By Paul B. Taylor

Each year, beginning in January, the North Carolina Bar Association Professionalism Committee reviews nominations for the H. Brent McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award and recommends an awardee to the Board of Governors. The award is announced publicly and given to the awardee at the North Carolina Bar Association annual meeting in June.

The NCBA H. Brent McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award was established by the North Carolina Bar Association in honor of United States District Court Judge for the Western District of North Carolina H. Brent McKnight’s contributions to professionalism and the practice of law in North Carolina, and in recognition of his enduring influence, high ideals, and example as a jurist whose life and career demonstrated the full, accomplished life of a “Renaissance Lawyer.” Judge McKnight was born in Mooresville, North Carolina, in 1952. He received a bachelor’s degree from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1974, a master’s degree from Magdalen College at Oxford University in 1976, where he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, and a law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1980.

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By Jimbo Perry

Goal: “Always leave your campsite better than you found it.” — Allan Head

I am excited to serve as Chair of the NCBA Professionalism Committee. The Professionalism Committee has 40 members this year. Each member is committed to promoting professionalism and civility across the state and leaving our profession better than we found it. Committee members are involved with subcommittees as reflected in this post. In order to accommodate our 19 members who practice west of the Triangle, we will be holding an in-person meeting at the Charlotte offices of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A. on January 27, 2026. Other quarterly meetings will be held at the North Carolina Bar Center. A Zoom meeting option will be provided.

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