A Greensboro lawyer, working in collaboration with a retired U.S. District Court Judge, has organized a Middle District chapter of the Federal Bar Association. The chapter’s inaugural event will be a dinner on October 4.
Kearns Davis, who is an attorney at Brooks Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, learned about the Federal Bar Association during his practice as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District from 2003 to 2007. After leaving government practice, Davis had the idea that the Middle District would benefit from a local chapter. “Most importantly is to have a place for federal practitioners to get together outside of the courtroom,” said Davis, who specializes in white-collar criminal defense work. “A place where judges and attorneys from both sides of the aisle can meet. The mission is to foster the collegiality and professionalism that have long distinguished our district.”
Soon after contacting the national office of the Federal Bar Association in 2007, Davis conferred with retired judge Frank Bullock about establishing a local chapter. “We met for lunch and began discussing the idea of forming an organizing committee,” said Davis. The organizing committee consists of federal practitioners from across the Middle District, including Greensboro lawyers, Julianna Theall of Smith Moore Leatherwood, Dixie Wells of Ellis & Winters, John Brubaker, Clerk of Court, and Judge Bullock.
The Federal Bar Association, which has been in existence for many years, is based out of the Washington, D.C. area and is focused on government attorneys, judges and lawyers who practice within the federal courts. The association’s mission is to strengthen the federal legal system and administration of justice by serving the federal and private practitioner, the federal judiciary, and the public they serve. Membership is open to any person admitted to the practice of law before a federal court or a court of record in any of the states or in the District of Columbia.
Davis said the Middle District received its charter as a local chapter in January 2010. The Western District of North Carolina received a charter in 2009. Currently, there is no Eastern District chapter.
The Chapter’s Inaugural Banquet and CLE will be October 4 at the Embassy Suites in Greensboro. The Honorable James A. Beaty, Jr., Chief United States District Judge, will deliver keynote remarks. For more information about the Federal Bar Association or the Middle District Chapter, go to http://www.fedbar.org/
To join the Federal Bar Association, and to join the local Chapter at no additional cost, go to www.fedbar.org and follow the links.
To join the Federal Bar Association, and to join the local Chapter at no additional cost, go to www.fedbar.org and follow the links.
