On Monday, Governor Roy Cooper appointed Judge Mark Davis to the Associate Justice seat recently vacated by now-Chief Justice Beasley. Soon-to-be Justice Davis has served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals since 2012. Ironically, Judge Davis’s appointment to the Court of Appeals in 2012 was to fill the vacant seat created by then-Judge Beasley’s elevation to the Supreme Court.

Before serving on the Court of Appeals, Judge Davis served for five years as a Special Deputy Attorney General in the North Carolina Department of Justice. He also served several years in former Governor Beverly Perdue’s Office of General Counsel.

Ready for a trip on the way-Wayback Machine? During his 13 years as a litigator in private practice, Judge Davis was a distinguished and accomplished appellate attorney. Some of my earliest memories of Judge Davis are from a 2005 DRI Appellate Advocacy Seminar we both attended. As someone who once practiced regularly in our appellate courts, Judge Davis earned his appellate “street cred” the old-fashioned way!

Congratulations to soon-to-be Justice Davis!

P.S. For those keeping count, Governor Cooper now has two vacancies to fill on the Court of Appeals over the next few weeks: Judge Davis’s now-vacant seat and the seat being vacated by the impending retirement of Judge Bob Hunter.