Essex Richards Partner Jonathan Buchan was named as the recipient of the Mecklenburg Bar Foundation’s 2020 Ayscue Professionalism Award at the annual Law & Society Luncheon on Thursday, October 31, 2019. The luncheon was hosted by the Mecklenburg County Bar and the Mecklenburg Bar Foundation.
The award is given each year in recognition of exemplary professionalism by a Mecklenburg County attorney. Criteria for nomination include: “outstanding service through or on behalf of the Mecklenburg County Bar or the Mecklenburg Bar Foundation for the benefit of the legal community or the community at large; substantial and significant service to the community, to the Bar, or to the justice system, whether on the basis of lifetime contributions or a specific project; and embodiment of the traits to which all attorneys should aspire: high ethical standards, model conduct, unquestioned integrity, and consistent competence.” To read more about the award, click here.
Jon is the sixteenth recipient of the award, which was first given to Osborne Ayscue in 2004. George Hanna had the honor of introducing Jon at the luncheon.
In his introductory remarks George commented, “Jon is not only a talented and skilled lawyer, he is also a tireless servant to our profession and our community. There is no way that I can list all of Jon’s efforts as a leader.”
He also outlined Jon’s career that began as a journalist in South Carolina. He commented, “Although Jon left the life of a reporter to attend Law School, he never lost his love for good journalism and his devotion to the 1st Amendment. Jon told me that even though he spent a large percentage of his years practicing law as a commercial litigator, the work that really stoked his passion has been his media law work.”
Upon accepting the award Jon remarked, “We are all fortunate to live in a country where the Rule of Law – administered by judges whose rulings are swayed by neither fear nor favor – is the fair and final word, and are honored and accepted. As lawyers, we have a professional duty to support and protect that fidelity to the Rule of Law, especially when it is challenged. We know that words also matter in the daily discourse of our democracy. We know that a determined denial of the truth, unchecked, runs the danger of undermining even the most settled democracy.”
Jon is the second Essex Richards attorney to receive this award; Litigation Partner Woody Connette received the award in 2018.
Jon practices with Essex Richards’ Litigation group, where he focuses on media, internet, and intellectual property issues. For over forty years, he has represented national and North Carolina media clients, including newspapers, radio stations, and television stations. He has experience handling trade secrets, copyright, and trademark litigation.
Essex Richards, P.A. congratulations Jon on this great honor.