NCBA Elects New Board Members
The article below has been updated as of August 2020.
Seven new members of the North Carolina Bar Association Board of Governors were elected to three-year terms on Friday, June 26, during the NCBA Annual Meeting. Due to the coronavirus restrictions, the annual meeting was via web conference with minimal in-person attendance at the N.C. Bar Center in Cary.
Five new vice presidents who were elected at the spring board meeting and chairs of the Young Lawyers Division and Senior Lawyers Division are also serving on the Board of Governors.
BOARD MEMBERS
The new board members, who will serve through 2022-23, are:
Tawanda Foster Artis serves as Senior Staff Attorney for the N.C. General Assembly in Raleigh. She previously served with the N.C. AOC as Appellate Counsel and Pro Bono Program Manager, with the N.C. Department of Justice as an Assistant Attorney General, Labor Section, and as an Assistant District Attorney in Prosecutorial District 11. Artis is a past co-chair of the NCBA Minorities in the Profession Committee. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1999) and UNC School of Law (2004).
Vincent D. Childress Jr. is a partner in Roberts & Stevens in Asheville. He has been practicing for more than 30 years in the areas of business and corporate law, trust and estate planning and probate, and healthcare law. Childress is active in the community, including the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina and Pisgah Legal Services, from which he has received the Outstanding Pro Bono Services Award. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1979) and UNC School of Law (1983).
Ben Edwards serves as Vice President and Senior Counsel for Lincoln Financial Group in Greensboro, and has worked with the company for more than 15 years in multiple capacities. As an in-house attorney, he manages a team of attorneys and compliance professionals responsible for litigation, anti-money laundering compliance, and fraud investigations. Edwards is a past chair of the NCBA Corporate Counsel Section. He is a graduate of Duke University (B.A., 1998; M.A. 1999) and the University of North Carolina School of Law (2003).
Casey N. Ferri of Charlotte is licensed to practice law in both North Carolina and South Carolina. She is a former chair of the NCBA Elder & Special Needs Law Section and a previous participant in the NCBA Leadership Academy. Ferri previously practiced with Crisp Cherry McCraw, PLLC and Conrad Trosch & Kemmy, P.A. At present she has paused her practice due to maternity leave. She is a graduate of Winthrop University and Stetson University College of Law.
Niya Fonville is the new Director of the Externships at Campbell Law School, where she served as Associate Director of the Career & Professional Development Center from 2018-20. She served for more than a decade with Legal Aid of North Carolina, where she was supervising attorney and staff attorney. Fonville is a past co-chair of the NCBA Minorities in the Profession Committee and 2019 recipient of the NCBA Citizen Lawyer Award. Fonville is a graduate of Salem College (2005) and the University of Miami School of Law (2008).
Rashad Morgan is a shareholder in Brinks Gilson & Lione in Research Triangle Park, where he maintains a broad-based intellectual property practice. He joined the firm as an associate in 2006 and became a shareholder in 2016, at which time he also began co-chairing the Chemical, Energy, and Agriculture Industry Group. Morgan is a past co-chair of the NCBA Minorities in the Profession Committee. He is a graduate of Florida A&M University (2003) and the University of Cincinnati College of Law (2006).
Jerry Walters is a shareholder in Littler Mendelson PC in Charlotte. He has practiced management-side employment and labor law exclusively since 1997 and provides litigation and counseling services on a wide variety of employment and labor issues. Walters served as chair of the NCBA Labor and Employment Law Section in 2019-20, and is also a past chair of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys’ Employment Practices Group. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1993) and Campbell Law School (1996).
VICE PRESIDENTS
The new vice presidents are:
One-year terms
Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. serves as a U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of North Carolina. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 96-0 on March 10, 2011. Cogburn previously engaged in private practice and served as an Assistant (and Chief Assistant) U.S. Attorney, and from 1995-2004 as a federal magistrate judge for the Western District. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1973) and Samford University Cumberland School of Law (1976).
Judge Michael O’Foghludha serves as a Superior Court Judge in Judicial District 14B. He is a longtime resident of Durham and has served on the court since 2011. O’Foghludha practiced for 23 years with Pulley, Watson, King, & Lischer, where he was managing partner, and has also served as a solo practitioner, assistant public defender, and staff attorney with East Central Community Legal Services. He is a graduate of Duke University (1978) and the University of North Carolina School of Law (1982).
Judge Teresa H. Vincent serves as Chief District Court Judge in the 18th Judicial District (Guilford County). She has served on the court since 2001, and in 2019 became the first African American woman in the county to serve as chief judge when Chief Justice Cheri Beasley appointed her to that position. Prior to becoming a judge, Vincent served seven years as an assistant district attorney. She is a graduate of North Carolina Central University (1988) and North Carolina Central University School of Law (1993).
Dean Jane Aiken serves as dean of Wake Forest University School of Law, a position she has held since 2019. She came to Wake Forest Law from Georgetown, where she was the Blume Professor of Law, and has also served on the faculty at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, the University of South Carolina School of Law and Arizona State University College of Law. Aiken is a graduate of Hollins College (B.A.), Georgetown University (LL.M.) and New York University School of Law (J.D.)
Two-year term
Ken Carroll is a partner in Morningstar Law Group in Raleigh, where he is a mergers and acquisitions lawyer representing buyers and sellers in acquisitions, divestitures and mergers ranging in size from $100,000 to over $750,000,000. He practiced with Womble Carlyle for more than 25 years before co-founding Morningstar Law Group in 2012, and is a past chair of the NCBA Business Law Section. Carroll is a graduate of Wake Forest University (1982) and Wake Forest University School of Law (1985).
DIVISION CHAIRS
The chairs of the Young Lawyers Division and the Senior Lawyers Division serve on the NCBA Board of Governors, the NCBF Board of Directors, and the Executive Committee of both entities.
Young Lawyers Division
Kristen M. Kirby is a partner with McGuireWoods in Raleigh, where her practice focuses on public finance transactions. In 2020-21 she is serving as chair of the Young Lawyers Division, where she has held numerous leadership positions throughout her career. Kirby is a graduate of Duke University (2005), and in 2009 received an MBA with distinction from Wake Forest University and the juris doctor, cum laude, from Wake Forest University School of Law.
Senior Lawyers Division
Rhoda B. Billings of Lewisville is serving as chair of the Senior Lawyers Division in 2020-21. She is a former chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court and past president of the NCBA and NCBF. Billings is a graduate of Berea College and Wake Forest University School of Law (1966), where she graduated first in her class and served for many years on the faculty. Billings has received the highest honors presented by Wake Forest University (Medallion of Merit) and the NCBA (John J. Parker Award).
This article is part of the August 2020 issue of North Carolina Lawyer. Access a curated view of NC Lawyer or view the table of contents.