Candidate Biography (submitted by campaign):

I learned a lot about North Carolina values from my family.  My grandfather, Senator Sam Ervin, taught me during Watergate that the law should apply to everyone -- no matter who they are.  My father was a judge for 32 years.  He taught me that every litigant's case was important and that everyone was entitled to respect.

Throughout my 27 years of professional experience, I've worked hard to honor these values.  For 18 years, I worked as an attorney on a wide variety of cases, including serious criminal cases, personal injury cases, business disputes, and utility rate cases.  While I was in private practice, I participated in numerous appeals to the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of North Carolina. 

For the past 8 years I've served as a member of the North Carolina Utilities Commission.  The Utilities Commission is a quasi-judicial body that functions much like a court and is responsible for regulating the rates charged and service provided by investor-owned electric, natural gas, telecommunications, and water and sewer companies.

I was born and raised in Morganton, North Carolina.  That's where my wife, Mary, and I raised our children.  I am a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Morganton, where I've served as a deacon and an elder.

I attended the Burke County public schools, graduating from Freedom High School in 1974.  I received an A.B., magna cum laude, from Davidson College in 1978 and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1981.

I believe my values and my professional experience have uniquely prepared me to serve on the Court of Appeals.  I've been endorsed by law enforcement, women attorneys, trial lawyers, and defense attorneys.  I believe in equal justice for all, and I'll be a judge who treats every person fairly.

The law is the glue that holds our society together by providing the rules used to resolve disputes among our citizens.  The legal system cannot effectively perform this important function unless it acts fairly, dispassionately, and even-handedly.  Although the decisions made in the judicial system sometimes fail to satisfy the parties to a particular case, it is important that all litigants receive a fair hearing.  For that reason, judges should carefully review the facts of each case, thoroughly study the relevant statutes and appellate decisions, and decide each case consistently with the applicable law.

A case in the Court of Appeals is an important event in the lives of the people involved.  The Court of Appeals is the last real opportunity that most litigants have to be heard in the North Carolina judicial system.  The decisions of the Court of Appeals also affect countless other cases across our State.  Although the General Assembly is the principal policymaking body in State government, the Court of Appeals has significant responsibility for implementing the legislature's decisions in specific cases.  Thus, the Court of Appeals plays a uniquely important role in North Carolina's court system.

The effectiveness with which the Court of Appeals performs this function depends on the manner in which it decides the cases on its docket.  If I am elected, I will strive to decide each case on the merits and to base my decisions on a careful and conscientious review of the evidence, the statutes enacted by the General Assembly, and the prior decisions of the appellate courts.  I am pleased to have the endorsement of many legal and law enforcement organizations throughout North Carolina, and would appreciate your vote.