News Article

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Womble Carlyle attorney Mike Leonard has been honored with the North Carolina Award, the state’s highest civilian honor, in recognition of his conservation efforts.
 

Founded in 1964, the North Carolina Awards recognize achievement in public service, fine arts, literature and science. Past winners include Dr. Maya Angelou, Rev. Billy Graham and singer James Taylor.

Leonard has been active in land conservation for more than 30 years. In that time, he has worked to protect and preserve nearly 300,000 acres in North Carolina.
 

He helped broker a deal between the owners of Chimney Rock Park and the State of North Carolina to preserve that park in its natural state. He also was a key facilitator of a deal for the State to purchase Grandfather Mountain—and preserve it as it is. Working with the Conservation Fund, Leonard negotiated to link Crowders Mountain State Park in North Carolina to Kings Mountain State Park in South Carolina.

Catherine Morton, daughter of the late Hugh Morton, who championed the preservation of Grandfather Mountain says, “Michael Leonard has probably accomplished more for land conservation in the Southern mountains than any person alive.”

Leonard received the North Carolina Award from North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue in an Oct. 7th ceremony at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. Womble Carlyle attorney and former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Burley Mitchell received the award in 2007.

Mike Leonard is a leader of Womble Carlyle’s document production and e-discovery practice. He has played a major role in creating and managing the Firm's litigation support system and assisting major national clients in managing, tracking and controlling document productions and privilege logs in a large number of cases in numerous jurisdictions. Leonard practices in the firm’s Winston-Salem office.