My name is Emerson Penn "Sandy" Dameron. I am retired now, but I was formerly a member of the law firm of Dameron and Burgin, which has some very distinguished ancestors. The names of Pless, Winborne, Pless and Proctor have long been associated with outstanding lawyers, jurists and public servants in McDowell County, and throughout the State of North Carolina. It is very unusual, and I think remarkable, that a small western North Carolina law firm, in a small western North Carolina town, should have produced as many outstanding lawyers, jurists and public servants as our predecessor law firms have given the State.
Mr. J. Will Pless, the originator of the firm, came to Marion some time around 1900, and immediately became a very prominent and successful lawyer. He served one or more terms as Mayor of Marion and was active in the phenomenal progress that Marion made between 1900 and about 1925 or 1930. During that period a number of manufacturing plants were located in Marion. Lake James was constructed. The Clinchfield Railroad constructed a railroad through Marion and McDowell County, and many other things happened which changed Marion from a small, mountain agricultural village to a thriving manufacturing town. Mr. J. Will Pless, father of Judge Will Pless, was very instrumental in a great deal of that development and progress.
Sometime around 1910, John Wallace Winborne came to Marion to join Mr. J. Will Pless in the practice of law. Judge Winborne, as he was later known, became an immediate force in the civic and business life in Marion. He was always active in politics and eventually became Chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party. He was also Grandmaster of the North Carolina Masonic Lodge, before he was appointed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. He later became Chief Justice and served in that capacity until his retirement.
Judge J. Will Pless, Jr. joined his father and Judge Winborne in the practice of law sometime in the early 1920s, when the firm was formalized under the name of Pless, Winborne and Pless. Judge Pless practiced law generally in Marion for a few years, before being appointed as Solicitor of the 29th Judicial District, which corresponds to what is now District Attorney. He served a few years as District Attorney and was then appointed Superior Court Judge of the 29th Judicial District, which office he held for more than thirty years before being appointed an Associate Justice to the Supreme Court of North Carolina, and served in that capacity until his retirement. Judge Pless also served as President of Phi Delta Phi, an International Legal Fraternity.
Sometime in the 1920s, Robert W. Proctor came to Marion and joined the firm, which became Pless, Winborne, Pless and Proctor, until Judge Pless was appointed to the Superior Court. Judge Winborne and Mr. Proctor practiced law together under the name of Winborne and Proctor for a number of years, until Judge Winborne went to the Supreme Court, after which Mr. Proctor was left in Marion without a partner and I, Sandy Dameron, came to Marion in 1940, and joined with him to practice under the name of Proctor and Dameron, from 1940 until Mr. Proctor’s death in 1960. Mr. Proctor was a very outstanding trial lawyer - active in Democratic politics and served as Chairman of the party in McDowell County. He taught the Men’s Bible Sunday School Class at First Baptist Church for many years. He served several terms as North Carolina State Senator and several terms on the North Carolina Bar Council, and later President of the North Carolina Bar Association. He also served in many other public capacities during his distinguished career.
After Mr. Proctor’s death, I practiced law alone for several years and in 1966 formed a legal partnership with Charles E. Burgin, practicing under the name of Dameron & Burgin until I retired in 1990.
Mr. Burgin will give some of the history and events he remembers：
Mr. Burgin： My name is Charles E. Burgin. I came here in 1966 after having graduated from Duke Law School and Clerking for a Federal Judge, Braxton Craven. One year on the Federal District Bench and then in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. When I came here it was in the capacity as Solicitor. I remember that when I was a Law Clerk to Braxton Craven, who was in Morganton at that time, I was making noises about going to practice law in Denver, Colorado, because I had worked out that way one summer and liked that part of the country and wanted to go back to live there. Judge Craven sat me down and said, "Well, just why do you want to go out to Denver, Colorado". When he saw that I couldn’t give him a good reason as to why I wanted to go, he said, "Well, you’re making a big mistake." I asked, "How’s that?" He said, "There’s a lawyer in Marion who is as good a lawyer as any you would find in Colorado, New York, or any other place. That’s Sandy Dameron and you ought to go talk to him". I came to Marion, and if you remember, Mr. Dameron, I ran for Solicitor. You had an office here and gave me a desk – as a matter of fact, we still have that desk - you used it, Judge Pless used it before you, and Mr. Proctor. I never could get the drawers open, by the way. Your secretary was Mrs. Dorothy McCall. She did some things for me but I was scared to ask her to do anything.
Mr. Burgin： I was Solicitor of the County Criminal Court for two years, under Judge Bill Lonon. I ran in a hard- fought race to get to be Solicitor - no one else would have it. You had to run to get it. Then, the County Criminal Courts were out of business in 1968. You and I formally formed a partnership in 1970, I believe. From that point it has been Dameron and Burgin. We enjoyed practicing together until Mr. Dameron retired. More accurately put, I enjoyed learning from Mr. Dameron.
