Legal Elite; These members of the bar are top-shelf: the state's best lawyers, picked by their peers, in 14 categories.

Vita: Born May 19, 1947, in Raleigh; bachelor's from UNC Chapel Hill and law degree from Wake Forest University; wife and two sons. Why he chose this field: Reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and the civil-rights movement of the early '60s. I wanted to dedicate my life to fighting the abuses of government and to ensure that justice for our people was, in fact, justice. Memorable case: One I'm doing now, the Duke lacrosse case, which demonstrates for me all the governmental abuses that were the reason I decided to be a lawyer in the first place. What he'd be if not a lawyer: A teacher and coach at the high-school level. Heroes: Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and mentor Wade Smith. Recent reading: The Known World, Edward Jones' Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the moral complexities of slavery in America. Don't ask him to: Not say what I think or stand up for what I think is right, even if doing so might be against my self-interest.

EMPLOYMENT

LOUIS L. LESESNE JR.

Essex Richards PA, Charlotte

In my early teens, I delivered newspapers seven days a week on a bike to 150 customers along a 10-mile route in a small South Carolina town. I was up every morning at 4:30 to finish delivery by 6:30 a.m. I learned how to work independently and to be responsible for myself. I was my own boss. I couldn't call in sick. If I was going to be unavailable, I had to find and pay a substitute. There was no salary. My income was what remained after I paid for the papers. My customers paid me directly, 45 cents per week. If I didn't collect, I didn't get paid. Running this little one-person operation taught me management skills that served me well in the 25 years or so of managing my own law firm.

Vita: Born June 8,1945, in Dublin, Ga.; bachelor's from Davidson College and law degree from Boston University; wife and two daughters. Why he chose this field: By way of an interest in civil rights. I joined a law firm with three black lawyers in Greenville, S.C., in 1973 and cut my teeth on employment-discrimination cases. That continued when I moved to Charlotte in 1975 to work with Chambers Stein. I went out on my own in 1981 and began doing a spectrum of employment-related work, representing both management and employees. What he'd be if not a lawyer: Good question. It's one I ask myself as I contemplate the possibility of retirement. Passions: Learning to speak French, gardening, genealogy, disaster relief. Hero: Carl Nance, a Charlottean and Duke Power retiree who after Hurricane Floyd moved to Tarboro for months to coordinate relief work. Don't ask him to: Serve on a board of directors.

ENVIRONMENTAL

BENNE C. HUTSON

Helms Mulliss & Wicker PLLC, Charlotte

The only summer job I had was working for my father in high school and college. He owned a small machine shop in Detroit. He didn't work 9 to 5. He would wake me up at 4:30 a.m. so we could hit a greasy spoon for breakfast before getting to the shop to open up a little before 6. The day shift ended at 4. We'd stay until almost 6, then head home, clean up, eat and fall asleep so we could do it again the next day. No one in the shop, including my father, had a college education. However, their knowledge and skills in working machines that could turn 8-foot bars of steel into precise parts for automotive transmissions were equal to and more useful than the information most Ph.D.s develop. I learned success means meeting your customer's needs and to do that you have to listen to find out what those needs are. I also saw firsthand that success in business does not equal success in life. It is more important to make sure that you are there for your wife, your children and your friends.

Vita: Born Aug. 21, 1957, in Southgate, Mich.; bachelor's from Hillsdale College and law degree from Harvard University; wife and four children. Why he chose this field: I started practicing in Columbus, Ohio. When I walked into work my first day, sitting on my desk were two notebooks with a permit application for a hazardous-waste incinerator. Environmental law was practically brand new in the 1980s. You were not following precedents--you were setting them. It was fun, and most of the time still is. I am also fascinated by the social issues. Memorable case: North Carolina's first brownfields agreement. Most lawyers never get the chance to do something that has never been done before. What he'd be if not a lawyer: Chef or landscaper. Passions: My wife. My children. My faith. Don't ask him to: Go to a black-tie affair.

