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

My first job after college was at Salem Academy in Winston-Salem teaching world cultures, U.S. history and European history. While not a rigorous workload by high-school teachers' standards, preparing for three courses five days a week was good training for dealing with multiple transactions. Listening and responding to student questions in and out of class helped to develop an ability to listen and respond to client concerns. Last but not least, living on a teacher's salary developed a real appreciation for the cost of living for most individuals and that we need to provide services at a cost commensurate to their value to our clients.

Vita: Born Feb. 28, 1952, in Greensboro; bachelor's from Wake Forest University and law degree from UNC Chapel Hill; wife. Why he chose this field: Because most transactions are commenced and completed in a few months and are generally conducted in a collaborative rather than adversarial manner. What he'd be if not a lawyer: Teacher. Memorable case: In 1984, I represented Katherine R. Everett, one of the first women to practice law in the state and the first to win a case before the N.C. Supreme Court, and her son, Robinson O. Everett, then chief judge of the U.S. Military Court of Appeals, in connection with the financing of an apartment complex. Marshall Hartsfield, a founding partner of what is now Poyner & Spruill, represented the lender. They brought 125 years of legal experience to the closing table. Passions: Fly-fishing in New Zealand, Newfoundland dogs. Hero: My father. Recent reading: Gallatin Canyon by Thomas McGuane. Don't ask him to: Play a musical instrument.

TAX / ESTATE PLANNING

JAMES W. NARRON

Narron, O'Hale & Whittington PA, Smithfield

My father was a country lawyer in Smithfield, but we lived about five miles out of town on the farm I still operate. When I was 10, my birthday present from my father was an alarm clock. After that, he always said that he did the lawyering and I did the farming. Until I left for college, that clock was set for 5 a.m., when I would get up, lay a fire in the kitchen, then feed the hogs and cows, all before the school bus arrived. I learned the value of time management and, probably more importantly, the direct relationship between effort and results.

Vita: Born Jan. 18, 1948, in Washington, D.C.; bachelor's from UNC Chapel Hill, law degree from Wake Forest University and post-graduate in taxation from New York University; wife and son. Why he chose this field: First, to fill a niche. I could see that many of my best clients were using specialized tax and estate-planning counsel in Raleigh. What he'd be if not a lawyer: Agribusiness in some fashion, or forestry. Possibly career Navy. Memorable case: Audit of a gift-tax return of a minority interest in a closely held real-estate holding company, which owned 55 farms. We were successful in applying a "blockage discount" to the valuation of the farms, most of which were greater than 200 acres, all located in one county, and settled for about 2% of the proposed adjustment. Passions: Raising registered South Devon cattle, operating heavy equipment. Hero: The late J. Marvin Johnson, for a time the state senator from this area and a prominent businessman. He once won an argument on the floor of a national tax conference with then-governor Ronald Reagan. Don't ask him to: Go to a beauty salon. I go to the same barber who has cut my hair from age 12 (when I finally rebelled and got my father to stop cutting my hair in a kitchen chair).