The North Carolina Bar Association grants two awards in honor of Tharrington Smith attorneys, the Criminal Justice Section’s annual Wade M. Smith Award and the Education Law Section’s Ann L. Majestic Distinguished Service Award. The 2018 Wade M. Smith Award was bestowed upon Winston-Salem Criminal Defense Attorney, Michael A. Grace. Mr. Grace also serves as adjunct professor of law at Wake Forest University.

The Criminal Justice Section issues two meritorious awards in the state annually. One, directed to the prosecutorial side of criminal justice, is named for Peter S. Gilchrist III, who served for 36 years as the Mecklenberg District Attorney. The second, directed to the defense side of criminal justice, is named for one of Tharrington Smith’s founding partners. Established in 2008, the Wade M. Smith Award is bestowed upon a criminal defense attorney who exemplifies the highest ideals of the profession. We congratulate Mr. Grace on his receipt of the 2018 Wade M. Smith Award.

The Education Law Section posthumously renamed its merit award for a long time Tharrington Smith partner following her untimely death in 2014, and is now known as the Ann L. Majestic Distinguished Service Award. This service award is not given annually and has not been granted since 2015.