National Honor for Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog Partner

RALEIGH, N.C. (November 5, 2010)—Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog, LLP (www.cshlaw.com), congratulates partner Richard Boyette on receiving the Louis B. Potter Lifetime Professional Service Award. Boyette was presented the award at the Defense Research Institute’s (www.dri.org) annual meeting in San Diego on October 28.

Recipients of the award exemplify both professional service and professionalism defined as follows:

• Professionalism goes beyond observance of the legal profession’s ethical rules and serves the best interests of clients and the public in general
• Professionalism requires that lawyers conduct themselves before the court and with opposing counsel in a manner which demonstrates respect for the law and preserves decorum and integrity of the judicial process
• Professionalism preserves and enhances the image of the legal profession in the eyes of the public
• Professionalism supports programs and activities to educate the public about the law and the American legal system; and it fosters respect and trust among lawyers

“Richard is well deserving of this honor,” says Dan Hartzog, Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog managing partner. “For more than 30 years, he has been dedicated to practicing law with the highest standards of ethics and professionalism.”

A past president of DRI, at his urging the organization established the National Foundation for Judicial Excellence, a charitable foundation having as its mission the education of state court judges. Boyette currently serves as chair of the board for the foundation.

Boyette’s legal practice includes litigation, concentrating on legal and other professional malpractice defense. In addition, Boyette has served as a mediator in more than 1,300 disputes including:

• breach of contract
• real estate, construction and land condemnation
• personal injury and wrongful death
• employment relations
• professional, product and medical-device liability
• insurance coverage
• intellectual property
• stockbroker/customer disputes

A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the UNC Law School, Boyette is a certified mediator by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission. He is also a member of the North Carolina Bar and admitted to appear before all North Carolina Federal Courts, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. Best Lawyers in America