Ward died Nov. 2, Ward Black Law announced in a statement last week. She was diagnosed in May with ALS, a terminal neurodegenerative disorder, and had "prepared the Ward Black Law team to continue her life's work," the firm said. Ward is a past president of the North Carolina Bar Association and was on the board of Legal Aid of North Carolina at the time of her death.
"Janet Ward's life was a masterclass in servant leadership," Ward Black Law said in the Nov. 4 statement. "She set the standard for excellence in advocacy, kindness in community, and integrity in every decision. We will honor her legacy by continuing the work she loved, caring well for our clients, and investing in the people and places she championed."
Most recently, Ward won the inaugural Trailblazer Award by the Women in Law section of the North Carolina Bar Association in May and was inducted in October into the state Bar Association's Legal Practice Hall of Fame, according to her obituary.
Ward, who also won Miss North Carolina in 1980, was the first woman assistant district attorney in Rowan and Cabarrus counties after graduating from Duke University School of Law, according to her firm biography. She received her undergraduate degree from Davidson College.
She later moved into private practice, working at Wallace Whitley Pope & Black and later Donaldson & Black, before forming Ward Black Law in 2006. According to the firm, it is one of North Carolina's largest women-owned law firms.
Prior to her passing, Ward represented Wake County in a lawsuit against Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and other social media companies accused of stoking addiction in young users. The case has since been consolidated in multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of California, court records show.
Ward was also counsel for the estate of former University of North Carolina football player Ryan Hoffman, which sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2017 for allegedly failing to protect players from brain trauma. That case, too, was consolidated into a larger MDL in Illinois.
According to its website, Ward Black Law has won more than $150 million in settlements for its clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases. Since 2013, the firm has donated 10% of its gross revenue to nonprofits. Its motto is "seek justice, give generously, love lavishly."
In addition to her firm work, Ward was vice chair of the board of Legal Aid of North Carolina. The statewide nonprofit provides free legal services to individuals who could not otherwise afford it and is currently weathering a funding freeze that has forced it to shutter offices in rural areas.
In a statement following her death, Legal Aid said Ward's tithing to nonprofits was a "rare and extraordinary testament to her belief that blessings are meant to be shared." The nonprofit said Ward's "life was a masterclass in servant leadership" and described her as "one of the most extraordinary champions of access to justice our state has ever known."
"Her passing leaves a profound void in our organization, our profession, and the communities she served with such grace, humility, and conviction," Legal Aid said.
Ward was also president of the North Carolina Association of Trial Lawyers — which is now North Carolina Advocates for Justice — from 2002 to 2003, according to her firm bio. And she was president of the state's bar association from 2007 to 2008, making her only the second lawyer in the state to have served in both capacities.
As president of the bar association, Ward created a program known as 4ALL. Once a year in the spring, lawyers volunteer their time under the program to answer residents' legal questions by phone for free, according to the bar association's website.
The program has reportedly helped more than 129,000 people since its inception, with more than 7,000 lawyers in North Carolina volunteering their time. According to the bar association, the 4All program has also raised a $3.1 million endowment through the NC Bar Foundation "to address educational debt of lawyers working for Legal Aid of NC."
In a statement, the state bar association said Ward was a "pillar of the North Carolina community, recognized for her deep commitment to her clients, the legal profession and her faith. Her leadership, advocacy and service continue to influence the lives of those she touched, and we are honored to celebrate her life and legacy."
--Editing by Lakshna Mehta.
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