The Honorable Catherine C. Eagles, United States District Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina, will deliver Elon University School of Law's 2013 Commencement address on May 25.
One hundred and twenty-three Elon Law students will receive the Juris Doctor degree at the ceremonies, which will be held on Saturday, May 25, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. “Under the Oaks” at Elon University in Elon, N.C.
Judge Eagles has served as United States District Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina since December 23, 2010, following her nomination by President Barack Obama on March 10, 2010 and her confirmation by the United States Senate on December 16, 2010. Previously, Judge Eagles was Senior Resident Superior Court Judge of the North Carolina Superior Court, 18th Judicial District, from 2006 to 2010. She was Resident Judge of that court from 1993 to 2005. Judge Eagles was appointed to the bench in 1993 by Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. She was elected in 1994 and re-elected in 1996 and 2004.
From 1984 to 1993, Judge Eagles was a civil litigator with the firm now known as Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she became a partner in 1990. From 1982 to 1984, Judge Eagles was a clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, first as a staff attorney in St. Louis, Missouri, and then for Circuit Judge J. Smith Henley in Harrison, Arkansas. She received her J.D. in 1982 from the National Law Center at George Washington University and her B.A. in 1979 from Rhodes College. Judge Eagles is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Order of the Coif.
Judge Eagles is an alumnus of the National Judicial College, having completed the following areas of study: Advanced Evidence, Financial Statements in the Courtroom, General Jurisdiction, and Judicial Education. She was a member of the North Carolina Conference of Superior Court Judges from 1993 to 2010, where she served as chair of the Education Committee from 2005 to 2010. She has been a member of the North Carolina Bar Association and the Greensboro Bar Association since 1984.
Judge Eagles served as a member of the Advisory Board for the North Carolina Judicial College from 2005 to 2010. She is a member of the Joseph Branch Inn of Court and the Guilford Inn of Court.
Judge Eagles served as a member of the Board of Directors for the University of North Carolina School of Government Foundation from 2004 to 2010, for which she served as vice-chair from 2006 to 2010. Her additional professional service includes: member, North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, 1993-present; Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism, 2000-2003; Dispute Resolution Committee of the North Carolina Judicial Council, 2000-2005; member and vice-chair, North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission, 1997-2001.
A regular speaker at continuing legal education seminars and continuing judicial education programs, Eagles is co-author of North Carolina Evidentiary Foundations (2nd Edition)(2006) and was associate editor of Tort and Insurance Journal, published by the American Bar Association Tort and Insurance Practice Section (1992 – 1994).
Judge Eagles is the recipient of the Gwyneth P. Davis Public Service Award, presented by the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, the Trial Judge of the Year award, presented by North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, the J. William Fulbright Distinguished Public Service Award, presented by George Washington Law Alumni Association, and an honoree of the Elon University School of Law Women’s Law Association.
Information about Elon University School of Law’s 2013 Commencement ceremonies is available here.