James FergusonHonored With The Advocacy Award

By The North Carolina Bar Association’s Litigation Section

James Ferguson was a partner in North Carolina’s first integrated law firm, founded in 1968. By the 1970s, Ferguson had secured a place as a leading civil rights attorney. His early cases included The Wilmington Ten and the Teel case in Oxford, which became the subject of the book and movie ‘Blood Done Sign My Name.’

‘I have been fortunate in my life that I have been able to work with great advocates. I am fortunate that by chance I ran into Julius Chambers in New York one day when I was getting ready to come back to North Carolina and that he took a chance on bringing me into his practice.’

In the 1980s, Ferguson helped lead efforts to teach trial advocacy methods to lawyers in South Africa. Here he is pictured, left, with Bishop Desmond Tutu, second from left, and Godfrey Pitje.

‘One thing about trial lawyers that I learned early on and still learn every day is that good lawyers never feel that they know everything. They are always looking for ways to improve what they do, ways to develop new strategies, different ways to be persuasive. That desire among lawyers to be better than they are led to the success of the advocacy program.’

During his time working in South Africa, Ferguson made a lasting impression on Nelson Mandela. Pictured here in 1994 are, from left, Janelle Byrd, Norman Chaskin, Steven Hawkins (all NAACP Legal Defense Fund Staff), Pansy Tlakula (South African Black Lawyers Association), Bill Lann Lee (NAACP Legal Defense Fund), Ferguson, Mandella, Theodore Shaw (NAACP Legal Defense Fund) and Komotso Moroko, South African Black Lawyers Association.The young man in the front is the son of Theodore Shaw.

‘We didn’t know exactly what we would be doing. They have a different system of law there, and there had been no trial advocacy program in South Africa at all when we went down there. We had no idea whether the techniques of persuasion we used here in America would be transferable to South Africa but we knew we wanted to contribute to that struggle if we could.’

Ferguson's work as an advocate includes education efforts close to home as well as around the world.

‘We still have issues of race, we still have issues of equality, and we still have issues of expression and religious freedom. And we still have issues of how we implement the greatest constitution in the world, how we make our society better, and how we seek some justice for the least empowered members of our society.’

The NCBA's Litigation Section honored Ferguson with its Advocate’s Award last year. It is among the myriad honors he has received from a wide variety of organizations.

‘It is a very special honor to me coming from colleagues whom I respect and who are involved in advocacy. To have that judgment made by them was a particular honor, not to even mention those who have come before and gotten this award. These are people who have been my heroes – people I have looked up to.’

‘You would think after 48 years you have seen it all, but I learn every day that I haven’t. There is always something new, always something exciting every day. People ask me every day when am I going to retire. The only answer to that is when I come to that point I hope I know it. I don’t wake up every day thinking how great it would be if I didn’t have to go to my office; I wonder what will I do when I can’t go.’

Photo courtesy The Charlotte Observer.