The Julian Thomas Pierce Award in recognition of pro bono/legal services for poor and disadvantaged person will be awarded to Dorothy C. Bernholz, class of 1975. Dorothy Bernholz: has a B.S. Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1963 and a Juris Doctor cum laude, North Carolina Central School of Law 1975. She was certified in 1990 certified as an Arbitrator pursuant to the N.C. Supreme Court Rules for Court Ordered Arbitration and in 1992 certifiedas a Mediator for the NC Dispute Resolution Commission . She was the Academic Pre-law Advisor for the UNC-CH General College form 1978-2000. Since 1976 she has been Drector and Staff Attorney for CSLS, Inc. and since 1998 she is the Site Supervisor for the UNC-CH School of La. She was elected in 2007 as the Bar Councilor, North Carolina State Bar.

The Clifton E. Johnson Award for outstanding contribution to the legal profession will be awarded to Judge A. Leon Stanback, Jr., class of 1968. Judge Stanback received his Juris Doctorate from North Carolina Central University School of Law. He was appointed as a Superior Court Judge in 1989. Prior to serving on the Superior Court bench, Judge Stanback served as Parole Commissioner with the North Carolina Parole Commission, practiced law with his private firm of Stanback & Stanback and served as an Assistant District Attorney for Guilford County.

The Floyd B. Mckissick Award for outstanding community service will be awarded to G.K. Butterfield, class of 1974, U.S. House of Representatives. Prior to being elected to Congress in a special election on July 24, 2004, G. K. Butterfield had a distinguished legal career. After working in private practice, he was elected as Superior Court Judge in 1988 and appointed to the North Carolina Supreme Court in 2001. After an election defeat, he was again appointed as Superior Court Judge. Butterfield serves on the powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce Committee, and serves as Vice Chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee. He is serving his second term as Chief Deputy Whip after being appointed to the leadership post by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the 110th Congress.Butterfield also serves as a member of the House Ethics Committee and as a member of the Helsinki Committee. Congressman Butterfield is a life-long member of Jackson Chapel First Missionary Baptist Church in Wilson, N.C. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army and the proud father of two adult daughters, Valeisha and Lenai.

The Albert L. Turner Award for distinguished service will be awarded to Georgia State Senator Leroy R. Johnson, class of 1957. Leroy Johnson, from Atlanta, served in the Georgia Senate from 1963-75, and was the first black state senator in Georgia since the Reconstruction era."--Inventory of an oral history interview with Leroy Johnson, October 17, 1991, Georgia Government Documentation Project, Georgia State University Library. Mr. Johnson graduated from Morehouse College and Atlanta University and earned his law degree from North Carolina Central University. He taught social science in the Atlanta school system from 1950-1954 and in 1957 became the first African American hired by the Fulton County Solicitor General's office. He also served as advisor to Atlanta's civil rights movement in the 1960s, was a candidate for mayor of Atlanta in 1973, and was active in community affairs.

The Daniel G. Sampson Award for alumni service will be awarded to Carolyn B. O' Garro Moore, class of 1987. Attorney O'Garro Moore is in private practice in Rocky Mount, NC.