The North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA) has selected Elon Law's Leary Davis to become the 32nd recipient of the Judge John J. Parker award.
Presented to leaders in the legal profession who exemplify service, leadership, passion, and devotion to jurisprudence in North Carolina, the Judge John J. Parker award is the NCBA’s highest award and is only awarded as merited, with 31 recipients honored since the award’s creation 50 years ago in 1959.
Past recipients include former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justices James G. Exum, Jr. and Henry Frye, both of whom currently serve as members of the Elon University Law School Advisory Board, and civil rights pioneer Julius Chambers, who delivered Elon Law’s Diversity Day address in 2008.
Davis joins this elite group as the 32nd recipient of the Parker award. He was selected based on his outstanding contributions to the legal community in North Carolina and beyond.
Davis has been actively involved throughout his career in the American Bar Association, North Carolina Bar Association, and The North Carolina State Bar, in community and statewide civic projects, and in extensive research concerning the state of the legal profession. He was a member of the Governor’s Commission on the Future of North Carolina and a founding board member of BarCARES of North Carolina. He is currently a member of the North Carolina Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism and the American Judicature Society’s National Advisory Committee.
Davis was appointed Founding Dean of Elon University School of Law in March 2005.
Davis’ leadership and service to North Carolina has been “incalculable” according to the NCBA.
The award will be presented to Davis during the NCBA Annual Meeting held next month in Asheville, NC.