WILMINGTON · June 22, 2018 – The North Carolina Bar Association’s Minorities in the Profession Committee honored Victor J. Boone, a career-long legal aid lawyer in Wake County, at the Legal Legends of Color awards ceremony June 22 in Wilmington.
“I can’t tell you how humbling this is,” Victor said while accepting the award. “To be honored by your peers is truly a humbling experience and one that I certainly appreciate. I know that a lot of thought was given to whom you should recognize, and I know very well that there are others who are just as deserving, if not more so. It is with a great deal of humility that I accept this award.”
Victor has been a legal aid lawyer for his entire 43-year legal career. He started as a staff attorney at the Wake County Legal Aid Society in 1975, the same year he earned his J.D. from N.C. Central University School of Law.
Over the next few decades, Victor remained at the Legal Aid Society as it expanded to serve additional counties and became East Central Community Legal Services. He eventually became executive director of the organization, which later became Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Raleigh field office.
Since then, Victor has led our Raleigh office as its senior managing attorney, and served as regional manager of our Triangle region, which includes the Durham, Pittsboro and Raleigh offices.
Over his more than four decades of service, Victor has earned a reputation in the legal community as a peerless champion for the rights of the poor and oppressed, a selfless mentor to his colleagues, and a gentleman to all he encounters.
In 2014, the Wake County Bar Association recognized Victor for these qualities by awarding him its Joseph Branch Professionalism Award (pg. 3), which honors community, integrity, civility and diversity.
“In addition to being a tireless advocate, Victor has shown wise, steady, calm and capable leadership as an administrator, mentor and friend,” James Dorsett III, a partner at Smith Anderson, wrote in his nomination letter to the Wake County Bar. “Victor, by his integrity and professionalism has demonstrated how to get along well with others, including adversaries, while advocating passionately for his cause,” Dorsett added.
Victor’s dedication to service and leadership is as evident in his personal life as it is in his professional one. His extracurricular service to the legal profession and the broader community has included serving as a vice-president and board member of the Food Bank of North Carolina, chairing or sitting on various state and local bar committees, participating in the Adult Role Model Program, serving as an N.C. State Bar councilor from the 10th Judicial District, and teaching professional responsibility to students as an adjunct at NCCU Law.
Victor lives in Garner with his wife, Rhonda Raney. He is a native of Garysburg in Northampton County.