Former Raleigh city attorney wins Grainger Barrett Award

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A Raleigh city attorney received an award for excellence during a recent North Carolina Bar Association Government & Public Sector meeting.

Thomas A. McCormick Jr. was given the Grainger Barrett Award for Excellence at the annual meeting on April 12 at the North Carolina Bar Center.

Section Chair Nicolette Fulton presented the award, and she, along with Dan McLawhorn and Hunt Choi nominated McCormick who retired a year ago.

McCormick graduated from UNC and the UNC School of Law, before serving as the city attorney for Raleigh for 40 years.

He served as a board chair for the Centennial Authority and as a member of the City of Oaks Foundation, the International Municipal Lawyers Association and the N.C. League of Municipalities. He’s also previously served as a member of the NCBA’s Construction Law, Litigation and Government & Public Sector sections and the Senior Lawyers Division.

“Tom McCormick has served as the City Attorney for the City of Raleigh … in the role of friend, mentor, or colleague to nearly each attorney walking down the growing corridor he helped create,” his nominators said in a statement.

Under his leadership, the Raleigh City Attorney’s Office grew from a three-person office to a 15-person firm.

“Tom was the soul of the City Attorney’s Office. He encouraged professional development and community service by all employees, as is evident by the myriad of titles and awards by Raleigh City Attorney’s Office employees; their achievements are his achievements,” his colleagues from the City Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

McCormick received the award which honors “an outstanding government or public sector attorney as an exemplar of the excellence, dedication and passion for justice of North Carolina’s government and public sector attorneys,” the NCBA said in their announcement.