Lawyers In The News

Frederick S. Barbour, Susan S. Barbour and Curtis W. Euler have joined the Asheville firm of McGuire, Wood & Bissette. The Barbours have practiced law together since graduating from law school at UNC in 1984. Their firm, Barbour & Barbour, also included Euler, a Washington & Lee law grad….

Frank Hirsch, the second partner in Hunton & Williams’ Charlotte office, has become general counsel to Centura Bank. His new office is in Rocky Mount….

Robin Neil Rhodes has relocated his practice to the office of W.E. “Pot” Craft in Kenansville….

The Hickory firm of Sigmon, Clark, Mackie, Hutton & Hanvey has renovated the former Elbert Ivy Memorial Library for its new offices….

Goldsboro lawyer Rose Vaughn Williams was appointed by Gov. Jim Hunt to serve on the state Board of Elections. A UNC law grad, she is a partner in the law firm of Dees, Smith, Powell, Jarrett, Dees & Jones, where she concentrates on personal injury and workers’ comp. On the board of the Wayne County Boys and Girls Club, Williams is also president of the 8th Judicial District Bar. She is the daughter of the late Assoc. Justice Earl W. Vaughn of Eden….

Add Orange County to the list of courts that have a Web site. The address is aoc.state.nc.us/district15b/orange/….

Johnson Tilghman is the new president of Harnett County’s Committee of 100, an organization involved in business and industrial development….

Lillington attorney David Hartley was honored as the pro bono attorney of the year by East Central Community Legal Services at a meeting of the Harnett County Bar Association. Other Harnett County lawyers recognized for their work with needy clients are Brent Adams, Al Bain, Christopher Carr, James Davidson, Rebecca J. Davidson, Charlene Edwards, Rhonda Ennis, Holt Felmet, Randolph Doffermyre III, David Hartley, James Johnson, William G. Johnson, Cecil Bo Jones, Jesse Jones, Robert H. Jones, Reginald Kelly, J. Michael McLeod, Ray Pleasant, Reba Smith, Dwight Snow, Pat Pope, John Tart, Joseph Tart, Douglas Turner, Thomas West, Heather Williams and Henry Willis Jr….

Two partners in the Greensboro firm of Adams Kleemeier Hagan Hannah & Fouts have been appointed to leadership roles in professional groups. William M. Wilcox IV was installed as president of the Piedmont Chapter of NCACPA and chair-elect of the tax section of the North Carolina Bar Association, and D. Beth Langley was named vice-chair of the NCBA’S labor and employment section. Wilcox’s principal practice areas are taxation, corporate law and employee benefits. Langley focuses on employment, immigraton, civil rights and consumer law. Both are Wake Forest law grads, and Langley is an adjunct professor of law there….

Andrew H.D. Wilson has become a partner in the Greenville firm now named Barber & Wilson….

Fayetteville lawyer Marshall Pitt accepted the Business of the Year Award from the Fayetteville Business and Professional League on behalf of the Pitt Firm….

After more than three years as an assistant DA, Heather Baker has left the prosecutor’s office to join Haire, Bridgers & Ridenour in Sylva. The UNC law graduate will handle criminal, civil, social security, workers’ comp, real estate and domestic cases with her new firm….

Morganton lawyer Bob Byrd was the speaker for the Burke County Historical Society recently, where his topic focused on the history of Burke County court systems, and the location and general structure of the five courthouses that have been built there. Himself the past president of the society, Byrd told of past courthouse dramas including the trial of Frankie Silver thought by many to be the inspiration for the blues song “Frankie and Johnny,” and the dramatic shooting inside the courthouse of a Burnsville merchant by then practicing attorney, William Waightstille Avery. Drawing heavily on Sam J. Ervin’s book, Burke County Courthouses and Related Matters, Byrd outlined the history of the courthouses that have served the county since its formation. According to Byrd, the third courthouse, built on a square cut out of a 230-acre tract, drew the town first known as Morgansborough, then Morgan, and now Morganton to it. A fourth courthouse on the same site was begun around 1830, and continued to serve until the mid 1970s when a new one was built not far away….

The North Carolina Symphony has elected Henry Mitchell vice-chair of its board of directors. He is a partner in the Raleigh firm of Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell and Jernigan….

Wood Lay has been made partner at Hunton & Williams in Charlotte. With the firm since 1992, he is with the firm’s labor and employment group….

Shelby attorney Charlie Horn has taken the oath as the newest District Judge in Cleveland and Lincoln counties. The son of a lawyer, Horn had intended to be a farmer, not a lawyer. When the boll weevil cut short his career in agriculture, Horn served a two-year stint in the Army. After that he enrolled at Wake Forest, where he earned both his bachelor’s and law degrees. He began practice in Shelby in 1961 and plied the legal profession for nearly four decades before donning the robes….