Photos By Christer Berg, Mitchell Kearney
Longfellow called music “the universal language of mankind,” but that doesn’t mean any particular group shares favorites. That was crystal clear when we asked the 19th class of Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite to describe their favorite music. Responses of the 16 category winners ranged from the smooth jazz of Bill Evans to the rap lyrics of Hamilton’s “One Shot,” to the distorted angst of Nirvana.
Learning a bit more about the personalities of the winners is a Business North Carolina tradition, and this year’s honorees offered a wide range of interests beyond their musical tastes. The voting process didn’t change: Active members of the N.C. State Bar are eligible to vote for peers deemed to be at the top of their fields. Attorneys can’t vote for themselves or for members of the Legal Elite Hall of Fame — previous top vote-getters in a particular specialty. Votes for lawyers from another firm are weighted more heavily than votes for colleagues at the same firm. This year, 573 lawyers were selected as Legal Elite, about 3% of the state’s 19,000 active attorneys. Hall of Fame members are listed by their firm at the time of selection unless otherwise requested.
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