PUBLISHED:May 29, 2009

Reflections by Charles L. Becton '69

I have seen the scroll of 24 – the scroll of honorees from Carlyle Ring Jr. in 1985 to Letty Tanchum last year – and I am honored to be the 25th recipient of this prestigious Charles S. Murphy Award. This award is about public service and education, and law has been the vehicle through which I have sought to serve the public and help lawyers improve their trial advocacy skills.

I am honored, but I am equally humbled by an internal sense of gratitude to the many whose help, sacrifice, and encouragement allowed me to do a lot of different things and placed me in a position to be considered for this honor.

A special thanks goes to the smartest, the most supportive, and the most beautiful Becton – my wife, Brenda, a 1974 graduate of this law school.

It is almost ironic that Duke Law School is giving me this award when it is I who am so much in her debt – indebted to Duke for a wonderful legal and social education, for cherished friendships, and for the opportunity to teach in its trial advocacy program for more than 30 years.

No award is greater than an award given and received with love and gratitude. I pledge to express my continuing gratitude by daily reflecting in the quality of my life and work, the thanksgiving I feel in my heart.

Thank you.