Hon. James B. McMillan
Description:
Judge James B. McMillan, of Charlotte, discusses his background and career as a lawyer. Judge McMillan attended UNC for undergraduate and continued on to study at Harvard Law School. In 1968 McMillan was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. In this interview he begins by describing his apprenticeship under Fred Helms and Bill Mulliss and the legal community in Charlotte in 1946 (when he began his career). Topics include his philosophy in dealing with clients and memorable cases as a lawyer and jurist including the Swann decision and the case challenging the constitutionality of the Price-Anderson Act (see Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc. v. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 431 F.Supp. 203 (W.D.N.C. 1977), rev’d. sub nom. Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc., 438 U.S. 59 (1978), the presence of women and African Americans in the Mecklenburg County legal community, his thoughts on the duties of a judge, and the transition from being a lawyer to a judge.
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