Mr. Burgin： In 1975, Emerson Penn Dameron, Jr. came to practice with us.
Mr. Burgin： In the way of history, I hope Mr. Dameron, will tell some stories about events, but I would first like to take the liberty of telling about Mr. Dameron. The law firm, Dameron and Burgin, has enjoyed a good reputation across the State for many, many years, and that is due in no small part to the predecessors in the firm, Judge Pless, his father before him, Justice Winborne, and Mr. Proctor. I think of all the people in the firm, the most outstanding accolades have to go to Mr. Dameron as a lawyer, and as a person who epitomizes, and has for as long as I have known him, the way a lawyer should and must conduct himself, both in the courtroom and out. He stands for those things for which people need to stand, not just lawyers but citizens in general – these things are not said to flatter Mr. Dameron. I say those things because I mean them. I say them because I am merely a pipeline or conduit for those remarks and comments. Those comments have been made in a flood of words and by people who are members of the legal profession and by people who are not members of the legal profession. When Sandy Dameron walked into a courtroom, there was an automatic something that happened in that courtroom. When I went into the courtroom with him, I could feel a sense of – what happened I think, was an indefinable but very real part of a lawyer’s persuasive process that began, and it didn’t begin when a lawyer opened his or her mouth. It began when they made their presence known. He has always had the reputation as being the epitome of what a lawyer should be like in and out of the courtroom. Judges across the State, lawyers across the State, on both sides of the aisle – against and for him – have always said about him that he exudes good manners from every pore. I guess that’s about the highest compliment anybody can be paid. And it’s true. Good manners and fairness, especially fairness, are hallmarks of his career – and that’s why he was so successful. That’s what he has passed on in this law firm. That’s what we hope that we have learned from him – to treat everybody the same and to be fair to people. If you are fair, then things just happen for you. I believe. He is the guiding light in this law firm, always has been, always will be.
Mr. Burgin： I forgot to say that, Mr. Dameron not only practiced law in Marion, but for twelve years he was a member of the Board of Bar Examiners, the Board which gives the test for lawyers who wish to obtain a license to practice law in the State of North Carolina. He distinguished himself in that respect across the State. That was a very taxing assignment. He is extremely well known and immensely respected by judges and lawyers. A number of years ago he was nominated and elected to a fairly distinguished group of lawyers, The American College of Trial Lawyers. A crowing achievement came for Mr. Dameron toward his retirement, he was honored by the Lawyers of the State of North Carolina by being one of only five lawyers for 1991, I believe, elected to the General Practice Hall of Fame. A very, very small group of lawyers are nominated and selected for that group – and that isn’t done every year. Frank Watson of Spruce Pine was elected the same year. That was carried out in a ceremony at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville last year at the annual meeting of the North Carolina Bar Association, attended by lawyers and judges form across the State. That is an illustration, I think, of what Mr. Dameron means to the Bar of the State of North Carolina.
Mr. Burgin： A year or so ago I was asked to join an organization called the International Society of Barristers. I don’t know how many members are in that organization. I don’t known why they wanted me in it, but I jointed and it is an organization that is interesting because it is composed of lawyers from all over the world, not just the U.S., and there aren’t a lot of them. I don’t know how many. I went to my first meeting with then last year in California and was privileged to hear people like "Racehorse" Haynes speak, that lawyer from Texas; and the lawyer who represented Amelda Marcos, Jerry Spence from Wyoming. When they get together you can’t talk about what you do or who you are. Just an unwritten rule and it’s fun because if you don’t know the person you’re talking to, then you may be talking to someone famous and not know it. That’s been fun for me and the only reason I’m there is because of the good training and guidance I got from Mr. Dameron.
Mr. Burgin： We have a fine law firm, I think, I’m proud and I know Mr. Dameron is. I remember what you told me when I came here, Mr. Dameron, that you don’t just come into a community and practice law, because if you do that, you just take from the community and don’t put anything back in; to be a good lawyer and a good citizen, you have to put something back in the community. That means being involved in the community – being active in civic affairs. That lesson was told to me early by Mr. Dameron. The younger lawyers coming after me have tried to follow that example. You’ve done a good job in that respect. I know that Penn has been very active in the organization, Western North Carolina Tomorrow, and is, if I’m not mistaken, Vice-President of that organization, which is a statewide organization dedicated to improving and preserving the quality of life in Western North Carolina. We are proud of his role in that.
Charles Burgin： I would like Mr. Dameron to tell some stories or incidents he remembers about his practice.
