RALEIGH, N.C. – Melissa Essary, dean of the Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, has announced that Judge Rich Leonard has been named to the Campbell Law Board of Visitors, which advises, guides, and counsels the dean, faculty, and senior leadership. A graduate of Yale Law School, Judge Leonard earned his undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received the prestigious full-tuition academic Morehead Scholarship.
“Campbell Law is honored to welcome Judge Leonard to the Campbell Law Board of Visitors,” said Essary. “His experience and qualifications along with his nationally recognized efforts in the legal community will be a wonderful asset to the school’s leadership efforts.”
Since 1992, Judge Leonard has served as a judge with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the eastern district of North Carolina and was the court’s chief judge from 1998 until 2005. In addition, he chairs the national task force to develop the requirements for the next generation of case management systems in the federal courts. He has participated extensively in numerous judicial reform efforts in Africa, and has made more than 30 trips to the continent as part of his efforts. Judge Leonard is the editor in chief of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal and teaches bankruptcy and corporate reorganization at the Campbell Law School. In 2011, the American Bar Association named him the recipient of the Robert B. Yegge Award, given to the judge or lawyer who has made the greatest contribution to judicial administration nationally.
The Campbell Law Board of Visitors is comprised of esteemed legal, judicial, and business leaders. Each member of the board serves a two-year renewable term.
ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW:
Since its founding in 1976, the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. The School has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) as having the nation’s top Professionalism Program and by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 3,200 alumni, including 2,200 who reside and work in North Carolina. For 25 years, Campbell Law’s record of success on the North Carolina Bar Exam has been unsurpassed by any other North Carolina law school. In September 2009, Campbell Law relocated to a state-of-the-art building in downtown Raleigh. For more information, visit http://law.campbell.edu.