RALEIGH — Campbell Law Dean J. Rich Leonard has been selected to receive a 2014 Leaders in the Law Award from North Carolina Lawyers Weekly. Leonard will be recognized at an awards luncheon on Sept. 19 at the Raleigh Marriott City Center.
“I am humbled to receive this award,” said Leonard. “At each and every turn in my career, I’ve been blessed to work alongside professionals that strive to reach their full potential each and every day. This award belongs to those peers and colleagues as much as it does to me.”
Since he began serving as dean of Campbell Law in July 2013, Leonard has initiated a plethora of beneficial and impactful initiatives that have improved the institution. Under his guidance the law school has vastly increased its already generous scholarship program, performed a top-to-bottom review of its curriculum, identified nine specific practice areas, partnered with leading local law firms to sponsor competitive advocacy program teams, and began exploring the expansion of clinical programs, including a bankruptcy clinic.
Campbell Law has also announced its Campbell Flex admission program, Campbell Law Connections mentorship program, and Certificate in Patent Law initiatives under Leonard’s direction.
Prior to Campbell Law, Leonard served as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina since 1992, acting as Chief Judge from 1999 through 2006. Before that, he was a United States Magistrate Judge (1981-92) and Clerk of Court of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (1979-92). For more than a decade Leonard also acted as a consultant to the U.S. Department of State, working with judiciaries in many developing countries, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.