Mr. Dameron： While I practiced law with Mr. Robert Proctor, we had an encounter with Senator Sam Ervin of Morganton, which might be of some interest. A prominent businessman in McDowell County had a disagreement with one of his employees and they got into a fight. The employer, who was one of our clients, gave the employee a rather sound beating. The employee employed a local attorney and Senator Ervin of Morganton to represent him and brought a lawsuit against our client, the employer, for assault and battery in Asheville for about $10,000 in damages for his injuries and humiliation, etc. At the trial, Senator Sam appeared along with the local attorney. The evidence indicated that out client had indeed given his employee a rather sound thrashing. There was also some evidence that the employee had used some rather abusive language to our client, had been a pretty unsatisfactory employee, and had made some threats to our client during their association. After the evidence was all in, the Judge instructed the jury about what amounted to an assault and told the jury that if they found that our client assaulted the employee without any just cause, and if they had no reason to believe that he needed to do so in self defense, they could award damages to the employee in whatever amount they considered to be fair and reasonable, considering all the evidence of his alleged injuries and humiliation, etc. During the process of his instruction, the Judge told the jury that since the plaintiff had demanded $10,000 in his pleadings, the amount of the award would be somewhere between $.01 and $10,000. After the judge’s instructions, the jury went out and after some little time returned with a verdict, in which they said that our client had assaulted the plaintiff, and awarded the plaintiff .01 in damages. After that experience, every time I saw Senator Sam Ervin he would laugh and joke about this case and he made the comment that his client and his associate attorney did not object so much to the verdict as to the fact that the jury awarded an amount which was impossible for him, his associate and his client to divide the damages – it’s hard to split a penny.
Mr. Burgin： There’s another story that involved Senator Sam but also involved Governor Ehringhaus, that I would like you to tell.
Mr. Dameron： Mr. Proctor and I were involved in a trial of a number of cases in Avery County, involving the mining of Mica. The situation there was that through the years, one person could own the mineral rights to a piece of land and another could own the surface rights. One man could farm, plant corn and other corps on the land while the other had the right to take the minerals from underneath the surface. We had a very important lawsuit involving a sizable amount of money between two brothers, one who owned the surface of the land and the other owned the mineral rights. One brother employed some attorneys from Taylorsville, who employed former Gov. Ehringhaus to assist them in trying the case. We had Senator Sam Ervin assisting us, along with some local lawyers in Avery County. Senator Sam was very persistent in the trial of any case – he would object to practically every question that was asked. Gov. Ehringhaus was questioning a witness, with Sen. Sam objecting to every question and moving to strike every answer. This went on for maybe a day. Finally, Gov. Ehringhaus stood up and said, "Now Judge, your Honor, I have been over here and I’ve listened to my friend from Morganton object to every question I’ve asked, I’ve heard him move to strike every answer the witness gave for about two days, I must very seriously object to what now seems to be his beginning to rule on his own objections." This was an exchange between two famous personalities.
Mr. Burgin： Mr. Dameron, there was another case you tired – a murder case, that you and former Superior Court Judge, Bill Anglin tired. You defended Sheriff Ashby Robinson who was charged with murder of the Sprinkle boy. You got him off. There was another case that you and Bill Anglin tried where you were assigned the job of showing how it could be self defense when this fellow was shot in the back of the head. I remember you telling me that you were assigned that because of your prowess as a basketball player at the University of North Carolina and Judge Anglin said, "Now Sandy, you show how our client pulled the trigger and the bullet left the barrel of the gun, the dead man pivoted very quickly on his feet and started running before the bullet got to the back of his head." That assignment was yours because you were such a good basketball player and could pivot quickly, so you pivoted in front of the jury to show how you could turn while the bullet was in route to your head. I think I might mention that the jury found the defendant not guilty - the pivot must have worked. Mr. Burgin: We have been involved, I guess, in all kinds of litigation, all kinds that a small law firm could expect to come down the street and through the front door.
Mr. Dameron： I think a lawyer who practices in a small town has to be like the miller by the river, he has to grind whatever is brought to his door.
Mr. Burgin： We have become, in the past few years, in addition to being general practitioners, pretty highly specialized in the defense of medical malpractice and litigation in legal malpractice. We travel the state defending claims against doctors, hospitals, nurses, health care institutions, and are fairly active in defending legal malpractice too, suits that are brought against lawyers and law firms across the state. We do a lot of traveling that we didn’t do years ago.
Mr. Dameron： I heard a story about a lawyers in the eastern part of North Carolina. As you may know, the General Statutes of North Carolina have what we call "life expectancy", or annuity tables. These tables show, in order to figure the value of certain annuity or a certain life estate in something (in property), how long a person at a certain age is expected to live. They tell the story about the lawyer who was handling the closing of an estate and had to refer to these tables. He pointed out to his client what the table was and what the purpose was. The word got around the town that this lawyer had a book that if you went to ask him he could tell you how long you were going to live. The story is that he made a sizable amount of money because a large number of people came in shortly thereafter and told him they wanted to find out how long they were going to live. I guess that’s a good story to close with.