List of first minority male lawyers and judges in North Carolina

This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in North Carolina. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are other distinctions such as the first minority men in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in North Carolina's history

Lawyers

First African American: George Lawrence Mabson (1871) First Native American male: Horace Locklear (1972) First Hispanic American male (U.S. Army, North Carolina): Jhonathan Morales Nájera (c. 2016)

State judges

First Jewish American male: Sol Bernard Weinstein in 1942 First Native American males (both from the Lumbee tribe): Early Bullard and Lacy Maynor in 1954 and 1958 respectivelyBoth were elected as Judges of the Maxton Recorder's Court during the 1950s. First Hispanic American male (magistrate): Gaspar R. Gonzalez, Sr. First African American male: Sammie Chess Jr. in 1971 First African American male (Resident Superior Court): Clifton Johnson in 1977 First African American male (North Carolina Court of Appeals): Clifton Johnson in 1982 First African American male (North Carolina Supreme Court): Henry Frye in 1983 First African American male (Senior Resident; Superior Court): Cy A. Grant Sr. in 1988 First Native American (Lumbee) male (superior court): Sandy Dexter Brooks (1976) in 1989 First openly gay male: Ray Warren around 1998 First African American male (North Carolina Supreme Court; Chief Justice): Henry Frye in 1999 First Native American (Cherokee) male: Brad Letts in 2000 First Hispanic American male: Albert Diaz (1988) in 2001 First Sri Lankan American male (district court): Roy Wijewickrama in 2010Upon Wijewickrama's appointment to the 30th Judicial District in 2010 First Latino American male (elected): Lou Olivera in 2012 First openly gay male (elected): John S. Arrowood in 2017 First Jewish American (North Carolina Supreme Court): Mark A. Davis in 2019 First Laotian American (district court): Thai Vang in 2019 First Yemeni American male: Rashad Ahmed Hauter in 2021Upon Hauter's appointment to the Wake County Judicial District in 2021

Federal judges First African American male (federal district court): Richard Erwin in 1980Upon Erwin becoming a Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in 1980 First Hispanic American male (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit): Albert Diaz (1988) in 2010 First African American male (U.S. Magistrate Judge; U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina): Joe Webster in 2012

Attorney General of North Carolina

First Jewish American male: Josh Stein in 2016

Assistant Attorney General

First African American male: Walter E. Ricks III in 1973

United States Attorney

First African American male: Mickey Michaux (1964) in 1977Upon being appointed to head the office in the Middle District of North Carolina, he was considered the First African American male to become a U.S. Attorney in the South since Reconstruction.

Assistant United States Attorneys

First African American male: Henry Frye in 1963 First Asian American male: Zeppelin Wong in 1963

District Attorney

First African American male: Carl Fox in 1984 First Native American male: Matt Scott in 2019

Assistant District Attorney

First African American male: Walter Johnson, Jr. during the 1960s

Political Office

First Jewish American male (Governor-elect): Josh Stein in 2024

North Carolina Bar Association

First African American male president: Cressie H. Thigpen, Jr. in 2005

Firsts in local history

Carl Fox: First African American male to serve as a District Attorney for Chatham and Orange Counties, North Carolina (1984) Walter Whitted Hoover: First African American male to serve as a Justice of the Peace in High Point, North Carolina [Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford and Randolph Counties, North Carolina] Randolph Baskerville: First African American to serve as an Assistant District Attorney for the 9th Judicial Circuit in North Carolina [Franklin, Granville and Vance Counties, North Carolina] Moses Burt Jr. (c. 1959): First African American male lawyer in Alamance County, North Carolina Larry Brown Jr.: First African American male judge in Alamance County, North Carolina (2017) Everette Dula: First African American male magistrate in Alexander County, North Carolina (c. 1982) Arthur Watford, Jr.: First African American male magistrate in Bertie County, North Carolina Charlie G. Gore: First African American male magistrate in Bladen County, North Carolina Robert L. Harrell: First African American male judge in Buncombe County, North Carolina (1983) Jason R. Parker: First African American male lawyer in Catawba County, as well as the first African American male to serve as the Assistant District Attorney for the 25th Prosecutorial District [Cabarrus and Catawba Counties, North Carolina]. He was also the first African American male Assistant District Attorney for the 22nd Prosecutorial District (Alexander and Iredell Counties, North Carolina). John S. Leary (1892): First African American male lawyer in Fayetteville, North Carolina [Cumberland County, North Carolina] R. McCants Andrews (1921): First African American male lawyer in Durham, North Carolina [Durham County, North Carolina] Patrick W. Baker: First African American male to serve as the Durham City Attorney [Durham, Wake, Orange Counties, North Carolina] Albert L. Turner: First African American male to serve as the Dean of the North Carolina Central University School of Law (1942) Lowell Siler: First African American male to serve as the County Attorney of Durham County, North Carolina (2009) George Henry Mitchell (1900): First African American male lawyer in Greensboro, North Carolina [Guilford County, North Carolina] Bill Marshall: First African American male magistrate in High Point, Guilford County, North Carolina Ronnie Conner: First African American male magistrate in Iredell County, North Carolina John S. Leary (1892): First African American male lawyer in Charlotte, North Carolina [Mecklenburg County, North Carolina] Clifton Johnson: First African American male to serve as a District Court Judge in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (1969) Spencer Merriweather: First African American male to serve as the District Attorney of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (2019) Carl Fox: First African American male to serve as a District Attorney for Chatham and Orange Counties, North Carolina (1984) Mario Perez: First Hispanic American male judge in Pitt County, North Carolina (2018) Herbert Richardson, Sr.: First African American male to serve as the Assistant District Attorney (1978) and judge (1979) for Robeson County, North Carolina Joe Webster: First African American male lawyer in Madison, Rockingham County, North Carolina Albert Kirby: First African American male to serve as a Judge of Sampson County's 4A Judicial District Court Charles Wesley Williamson (1932): First African American male lawyer in Kittrell and Henderson, North Carolina [Vance County, North Carolina] Albert L. Turner: First African American male to serve as the Dean of the North Carolina Central University School of Law (1942) George Greene: First African American male judge in Wake County, North Carolina T.T. Clayton: First African American male lawyer in Warren County, North Carolina Nereus Deleon Smith: First African American male lawyer in Goldsboro, North Carolina [Wayne County, North Carolina]

List of first minority male lawyers and judges in North Carolina

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