Brooks Pierce partner Kearns Davis was elected to the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) Board of Regents at the College’s recent annual meeting in Washington, D.C. As Regent for North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, Davis will help lead the College in pursuing its mission to maintain and improve standards of trial practice, professionalism, ethics, administration of justice, and respect for the rule of law. He is the first North Carolina lawyer elected as Regent since 2005.
Davis was inducted in 2017 as a Fellow of the College, an honor the ACTL extends by invitation only, after thoroughly investigating each nominee. It selects only those who have demonstrated the very highest standards of trial advocacy, ethical conduct, integrity, professionalism, and collegiality. Davis will serve a four-year term as Regent.
A former federal prosecutor, Davis has tried jury cases—both criminal and civil—at all levels of federal and North Carolina trial courts, and he represents clients in U.S. trial and appellate courts across the country. "Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business" has ranked him in Band 1 for White-Collar Crime and Government Investigations every year since 2012, and "Best Lawyers in America" has repeatedly named him "Lawyer of the Year" for the Triad region in both White-Collar Criminal Defense (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, & 2025), and Bet-the-Company Litigation (2015 & 2026). He served as president of the North Carolina Bar Association in 2016-17.
Click here to access the full release from ACTL.