Post by Bornthrilla on Jun 24, 2007 17:32:02 GMT -5
N.C. Bar Association elects first black male president
The Associated Press
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The North Carolina Bar Association yesterday elected a Raleigh attorney to lead the group, the first black male attorney to serve as its president.
Charles L. Becton, of Durham, will assume the year-long post in June 2008.
"I simply see this as a tremendous opportunity," Becton said in a statement. "I intend to work hard whether I am the first or the 114th to be a role model to all in the legal profession without regard to race or gender or anything else."
Becton graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1969, and has practiced law with the firm of Becton, Slifkin & Bell since 1990.
He served on the N.C. Court of Appeals from 1981-1990 and was named N.C. Appellate Judge of the Year in 1985.
As president-elect, Becton will serve as chairman of the association's finance committee until assuming the president's job next year.
He'll replace Greensboro attorney Janet Ward Black as the group's 114th president. Judge Allyson K. Duncan of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals became the first black leader of the association in 2003.
Black was sworn in Saturday, also during the association's annual meeting. Her priorities include promoting civil legal services to the poor through a program Black has established called 4ALL, according to a news release.
The Associated Press
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The North Carolina Bar Association yesterday elected a Raleigh attorney to lead the group, the first black male attorney to serve as its president.
Charles L. Becton, of Durham, will assume the year-long post in June 2008.
"I simply see this as a tremendous opportunity," Becton said in a statement. "I intend to work hard whether I am the first or the 114th to be a role model to all in the legal profession without regard to race or gender or anything else."
Becton graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1969, and has practiced law with the firm of Becton, Slifkin & Bell since 1990.
He served on the N.C. Court of Appeals from 1981-1990 and was named N.C. Appellate Judge of the Year in 1985.
As president-elect, Becton will serve as chairman of the association's finance committee until assuming the president's job next year.
He'll replace Greensboro attorney Janet Ward Black as the group's 114th president. Judge Allyson K. Duncan of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals became the first black leader of the association in 2003.
Black was sworn in Saturday, also during the association's annual meeting. Her priorities include promoting civil legal services to the poor through a program Black has established called 4ALL, according to a news release.
