Gov. Pat McCrory announced Thursday he has appointed to the state appeals court Valerie Johnson Zachary, who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the court last year.
This will be the first time that she has been a judge. Zachary has been in private practice in Yadkinville since 1989. She is a Harvard Law School graduate who was a litigation associate with the Charlotte-based Kennedy, Covington, Lobdell & Hickman firm after graduation.
She is a past president of the Yadkin County Bar, and is a registered Republican. Zachary replaces Judge Sanford L. Steelman Jr., who recently retired.
She was a candidate for a state Court of Appeals seat in a crowded field of 19 candidates in November, when she received 4 percent of the vote. John Tyson won the seat with 24 percent.
“Valerie Johnson Zachary brings to the Court of Appeals a first-class legal mind as well as a long history of practicing law at the community level,” McCrory said in a statement. “I am grateful she has accepted this appointment.”
There are 15 members on the appeals court, hearing cases in panels of three.
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