ur lawyers have a strong tradition of public service and participation in civic activities, including service on the boards of a wide range of charitable, professional, and community organizations. Individual lawyers, by their personal choice and with the firm's encouragement, participate in numerous public, bar association, educational, cultural, and governmental advisory endeavors. Members of the firm are currently serving as or have served as officers, directors, or trustees of organizations such as:

• Alexander Children's Center
• Arts & Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg
• Charlotte Auditorium-Coliseum-Convention Center Authority
• Children & Family Services Center
• Cultural Education Collaborative
• The Duke Endowment
• The Echo Foundation
• The Foundation Fighting Blindness
• Foundation for the Carolinas
• Hospice & Community Care
• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
• Lakewood Preschool Cooperative
• Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
• The Levine Museum of the New South
• Minority Scholarship Foundation
• North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
• Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte, Inc.
• Southminster, Inc.
• United Way of Central Carolinas, Inc.
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte
• YMCA of Greater Charlotte

Of special note, four of our partners, Russell Robinson, Bob Sink, Ward McKeithen, and Mark Merritt, have served as President of the Mecklenburg County Bar Association. Mr. Sink has also served as President of the North Carolina State Bar. In addition, Richard Vinroot, another partner in the firm, served as a member of the Charlotte City Council from 1983-91 and Mayor of the City of Charlotte from 1991-95.