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RALEIGH, N.C. — Poyner Spruill partner and former North Carolina Congressman Mike McIntyre has been honored for a lifetime of public service by the North Carolina Bar Association. McIntyre received The Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr. Public Service Award at the Bar Association’s Awards Banquet at its convention on Thursday, June 21st, in Wilmington, North Carolina.
The award recognizes an outstanding lawyer in North Carolina who has performed exemplary public service.
The award is not given every year. Nominees are sent to the Past Presidents’ Council as the selection committee, and the committee’s selection is subject to Board of Governors/Directors approval. McIntyre was chosen by a unanimous vote.
“Mike McIntyre epitomizes the very essence of distinguished public service — through his work, courage, civic activity and exemplary public service — by strengthening understanding of and action through the American legal system,” Poyner Spruill partner Robin Pipkin wrote in McIntyre’s nomination. “His inspiration, enthusiasm and dedication make him most worthy of your consideration.”
In presenting the award, Kearns Davis, Immediate Past President of the Bar Association, cited McIntyre’s record, saying that McIntyre had “inspired citizens, students, and his fellow attorneys through his professional, community, civic and personal activities, as well as through his exemplary public service. Throughout his career, Congressman McIntyre has relentlessly advocated for a better understanding of our legal system and has made significant contributions to and on behalf of the legal profession locally, statewide and nationally, and on behalf of North Carolina schools and communities.”
For 18 years, Mike served as a Member of Congress, where he always emphasized that his work as a public servant was to do what was best for “the people back home.” He won the top National Legislative Awards on veterans, law enforcement, agriculture, economic development, coastal & senior citizens issues, rural healthcare, fitness & youth sports. The Secretary of the Navy presented him its highest civilian award, the Outstanding Public Service Award, on behalf of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Over the last decade, Congressman McIntyre organized an annual Youth Leadership Summit to inspire outstanding high school students to community service. In 2017 he established the Douglas Carmichael McIntyre II Justice Fund of the North Carolina Bar Foundation Endowment, in support
of the McIntyre Youth Leadership Challenge, which echoes the goals of the Youth Leadership Summit and expands the program statewide.
Early in his career, Congressman McIntyre served on the Executive Committee of the Citizenship Education Committee of the ABA Young Lawyers Division and was Chairman of the NC Bar Association’s Citizenship Education Committee. He served on the NC Bar Association’s Lawyers Advisory Committee to the NC Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution and chaired Robeson County’s celebration, for which he received the National Bicentennial Leadership Award. He also served on the ABA/YLD National Community Law Week Committee, chaired both the Robeson County Citizenship Education and Law Day Committees, and was Legislative Chairman of the PTA.
Mike has been State President of the Christian Legal Society; President of Lumberton’s downtown revitalization corporation; Vice-Chairman of the city’s Commission on Family & Youth; an Elder, Deacon, teacher & daycare chair in his church; active in Rotary; coached youth sports; co-chaired the Congressional Task Force on Responsible Fatherhood, was Founding Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Youth Sports & named an International Sports Ethics Fellow. He was county School Volunteer of the Year, on the NC Commission on the Family, received the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service and Order of the Long Leaf Pine, and mentors at UNC Law School.
Because of his commitment to community service, he was named a charter member of the North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society in 2016 by the NC Supreme Court.
As Senior Advisor and Director of Government Relations, McIntyre’s practice at Poyner Spruill includes government work on the local, state and national levels, as well as business, real estate, agribusiness, environmental, military, sports and entertainment law. Before joining the firm, he held the position of Congressman of North Carolina’s Seventh Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving 18 years (1997-2015).
McIntyre and his wife, Dee, have two sons, Joshua and Stephen, both of whom are attorneys, as are Stephen’s wife, Angelica Chavis McIntyre, and Joshua’s fiancé, Sarah Hill Colwell.
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