Ferguson, Stein, Chambers, Adkins, Gresham and Sumter, P.A., was presented with the Civil Rights Legacy Award by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan legal organization formed at the request of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

The reception and presentation took place at the Levine Museum of the New South on August 12 and included reminiscences by the named partners. The event was in conjunction with the National Bar Association's convention in Charlotte.

Robert Harrington of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A., vice-chair of the Southeast Region for the Lawyers' Committee, made remarks and observed, "Ferguson Stein is not only a Charlotte institution, but also a national legal institution. No law firm in the country has had more impact on--and I suspect sacrificed more for--the cause of civil rights than Ferguson Stein. My guess is that there is no close second. This, often in the face of threats and hostility that have been real and tangible.

He continued by saying, "From education and employment rights cases to voting rights cases to police brutality cases to prisoners' rights case, Ferguson Stein's representations have affected the way we learn and where we learn, have vindicated our right to vote and work, and have protected our citizens from improper arrest and mistreatment at the hands of the government."