Family law attorney to serve Chatham, Orange

BY BETH VELLIQUETTE

bvelliquette@heraldsun.com; 918-1042

CHAPEL HILL -- Gov. Beverley Perdue has appointed Lunsford Long, a family law specialist, to the District Court bench for the 15-B Judicial District for Chatham and Orange counties.

Long, 63, was one of three candidates that Perdue considered after their names were submitted by the local bar association.

Long will fill the vacancy created by the mandatory retirement of Judge Alonzo Coleman on June 30, 2009, although Coleman expects to continue working as an emergency judge.

Long has worked both as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, but for the past decade he has been specializing in family law, which includes, among other things, divorce and child custody cases.

"Lunsford Long's experience as a private practitioner and his expertise as a board certified family law lawyer has prepared him well to serve on the district court bench," Perdue said in a statement. "He has earned the respect of his peers as a thoughtful, able advocate and he has the set of qualities that will best serve the citizens of Chatham and Orange counties."

Before Long can be sworn in, he has a number of tasks to do to close down his practice, including resolving some cases and arranging for his clients to transfer their cases to other attorneys, he said.

He hopes he will be able to complete that work and be sworn in as a judge by the end of September.

The three candidates, which included Long, Jay Bryan and Glenn Gerding, were each interviewed by Perdue's general counsel, Eddie Speas, in July. Perdue met with each of them, last Thursday. On Friday morning, she called Long to tell him she had selected him, Long said.

As a family law attorney, Long said he built close and trusting relationships with his clients.

"I loved my clients," he said.

As a judge, he'll have to eschew those relationships in order to be a neutral decider of the facts, he said.

Perdue lives in the 15-B District and takes a special interest in the courts here, Long said.

"I'm just looking forward to showing Gov. Perdue that she made a good choice," he said.

Long began his legal career as a research assistant to N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice J. Frank Huskins. He was an assistant district attorney in the 15th Judicial District from 1973 to 1976.

Since 1976, Long has been in private practice in Chapel Hill, first as a partner in the firm of Epting, Hackney and Long and later as a partner in the firm of Long and Long. Long is a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law by the N.C. State Bar, is a certified mediator and is a fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

Long earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also served in the Army Reserves and was honorably discharged in 1974.