army in the Judge Advocate General Corps for four years after law school and earned the rank of captain.
Following military service, Parker returned to Goldsboro to practice with his father, and maintained a solo practice after his father’s death. He joined Phillip A. Baddour Jr. in 1978 in the firm now known as Baddour, Parker, Hine & Hale, P.C.
Previous recipients of the Grainger Barrett Award are:
2001 – M. Ann Reed
2003 – Jo Anne Sanford
2004 – John Stuart Bruce
2005 – Gill P. Beck
2006 – Dan McLawhorn
2007 – Ann B. Wall
2008 – Curtis B. Venable
2009 – Jeffrey P. Gray
2010 – Grainger R. Barrett
2011 – James B. Blackburn III
2012 – M. Lynne Weaver and Philip A. Lehman
2014 – Ellis Hankins
2015 – Chief Justice Sarah Parker
2016 – Frayda Bluestein
2017 – Frank Whitney
2018 – Thomas McCormick
2019 – Christine Simpson
2020 – Albert M. Benshoff
2021 – Robert W. Oast, Jr
2022 – Mac McCarley
2023 – Elizabeth Croom
2024 – Linda Avery Miles
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.