FAMILY LAW

JOHN H. PARKER

Cheshire, Parker, Schneider, Bryan & Vitale, Raleigh

As a delivery boy for the Greensboro Daily News, while in the seventh and eighth grades, I learned self-discipline. I had to get up every morning at 4 a.m.--rain, snow or sleet, warm or cold--and ride my bicycle to downtown Lexington to roll up 47 newspapers and carry them to neighborhood porches before dawn. This job also taught me rudimentary business skills, and I gained valuable insight into people. Some paid me on time, some did not. I had friendly, appreciative customers, and I had grumpy, curmudgeonly ones. All this diversity was an early lesson about people that I would encounter and would be dealing with throughout my career.

Vita: Born Feb. 1, 1944, in High Point; bachelor's from UNC Chapel Hill and law degree from University of Tennessee; wife, two daughters (one deceased) and two stepchildren. Why he chose this field: In 1976, I was elected a District Court judge in Wake County. Preferring not to be assigned to criminal or civil court and believing I would have empathy with people going through a divorce, I asked the chief judge to assign me exclusively to domestic court, which he did for my tenure on the bench in Wake County (1976-82). It was through serving in that courtroom that I became totally enamored with family law. What he'd be if not a lawyer: Orchestra conductor or musician. Memorable case: One that stands out is the client whose wife had a large dump-truck load of rocks dumped in his driveway so that he could neither enter nor exit his property. Don't ask him to: Give an opinion unless you really want to know what I think.

LITIGATION

DAN J. McLAMB

Yates, McLamb & Weyher LLP, Raleigh

I grew up in Johnston County, and most of my relatives were farmers. Anyone who has crawled down a tobacco row at 6 a.m. with gummy leaves hitting you in the face knows that it provides an enormous incentive to work hard in school in order to have an opportunity to do easier work. I came to appreciate many years later that the keys to successful tobacco farming were not dissimilar to the fundamentals of a successful trial practice. There is no substitute for hard work. Despite the best preparation, unexpected events can and do occur. An ability to adjust the game plan is essential, as is the ability to accept that some events are beyond your control. Finally, success is depending on your loyalty to the team working with you and the team's loyalty to you.

Vita: Born Feb. 20, 1949, in Benson; bachelor's and law degrees from UNC Chapel Hill; wife and four sons. Why he chose this field: At first, I worked all types of cases. My involvement in the defense of professional-liability cases began when my law partner Joe Yates asked me to help with a case defending a physician. One case led to another, and by the mid-'80s, the majority of my practice was defending medical-liability cases against doctors and hospitals. The same pattern was true of my legal-malpractice work. Memorable case: I remember my first jury trial like it was yesterday. What he'd be if not a lawyer: Backup singer for James Taylor. Passion: Attending Carolina basketball games with all of my boys. Heroes: Howard Manning and Charlie Fulton, my first senior partners and mentors. Favorite book: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. Don't ask him to: Go to a shopping mall.

PATENTS / INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

PHILIP SUMMA

Summa, Allan & Additon PA, Charlotte

Before law school, I was a public-school teacher in Hoke County. I taught chemistry and physics and coached football, wrestling and tennis. Being a schoolteacher was terrific preparation for law practice because it forced me to communicate necessary concepts efficiently.

Vita: Born Oct. 1, 1951, in Philadelphia; bachelor's from Gettysburg College, master's from N.C. State University and law degree from Campbell University; wife and five children. Why he chose this field: As early as college, people suggested that as a chemistry major I should consider patent law as a career. What he'd be if not a lawyer: In my dreams, I'd be playing quarterback in the NFL. I enjoyed teaching and in other circumstances may have remained a teacher for my entire career. Memorable case: My litigation war stories are minimal. I did once have a hearing in federal court in another state in a large courthouse. Going up to the courtroom, my client kept hitting the "door open" button rather than the floor we wanted and then began arguing about it over the intercom with the U.S. marshal. The marshal was kind enough to refrain from sending the elevator to the basement and arresting us. Heroes: I often reflect on my paternal grandfather, who died before I was born, but whose willingness to emigrate to this country early in the 20th century laid a foundation for my opportunities two generations later. My father-in-law, retired federal Judge Robert D. Potter, is an exemplary husband, father, lawyer and judge. Don't ask him to: Act intelligent or energetic after about 9 o'clock at night.

REAL ESTATE

SAMUEL T. OLIVER JR.

Manning, Fulton & Skinner PA, Raleigh