In September 1940, Emerson Penn (Sandy) and Nancy Gordon Dameron moved to Marion from Greensboro, North Carolina, where Sandy had practiced law with the firm of Smith, Wharton & Hudgins, and he entered the practice of law in McDowell County with Robert W. Proctor under the firm name of Proctor and Dameron. This firm was the successor to Pless, Winborne, Pless and Proctor, which has given the state of North Carolina some of its most distinguished lawyers and jurists. In 1965, Sandy formed a law partnership with Charles E. Burgin and continued the practice under the name Dameron and Burgin until his retirement in 1990. For twelve years he was a member (2 years as chairman) of the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners. Sandy was one of a very limited number of North Carolina attorneys to be chosen as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. After his retirement, he was honored by election to the General Practice Hall of Fame of the North Carolina Bar Association.