Excerpt:

As senior partner of Ferguson Stein Watt Wallas Adkins & Gresham PA, Ferguson's courtroom skills are close to legend. . . .

There's no one better at it, concluded The National Law Journal in 1989. The weekly paper recognized Ferguson for his ability to relate to a jury, naming him one of the country's top 10 trial lawyers.

He gets similar praise closer to home. N.C. Attorney General Lacy Thornburg has known him for almost 20 years and considers him one of the most thoroughly prepared lawyers to appear before the bench.

"I never saw him in a case that wasn't a tough one," Thornburg says. "And I seldom saw him lose one."