President-Elect
President-Elect Charles L. Becton, esteemed attorney, author and lecturer, practices law in Raleigh with Becton, Slifkin & Bell. He has served since 1976 as the John Scott Cansler Lecturer at the UNC School of Law and since 1980 as the Senior Lecturer in Law at the Duke University School of Law, where he earned his juris doctor in 1969.
Becton earned his bachelor’s degree from Howard University (1966) and received an LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law (1986). He previously served on the N.C. Court of Appeals from 1981-90 and was named N.C. Appellate Judge of the Year in 1985.
Numerous additional awards have been bestowed upon Becton, the most recent being the ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section’s Pursuit of Justice Award and the NCBA Litigation Section’s Advocate’s Award. He has also received the Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Trial Advocacy Award, the Roscoe Pound Foundation’s Richard S. Jacobson Award and the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers’ Trial Advocacy Award that was named in his honor.
Becton is a past president of NCATL and the N.C. Association of Black Lawyers. He will be the first African-American man to serve as president of the NCBA; he was also the first African American to hold that position with NCATL.
Formally elected president-elect on June 23, 2007, at the NCBA Annual Meeting in Asheville, Becton will chair the NCBA Finance Committee as president-elect in 2007-08. He served as a member of the NCBA Board of Governors from 2005-07 and as an NCBA Vice President in 1984-85.
Becton will be sworn in as the NCBA’s 114th president on Saturday, June 21, at the 110th Annual Meeting in Atlantic Beach.
Becton and his wife, Brenda, reside in Durham. They have three grown children: daughters Nicole and Michelle and a son, Kevin. Brenda Becton is retired from the practice of law and Nicole Becton practices law in Washington, D.C.
The attorney profile of Charles Becton, as excerpted from the firm’s Web site, http://www.bsblawfirm.com/, follows:
Charles L. Becton
Practice (1990-)
Becton, Slifkin & Bell, P.A.
Education
- University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1986, LL.M
- Duke University School of Law, Durham, North Carolina, 1969, J.D.
- Howard University, 1966, B.A.
Areas of Practice
- Personal Injury
- Medical Malpractice
- Wrongful Death
- Motor Vehicle Accidents and Injuries
Bar Admissions
- North Carolina, 1969
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of North Carolina
- U.S. District Court Middle District of North Carolina
- U.S. District Court Western District of North Carolina
- U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
Published Works
- The Drug Courier Profile: "All Seems Infected that th' Infected Spy, As All Look Yellow to the Jaundic'd Eye", 65 N.C.L. Rev. 417, 1987
- Power Advocacy: Shaping a More Just Society, Trial, vol 27, No. 5, May, 1991
- The Art of Advocacy and the Artistry of Shakespeare, International Society of Barristers Quarterly, vol 27, No. 3, July 1992 (P)
- Trial by Jury: The Foundation of Our Justice System, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, Trial Briefs, Spring 1995 (P)
- Thous Shalt Be A Wordsmith--Shakespeare, The Master Wordsmith, in the Merchant of Venice, Trial Briefs, page 33, Summer 1996 (P)
- Using Your Voice in Closing Argument, Trial, Vol. 33, No. 1, January 1997 (P)
- Help the Jury Understand Pain and Suffering, Trial, March, 2005
Classes/Seminars Taught
- John Scott Cansler Lecturer in Trial Advocacy, University of North Carolina School of Law, 1976 - Present
- Senior Lecturer in Law, Duke University School of Law, Durham, North Carolina, 1980 - Present
- Instructor, Trial Advocacy Skills Institutes Nationwide and in the Republic of South Africa
Honors and Awards
- Recipient, Outstanding Trial Advocate, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, 1984
- North Carolina Appellate Judge of the Year, 1985
- Distinguished Alumni Award, Duke University Black Law Students Association, 1987
- Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. Trial Advocacy Award, 1988
- North Carolina Association of Educators "Excellence in Equity" Award, 1990
- Roscoe Pound Foundation's Richard S. Jacobson Award, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, 1990
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America, 1993
- NITA's Robert Keeton Trial Advocacy Teaching Award, 1995
- 1st Recipient, Charles L. Becton Trial Advocacy Award, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, 2006
- Pursuit of Justice Award from the American Bar Association Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, 2006
Professional Associations and Memberships
- North Carolina Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- National Bar Association
- North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers (President 1980)
- North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers (President 1994)
- American Association for Justice
- International Society of Barristers
- American Board of Trial Advocates
- American College of Trial Lawyers
Past Employment Positions
- North Carolina Court of Appeals, Judge, 1981-90
Last Update: Tuesday, January 15, 2008