Judge Eagles will begin serving as chief district court judge Feb. 1, 2024.
RALEIGH — North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby has appointed Wake County District Court Judge Margaret Eagles ’00 to serve as chief district court judge for Wake County effective Feb. 1, 2024, the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts (NCAOC) announced today. Judge Eagles will fill the vacancy left by Chief District Court Judge Ned Mangum who will retire at that time.
“I am confident that Judge Eagles will continue to serve her community well in her new administrative capacity in Wake County,” said Chief Justice Newby.
Judge Eagles has served as a district court Judge since 2009. She has served in the Abuse, Neglect and Dependency Courtroom for two years, addressing allegations of children being abused or neglected. During that time, she earned her Judicial Juvenile Certification. She has presided in both the criminal and civil domestic violence courtrooms since 2011 and is currently the lead domestic violence judge in Wake County.
Upon graduation from Campbell Law in 2000, she began her legal career as a judicial clerk for Justice George Wainwright at the Supreme Court of North Carolina. After her clerkship, Judge Eagles worked in the North Carolina Department of Justice as an assistant attorney general. In 2005, Judge Eagles joined Larcade & Heiskell PLLC where she primarily focused on civil litigation.
In 2009, she was appointed as a Wake County district court judge by former North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue. Judge Eagles was subsequently elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014 and again in 2018.
“I am delighted to share this news about one of our distinguished alumna,” said Campbell Law Dean J. Rich Leonard said in an email. “With Judge Eagles appointment, Campbell Law graduates will now be the Chief Judge of the District Court, the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway ’86 and the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals Donna Stroud ’88.”
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Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law School has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. Among its accolades, 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, among others, for having one of the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 4,800 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2023, Campbell Law is celebrating 45 years of graduating legal leaders and 14 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina’s Capital City.