Charlotte, N.C. – Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP is pleased to announce that Raleigh partner Catharine Arrowood has received the Amicus Curiae Award from the chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. The award, which describes Catharine as a “Friend of the Court,” is in recognition of her “outstanding service” to the state judicial branch as co-chair of the N.C. Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice (NCCALJ).

The NCCALJ spent more than a year conducting a comprehensive review of North Carolina’s court system – the first such review in two decades. In March of this year, Catharine helped present the commission’s final report to Chief Justice Mark Martin, who said its recommendations “create a framework for dramatic, systemic improvement in the administration of justice in North Carolina.”

The recommendations include improving the state’s indigent defense system, using data analytics to reduce case delays, and raising the juvenile age from 16 to 18 for crimes other than violent felonies and traffic offenses. The committee that Catharine chaired on legal professionalism also recommended studying ways to make legal services more accessible and creating a Legal Innovation Center to undertake constant review of the judicial system.

You can learn more about the NCCALJ and Catharine’s role here. 

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