,

NCBA Legal Practice Hall of Fame Inducts 8 New Members

The 37th induction class of the North Carolina Bar Association Legal Practice Hall of Fame was enshrined on Friday, Oct. 17, at the Carolina Club in Chapel Hill.

The induction ceremony coincided with the fall meeting of the NCBA Senior Lawyers Division, led by Chair Dan Hartzog. Access photos from the ceremony here.

The Class of 2025 inductees are:

Hall of Fame inductees from left to right: Wm. Michael Begley, John L. Pinnix, Vasiliki “Celia” A. Pistolis, Glenn A. Barfield, Donna Rascoe, Daniel F. McLawhorn and William K. Davis (Janet Ward Black not pictured).

The Hall of Fame was established in 1989 by the NCBA General Practice Section and now includes 202 members. The NCBA Senior Lawyers Division has solicited nominations and selected the inductees since 2019, at which time the General Practice Hall of Fame was renamed.

The Legal Practice Hall of Fame recognizes outstanding lawyers whose careers have served as models for other lawyers, exhibited the highest standards of ethics and professional competency throughout their practice, and have rendered a high level of service to the bar and to their communities.

The following biographical information on each of this year’s inductees was derived from their member focuses, all of which are linked above to read more.

Glenn A. Barfield earned his juris doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the senior member of the firm Haithcock Barfield Hulse & King PLLC in Goldsboro. He has maintained a general law practice for more than 38 years and regularly handles business transactions and litigation, estate and land disputes, cases involving funds of money, debt defense and collection, landlord-tenant disputes, personal injury and wrongful death, education law, employment matters and general civil litigation in all courts, from trial through appeal.

Barfield serves as general counsel for a charter school and the area electric membership cooperative. In criminal court, he has represented defendants in every sort of matter, from traffic tickets to sitting first chair in capital murder litigation, through jury trials and appeals. He still maintains a limited criminal defense practice.

He is a past chair, founding board member and past president of Legal Aid of North Carolina. Barfield serves as pro bono general counsel for Wayne Opportunity Center Inc. and the Goldsboro-Wayne County Arts Council. In 2003, the NCBA presented him with the William L. Thorpe Award for Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year.

Wm. Michael Begley has been dedicated to community engagement, elected public service and professional guidance throughout his life. He has strived to be a servant leader through seven years as an alderman, 13 years as mayor of Black Mountain and many years as an elder and clerk of session at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church. He has served as chair of the Asheville Urban Area Transportation Commission and as a board member of the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina and the Montreat Development Foundation. He also co-founded the Black Mountain – Swannanoa Valley Community Endowment Fund and the Black Mountain Counseling Center.

Begley received his law degree from the UNC School of Law. He practiced law at Brock, Begley & Drye in Asheville before founding Begley Law Firm in 1985 in his hometown of Black Mountain. While serving on the board of the Real Property Section Council, he chaired committees on the unauthorized practice of law and on establishing uniform statewide computer indexing standards for land records.

Janet Ward Black is a graduate of Duke University School of Law and the owner of Ward Black Law in Greensboro, one of North Carolina’s largest woman-owned law firms. Her firm’s mission statement is “seek justice, give generously, love lavishly.” Since 2013, the firm has donated 10% of its gross revenue to nonprofits.

She has been a leader in several prominent legal organizations, serving as the third woman president of the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers (now NCAJ) in 2002-03 and the fourth woman to hold the presidency of the North Carolina Bar Association in 2007-08. During her NCBA presidency, she pioneered the widely recognized 4ALL program, which has helped raise an endowment of more than $3.1 million through the N.C. Bar Foundation to address educational debt for lawyers working with Legal Aid of North Carolina.

The first female assistant district attorney in Rowan and Cabarrus counties, Black has mentored and inspired many women and girls throughout her career. She has spoken for 35 years at Tar Heel Girls State on “The Legal System and Law as a Career for Women.” Black served as Miss North Carolina 1980 and won a Grand Talent Award at the Miss America pageant that year. She currently serves as vice chair of the board of Legal Aid of North Carolina, the state’s largest provider of free legal services to low-income residents.

William K. Davis is a graduate of Wake Forest University School of Law. From 1961 to 1963, he served as an officer in the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America® since 1991, was named Lawyer of the Year in 2019 in Bet-the-Company Litigation by Best Lawyers and was recognized as North Carolina’s Best in Litigation in Business North Carolina magazine’s Legal Elite in 2006.

