News & Resources Katherine Wiggins Fisher elected to NCBA Board of Governors

October 24, 2017

By N.C. Bar Association
June 24, 2017

Seven new members of the North Carolina Bar Association Board of Governors were elected by acclamation on Saturday, June 24, at the 2017 NCBA Annual Meeting in Asheville.

Their terms will run from 2017-20.

Changes to the NCBA Bylaws were also approved unanimously during the Saturday morning General Session.

Elected to three-year terms on the Board of Governors were:

John C. Bircher III of New Bern. He is a shareholder and partner with White & Allen, where he has practiced since 2006. Bircher previously practiced with the Hunter Bircher and Stubbs Perdue firms, and concentrates his practice on bankruptcy law. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Campbell Law School.

Damon T. Duncan of Greensboro. Duncan has been a partner and member with Duncan Law since 2009. He concentrates his practice on bankruptcy law and workers’ compensation. Duncan has served as an adjunct professor at Elon University School of Law, from which he graduated, and Guilford Technical Community College. He also earned his bachelor’s degree from Elon.

Theodore C. “Ted” Edwards II of Durham. Edwards is a principal in The Banks Law Firm, which he joined in 2015, and previously practiced with Smith Moore Leatherwood and Kilpatrick Stockton (now Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.) Edwards is a former chair of the Young Lawyers Division, and a graduate of Duke University and Duke University School of Law.

Katherine Wiggins Fisher of Rocky Mount. Fisher is a partner and shareholder with Battle Winslow Scott & Wiley, which she joined in 2000 after practicing law in High Point, and focuses her practice on family law. Fisher is a 2017 recipient of the NCBA’s Citizen Lawyer Award. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Campbell Law School.

Howard L. Gum of Asheville. Gum co-founded Gum and Hillier and has been with the firm, now known as Gum, Hillier & McCroskey, since 1979. He has served two terms as chair of the NCBA Family Law Section and the N.C. Board of Legal Specialization annually presents the Howard L. Gum Service Award in his honor. Gum is a graduate of Bradley University and the College of Law at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Robert E. Harrington of Charlotte. Harrington is a partner (shareholder) with Robinson Bradshaw, where he has practice since 1999. He is a past president of the Mecklenburg County Bar and previous recipient of the NCBA’s Citizen Lawyer Award. Harrington is a graduate of Duke University and Duke University School of Law.

Tamara J. Stringer of Charlotte. Stringer serves as general counsel with the Insurance Division of BB&T, where she has worked since 2008. She is a past chair of the NCBA Corporate Counsel Section. Stringer is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and the Washington College of Law at The American University.

The NCBA’s new vice presidents were elected by the Board of Governors in April and joined the new board members in taking office on Sunday morning, June 25, during the orientation meeting.

Judge Julian Mann III, director and chief administrative law judge in the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings, was elected to a two-year at-large position. Judge Mann has served on the court since 1989 and previously engaged in private practice with Green & Mann and Gulley & Green. He is a past chair of the ABA Judicial Division’s National Conference of the Administrative Law Judiciary and past chair of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary. Judge Mann is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Cumberland School of Law, Samford University.

New vice presidents who will serve one-year terms are:

Judge Richard A. Elmore of the N.C. Court of Appeals. Judge Elmore has served on the court since 2003 after engaging in private practice from 1982 to 2002. He previously served on the Guilford County Planning Board and the Guilford County Board of Elections. He is a graduate of Guilford College and North Carolina Central University School of Law.

Superior Court Judge Richard L. Doughton of Sparta. Judge Doughton has served as a special Superior Court judge since 1997. He engaged in private practice in Sparta from 1971 to 1997, and in 2016 was recognized with the NCBA’s Citizen Lawyer Award. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University School of Law.

Wake County Chief District Court Judge Robert B. Rader of Raleigh. Judge Rader was appointed to the District Court bench in 1994 and has served as chief judge since 2007, and is a past president of N.C. Association of District Court Judges. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University and Campbell Law School.

Richard E. Myers II, Henry Brandis Distinguished Professor of Law, UNC School of Law. He joined the UNC Law School faculty in 2004 following service as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Central District of California and the Eastern District of N.C. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and is a graduate of UNC School of Law.
The new vice presidents and members of the Board of Governors will also serve on the North Carolina Bar Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Caryn Coppedge McNeill of Raleigh is the newly installed president of the NCBA and Jackie Grant of Asheville is the new president-elect. Kearns Davis of Greensboro now serves on the Board of Governors as the immediate past president.