Recognition
Recognition is a regular feature for NCBA members in NC Lawyer magazine. To submit notices, please email Russell Rawlings.
Three NCBA members have been selected to receive UNC School of Law Alumni Association Awards: Doris R. Bray (above, left) of Schell Bray in Greensboro will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award; The Hon. Robert “Bob” C. Hunter (above, center) of Marion, formerly of the N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals and presently of the Supreme Court of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award; and Brooks F. Jaffa (above, right) of Cranford, Buckley, Schultze, Tomchin, Allen & Buie in Charlotte will receive the Outstanding Recent Graduate Award.
Nana Asante-Smith of Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein in Raleigh has been chosen as a 2020 recipient of the Duke Alumni Association’s Beyond Duke Service and Leadership Award. Asante-Smith serves as president of the N.C. Association of Black Lawyers and is a member of the State Bar Grievance Committee and the N.C Judicial Council.
Fitz E. Barringer of Robinson Bradshaw in Charlotte received the Outstanding Individual Attorney Award at the 2020 Mecklenburg County Bar Pro Bono Awards. The award recognizes extraordinary pro bono legal services for people, children or nonprofits in need.
Amber Duncan of Williams Mullen in Raleigh has been recognized as one of 100 Women Who Inspire Us by the American Bar Association. She was honored at the 2019 ABA Women in Litigation Joint CLE Conference in Chicago in November.
Niya Fonville, newly appointed Director of Externships at Campbell Law School, has been recognized as the Young Alumna of the Year by Salem College in Winston-Salem. Fonville, who previously served as Associate Director of Career & Professional Development at the law school, will be honored during Reunion Weekend 2021.
Jason B. James of Bell, Davis & Pitt in Charlotte has been inducted into the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, a professional association of alternative dispute resolution professionals. He is the only member inducted this year from North Carolina.
James T. Johnson of DeMent Askew & Johnson in Raleigh has been granted Fellowship to the Litigation Counsel of America, an honorary society whose invitation-only membership is limited to 3,500 Fellows nationwide.
Judge David C. Keesler of Charlotte has been reappointed to a third eight-year term as a United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. He is a past president of the Federal Magistrate Judges Association.
JD Keister of McAngus Goudelock & Courie (MGC) in Charlotte has been named one of three deans of the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance School of Litigation Management, which educates claims professionals from all lines of business in the property casualty arena.
Jonathan Krisko of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson in Charlotte has accepted an invitation to join the International Association of Defense Counsel, an invitation-only global legal organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance interests.
John Nunnally of Ragsdale Liggett in Raleigh has been named a member of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, whose limited membership is by nomination only.
Sophia Pappalardo of Wake Forest University School of Law has been chosen as the recipient of the 2020 Smith Anderson Pro Bono Award for Exceptional Service in recognition of outstanding pro bono service to the community.
Kelvin Dwayne Smith of the Law Office of Kelvin D. Smith in Greensboro has been elected president of the Guilford County Association of Black Lawyers.
Ted Smyth of Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog (CSH Law) in Raleigh, founding chair of the NCBA Insurance Law Section, has been accepted as a Fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel, an invitation-only organization of senior lawyers who have devoted most of their practice to insurance disputes.
Kirk Warner of Smith Anderson in Raleigh has been admitted as a Fellow to the American College of Trial Lawyers, an invitation-only association of trial lawyers from the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Mary McHugh Webb of Ragsdale Liggett in Raleigh is one of the first lawyers in the country to earn the Certified Litigation Management Professional certification from the Claims & Litigation Management Institute.
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.