This column is adapted from 26th Judicial District Bar President Graham Billings’s speech delivered at the May 20, 2026, 26th JD Bar Annual Meeting.

I am honored to stand before the 26th Judicial District Bar as its incoming president. I am proud of the work the 26th Judicial District Bar has undertaken and am grateful for the confidence this membership has placed in me to continue those efforts.

At this meeting two years ago, the 26th Judicial District Bar was bifurcated into a new institution with a clear mandate. Since that day, this membership has built something worth being proud of: a bar that has carried out its regulatory functions efficiently and effectively, sharpened its focus on the services it provides to its members and the public, and laid a foundation for the work ahead. That progress was driven by the leadership of Thomas Powers and Lee Robertson, and I want to  thank them for their service to this organization. I also want to thank Executive Director Leah Campbell and the entire Bar staff, whose dedication to the 26th Judicial District Bar, the Mecklenburg Bar Association, and the Mecklenburg Bar Foundation has been central to the success of each.

Many people are surprised to learn that North Carolina is the only state in the country that requires membership in both the State Bar and a judicial district bar. That structure reflects a confidence that we, as a legal community, are best positioned to carry out the responsibilities of regulating the quality of our own legal practice and protecting the members of our community who are affected by what we do.

Those obligations are not self-executing; they belong to each of us as members of this Bar. Fulfilling them means working to identify deficiencies in the administration of justice and pressing to correct them. It means ensuring that access to the legal system is not determined by circumstance. And it means demonstrating, through our conduct and our commitments, that this Bar takes its public obligations seriously — that in this community, the law is applied fairly and impartially, governed only by the evidence and the law.

Those of us with daily interaction with the courts sometimes forget most members of the public rarely personally interact with the legal system. And in many instances, when those interactions come, people are uncomfortable, vulnerable, and unhappy. What they see in those interactions — our preparation, our professionalism, our conduct toward one another and toward the court — will reinforce their understanding of what justice looks like – positively or negatively.

At this pivotal moment in the legal profession, we must redouble our commitment to upholding the standards of professionalism and collegiality that define this Bar. We must continue to place the integrity of the legal process above personal advantage and understand that the strength of this Bar is only as durable as the conduct of its members.

That is the standard I will hold myself to this year, and it is what I will ask this Bar to embody.

I am proud to lead the 26th Judicial District Bar over the next year. I look forward to working with each of you, and I welcome your input, your engagement, and your candor.