Trailblazer Awards Dinner Honors Catharine Arrowood

May 22, 2026

On May 7, 2026, the NCBA Women in the Profession (WIP) Committee hosted the second annual Women in the Law Trailblazer Awards Dinner.

The Trailblazer Award for Women in Law recognizes accomplished women who have demonstrated excellence in their areas of practice, unending professionalism and the persistent promotion and protection of other women in the legal profession.

This year’s recipient was Catharine Arrowood, retired of counsel in Parker Poe’s Raleigh office and a pioneer in North Carolina’s legal community.

Arrowood began her career being told “girls can’t try cases” and went on to become a bet-the-company litigator, the first female partner at Parker Poe and one of the first female chairs of an executive committee at a major law firm in the Southeast.

In her legal practice, she litigated and arbitrated for both large and small businesses, with a focus on resolving problems that threatened the viability of a company. Her clients have included educational institutions, utilities, insurance companies, accounting and law firms, health care and biotech firms, banks and commercial aerospace companies.

Arrowood served as president of NCBA and the Wake County Bar Association. She has also served on numerous boards throughout her career, including the North Carolina Symphony Society, DirectWomen, UNC Rex Healthcare and the North Carolina Community Foundation.

The awards and recognition she has received for her enduring impact on clients, the legal profession and the broader community include the Hal J. Pos Award, the highest honor given by TerraLex; the Amicus Curiae Award from the chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court; the Advocate’s Award from the NCBA Litigation Section; induction into the inaugural class of the North Carolina Lawyers Hall of Fame; and the inaugural Parker Poe Women’s Achievement Award, which has since been named in her honor and recognizes the achievements of women in the legal profession each year.

The Trailblazer Awards event took place at Whitaker & Atlantic and consisted of a cocktail hour, dinner and a ceremony featuring remarks from WIP Committee Chair Lauren Snyder, Past WIP Committee Chair Manisha Patel, Awards Committee Co-Chair Judge Christine Walczyk and WIP Committee Co-Chair Laurie Helms.

Justice Allison Riggs was the keynote speaker for the night. She spent 14 years as a civil rights and voting rights attorney at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice in Durham, eventually serving as the co-executive director for programs and chief counsel for voting rights. Justice Riggs has served on the North Carolina Supreme Court since Gov. Cooper appointed her in 2023.

Diamond sponsors Wyrick Robbins, Lawyers Mutual Liability Insurance Co. of NC, Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP and Executive Legal; platinum sponsor Fox Rothschild; gold sponsors Robinson Bradshaw and Womble Bond Dickinson; and bronze sponsors Law Office of Manisha P. Patel, PLLC and King Law Offices helped make this event possible.

Learn more about the efforts of the Women in the Profession Committee. View more event photos on the NCBA Facebook album.