Davis has held several leadership positions throughout his career, including president of the North Carolina State Bar, president of the Wake Forest Law Alumni Association and president and founding member of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys. His leadership accomplishments don’t stop there. He has been a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, chair of the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners, on which he served for 14 years, and a trustee of Davidson College. Davis has also served on the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission (1990-96) and in the American Bar Association House of Delegates (1988-92).

Daniel F. McLawhorn was admitted to practice in 1974 following his graduation from UNC School of Law. After a year in private practice, he began his public service career as an assistant district attorney. In 1976, he was selected as chair of the Legal Department of the N.C. Justice Academy. Three years later, he joined the Attorney General’s Office as head of the Administrative Law Section.

He joined the Environmental Law Section in 1980 and, in 1985, became part of the newly created Special Litigation Section as its first environmental attorney. McLawhorn continued with the Attorney General’s Office until 1998, when he was appointed general counsel of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He completed his career in state government in 2003 after three years implementing the Master Tobacco Settlement. His environmental practice involved cases related to the public trust doctrine, separation of powers and the constitutionality of the Water Supply Watershed Protection Act. He also represented the Attorney General in the 1985 negotiation to revise the Administrative Procedure Act.

McLawhorn served as chair of three sections and two committees for the NCBA and was a member of the Board of Governors from 2008 to 2011. He received the Outstanding Government and Public Sector Attorney Award in 2006 and the Administrative Law Section Award of Excellence in 2020.

McLawhorn joined the Raleigh City Attorney’s Office in 2003 as its first environmental law specialist. He was an active participant in the National Clean Water Association and received its Clean Water Advocate Award in 2023. He also served as chair of the Lower Neuse Basin Association and the Neuse River Compliance Association for 11 years and continues to serve as counsel to both. After retiring from the city in 2020, McLawhorn opened a solo practice to continue work on nutrient problems affecting Falls Lake and the Neuse Estuary.

John L. Pinnix earned his juris doctor from Wake Forest University. Jack and his lifelong friend Noel Allen established the Raleigh-based law firm Allen & Pinnix P.A., later transitioning their general practice to the emerging field of immigration and nationality law in 1979 — becoming among the first attorneys in North Carolina to limit their practice to this area.

He is one of seven founding organizers of the Carolinas Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and served twice as chapter chair. A board-certified immigration specialist, Pinnix was a member of the State Bar’s Immigration Law Specialty Committee inaugural class.

He also served as AILA national president, the first president installed after 9/11, and on its Board of Governors for more than 30 years. His tenure coincided with the abolition of the INS and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, which included three new immigration agencies: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

Pinnix is a member of the American Immigration Council. He has served as an adjunct professor at North Carolina Central University School of Law and Elon University School of Law, as well as a senior lecturing fellow at Duke University School of Law.

Vasiliki “Celia” A. Pistolis received her juris doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the chief legal officer and general counsel for Legal Aid of North Carolina Inc., where she oversees the firm’s legal work of approximately 225 lawyers. Under her direction, LANC’s multiple appellate teams pursue 10 to 12 appeals annually. She has been with LANC and its predecessors since 1983.

In addition to her legal work, Pistolis has been an adjunct professor of law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central University School of Law. She has served as chair of the Equal Justice Alliance, the collaborative planning and coordination council of providers of civil legal assistance in North Carolina. She has also served as an advisory member of the N.C. State Bar’s Authorized Practice Committee.

Pistolis is an active member of the N.C. Bar Association, serving on its Pro Bono and Professional Vitality committees, and has participated in 4ALL since its inception. In 2001, the NCBA recognized Pistolis as its Outstanding Legal Services Attorney of the Year, and in 2012, the UNC Law Alumni Association presented her with its Distinguished Alumnus Award — the first legal services attorney to receive the honor.

Donna Rascoe received her juris doctor from the University of North Carolina in 1993. A former teacher and school administrator, she practices education law, serving clients throughout North Carolina. Rascoe provides comprehensive legal counsel to public and private schools, charter schools, educators and school administrators. Her practice encompasses a broad range of education law matters, including student rights and discipline, employment and labor issues for school personnel, Title IX investigations and compliance, school board governance and policy development, charter school law, civil rights and discrimination claims, special education and FERPA and student privacy.

Throughout her career, Rascoe has represented clients in state and federal courts, before administrative agencies and in mediation and other alternative dispute resolution processes. She is recognized for her practical solutions, strategic guidance and client-focused approach that prioritizes both legal compliance and educational excellence.