News Article

Erna Womble and Bill Womble, Jr. Present N.C. Bar Association McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award

July 2, 2007

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Womble Carlyle attorneys William F. Womble Jr. and Erna A.P. Womble recently presented a North Carolina Bar Association award they helped create in honor of the late Hon. H. Brent McKnight, Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

The Wombles presented the H. Brent McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award at the N.C. Bar Association’s President’s Luncheon, held June 22nd at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. The Award is given to an attorney who embodies qualities which were integral to the life of Judge McKnight, including respect for others, service to the profession and community, enthusiasm for intellectual achievement, and commitment to excellence in work, and whose life and career are inspiring to others.

Judge McKnight, who was a Morehead Scholar and Rhodes Scholar, died in Nov. 2004, following a distinguished career. Erna Womble succeeded him as chair of the N.C. Bar Association’s Professionalism Committee, and she and Bill Womble, Jr. co-chair the Award Sub-Committee which reviews all nominations for the Award. The Board of Governors of the North Carolina Bar Association annually honors a currently active lawyer as recipient of the Award.

E. Osborne "Ozzie" Ayscue, Jr. of Helms Mulliss & Wicker, LLC in Charlotte received the 2007 H. Brent McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award. Mr. Ayscue was a mentor to Judge McKnight. His extraordinary life and career were highlighted during the presentation, including his being a founder of, and service as Chair of the Board of Directors of, the Center for Law And The Humanities.

A full-service business law firm, Womble Carlyle ranks among AmLaw's 100 leading firms in the country and is a top law firm for companies doing business in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic states. The firm is a recipient of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Corporate Leadership Award, making Womble Carlyle the first law firm ever to receive the highest honor given to a business organization in recognition of its support of the Fund and its 45 member educational institutions.

Founded in 1876, Womble Carlyle operates in six states and the District of Columbia with nearly 550 attorneys in eleven offices located in Atlanta, GA; Greenville, SC; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, and Winston-Salem, NC; Washington, DC; Tysons Corner, VA; Wilmington, DE; and Baltimore, MD. Womble Carlyle is located in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions, and serves clients nationally and globally.