This episode of All Things Judicial features an excerpt of an interview with the late Francis I. Parker who served as a Mecklenburg County attorney for over 50 years. Parker was a founding member of the Parker Poe law firm, served in WWII and the Korean War, and held the position of associate justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. In the interview, Parker shares about his early years, his legal career in Charlotte, and outlines what professionalism means for lawyers in North Carolina’s legal community.

"A lawyer cannot have his or her ethics determined by the client, even it it means losing the client," said Parker on the podcast. "If a lawyer purports to be his client's lacky, and engage in activities that he ought not to, sooner or later he's going to be in real trouble."

This interview was conducted by former Executive Director of the Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism Mel Wright for the Commission's Historical Video Series. A full version of the interview can be found on the NCcourts Youtube channel.