Rhoda Billings Explained

Rhoda Billings
Office:Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
Term:1986
Predecessor:Joseph Branch
Successor:James G. Exum
Birth Name:Rhoda Bryan
Birth Date:30 September 1937
Birth Place:Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Party:Republican
Alma Mater:Berea College (BA)
Wake Forest University (JD)
Profession:Lawyer, judge
Spouse:Donald R. Billings
Children:two

Rhoda Bryan Billings (born September 30, 1937) is an American lawyer and a former justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.[1]

Billings is a native of Wilkesboro, North Carolina.[2] She earned her law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1966. She served four years as a state District Court judge (1968–1972).[3] From 1982 to 1984 Billings served on the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Bar Association.[2] Governor James G. Martin, a fellow Republican, appointed her to the North Carolina Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1985, after the resignation of Justice Earl W. Vaughn. When Chief Justice Joseph Branch retired, Martin then appointed her Chief Justice in 1986, making her the second woman to head the Court.[3] She was defeated by James G. Exum in the election for chief justice in November of that year.

Justice Billings became a law professor at Wake Forest University, retiring in 2003[4] as Professor Emeritus. Billings was named in 2008 to the National Committee on the Right to Counsel established by the Constitution Project of Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.[5]

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Notes and References

  1. Book: Who's who in American Law. November 1977. 9780837935010.
  2. News: Rhoda Bryan Billings ('66) receives John J. Parker Award from North Carolina Bar Association . Wake Forest University. June 2012. June 4, 2019.
  3. News: Rhoda Billings Sworn In As State's New Chief Justice. September 4, 1986. Wilmington Morning Star. 3C.
  4. Web site: WFUs retiring faculty recognized during commencement . Mansell . Sarah . May 19, 2003 . Wake Forest University News Service . September 19, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20030707180335/http://www.wfu.edu/wfunews/2003/051903r.html . July 7, 2003 . dead.
  5. Web site: Law School Faculty News . Gibbs . Ann . August 26, 2004 . Wake Forest University Law School . September 19, 2020.