Local angle: Charlotte, Greensboro

School of Law to honor graduates with awards for achievement

CHAPEL HILL -- Three University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law graduates have been selected to receive alumni awards.

The School of Law will honor Francis I. Parker and Sarah Parker, both of Charlotte, with the 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award, and Kearns Davis of Greensboro with the 2003 Outstanding Recent Graduate Award at the Annual Law Alumni Banquet, to be held today (Oct. 3) in Chapel Hill.

The awards are given annually by the Carolina Law Alumni Association, which supports the mission of the law school by encouraging involvement of alumni in activities such as alumni affairs, fund-raising, and public and student relations. Its board governs the School of Law’s private foundation.

The Distinguished Alumni Award was established in 1981 to recognize School of Law graduates who have demonstrated excellence in the practice of law, served honorably as members of the judiciary or other elected or appointed office, or exemplified in other respects the high ideals of the legal profession.

The Outstanding Recent Graduate Award was established in 2002 by the Carolina Law Alumni Association’s board to honor recent graduates for their extraordinary contributions to the legal profession, society or the School of Law.

A native North Carolinian, Francis I. Parker graduated from UNC in 1945 and the School of Law in 1949. Following graduation from law school, he served in the military until 1953, when he returned to Charlotte to begin his legal career. During his 50 years of practicing law, Parker has been a highly visible figure in the Charlotte legal community and known for his personal integrity, exceptional professional competence and dedication to the service of professional, governmental and community organizations.

Parker has remained active in many organizations throughout his career, including the Mecklenburg County Bar, where he served as president; the Legal Aid Society, also serving as president; and, perhaps best known, as member and president of the Board of Law Examiners of the State of North Carolina from 1972-1986. In 1986, Parker joined the N.C. Supreme Court as an associate justice. He maintains membership in the American Bar Association, the N.C. Bar Association and the N.C. State Bar, and he is a member of the American Law Institute.

Sarah Parker received a bachelor of arts degree in English from UNC in 1962 and her law degree in 1969. After graduation, she volunteered with the Peace Corps in Ankara, Turkey, from 1964-66. Upon returning to the United States, she went into private practice in Charlotte until 1984, when she was appointed to the N.C. Court of Appeals. She served on the Court of Appeals until she was elected to the N.C. Supreme Court in November 1992, where she continues to preside as an associate justice.

Parker remains active in the American Bar Association; the N.C. Bar Association, where she served as vice president from 1987-1988; the Wake County Bar Association; the Mecklenburg County Bar Association, where she was secretary-treasury from 1982-1984; the N.C. Association of Women Attorneys; the National Association of Women Judges; and the Institute of Judicial Administration. In 1997, Parker received the Distinguished Woman of North Carolina Award and, in 2002, was named Judge of the Year by the N.C. Association of Women Attorneys.

Davis graduated with honors from the School of Law in 1995, where he served as managing editor of the North Carolina Law Review and Honor Court chief justice. From 1995-1996, Davis clerked for Sam J. Ervin III, chief judge of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal. Following his clerkship, Davis entered private practice with the firm Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP, where he was soon named partner. In 2003, he was appointed as assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina.

He is a member of the executive council for the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division, chair-elect for the N.C. Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division, and active with the Greensboro Bar Association, the Guilford Inn of Court, the Christian Legal Society and the National Football League Players Association. Davis also serves on the Carolina Law Alumni Association board of directors.

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School of Law contact: Audrey Ward, (919) 962-4125