UNC School of Law honored four alumni at the school's annual Carolina Law Alumni Gala and Banquet at the Carolina Inn on October 9. The Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to three alumni: The Honorable Roy A. Cooper III, James Y. Preston and Reginald T. Shuford. The school also conferred its Outstanding Recent Graduate Award to Harriett Twiggs Smalls.
Shuford, Preston, Cooper and Twiggs Smalls were honored at the Law Alumni Weekend Gala.
The Honorable Roy A. Cooper III, Class of 1982
Roy Cooper serves as North Carolina's attorney general. He was elected in 2000 and began his third term in 2009. Before becoming attorney general, Cooper practiced law and served in the legislature as House Judiciary chair and later Senate Judiciary chair and majority leader. He attended UNC-Chapel Hill as a Morehead Scholar, and after graduating from UNC School of Law he practiced law with his family's law firm, Fields & Cooper. Martindale-Hubbell awarded him an AV rating, its highest mark, for his performance as a courtroom attorney. Cooper served as a North Carolina state senator from 1991 to 2001, and as a state representative from 1987 to 1991. As a legislator, he wrote North Carolina's first children's health insurance initiative, passed laws that set a national standard for anti-predatory lending on disadvantaged borrowers, reformed the state's juvenile justice system, provided new safety standards for child care centers, gave victims new rights through the Crime Victims Bill of Rights, made intentional polluting a felony and created a graduated license program to give young drivers more training. Cooper has received awards from the N.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the N.C. Victims Assistance Network, the Covenant with North Carolina's Children and the N.C. Association of Educators. He has received the UNC Distinguished Young Alumnus Award from the UNC General Alumni Association.
James Y. Preston, Class of 1961
Jim Preston has practiced law for more than 40 years and is of counsel at Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP. He has had experience in all areas of tax practice - compliance, controversy, planning and transactional implementation, reorganizations and acquisitions, compensation and benefits, estate planning and probate. The breadth of Preston's experience has enabled him to integrate a wide range of legal and financial considerations into comprehensive, effective and efficient tax planning for families and businesses. He has substantial experience in developing plans and funding for succession in closely-held businesses, freezing estate values through reorganizations and gifts, and planning for corporate and individual transactions, compensation and benefits, reorganizations, succession and estate planning. While at the University of North Carolina, Preston was the editor-in-chief of the North Carolina Law Review. Previous awards include the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the American Red Cross Codicil Award and memberships in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law and Who's Who in the World.
Reginald T. Shuford, Class of 1991
Reginald T. "Reggie" Shuford is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation (ACLUF), where he leads the racial profiling litigation efforts of the national office. Shuford has been involved in constitutional and impact litigation in the areas of civil rights and civil liberties focusing on issues of race and poverty. In addition, he consults with state ACLU affiliates about racial profiling litigation. Shuford speaks regularly on the issue of racial profiling. He has written on the topic and has appeared on numerous radio and television shows, including CNN's "Burden of Proof" and "Talk Back Live," ABC's "20/20," Court TV's "Pros and Cons and Crier Today," and in a documentary on MTV entitled True Life: I Am Driving while Black. Prior to his work at the ACLUF, Shuford worked in private practice in North Carolina, specializing in education law. In addition, he was a clerk in the North Carolina Supreme Court for Justice Henry E. Frye.
Harriett Twiggs Smalls, Class of 1999
Harriett Smalls is an attorney with Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP in Greensboro. She has 16 years of experience as a registered nurse, during which she worked 12 years as a certified neonatal nurse practitioner. She continues to work on an as-needed basis as a neonatal nurse practitioner at Forsyth Medical Center. Smalls' health care practice includes patient confidentiality, disclosure of medical records, certificate of need, medical malpractice, regulatory and administrative issues, licensure and certification and fraud and abuse issues. Smalls has made presentations concerning HIPAA, confidentiality of medical records and consent of minors. She is a certified mediator in the Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission of the North Carolina State Superior Court. Smalls has participated in many civic and community organizations, including the Triad March of Dimes Board of Directors, National Conference of Women's Bar Associations Board of Directors, Beyond Academics Advisory Board of Directors and the Moses Cone Memorial Hospital Ethics Committee.