GBA Inducts Four Members Into New-Found Community Involvement Society
The Robert C. Cone Community Involvement Society inducted four members at the April Member meeting: Jason Hicks, Hon. Robby Hassell, Eloise Hassell, and Adam Marshall.
The Community Involvement Committee is proud to announce the creation of the Robert C. Cone Community Involvement Society. This will be for service outside of the service as contemplated by the rules of professional conduct. Like the Herb Falk Society, it will be based on service above 75 hours.
(L-R) Jason Hicks, Judge Robby Hassell, and Eloise Hassell
This award is named after deceased Greensboro lawyer and past GBA President, Robert C. Cone. Mr. Cone was a native of Greensboro, and he lived his entire life here with the notable exceptions of a year spent on an Israeli kibbutz and the years he spent in Chapel Hill as a Morehead Scholar attending UNC (Class of 1974) and UNC School of Law (Class of 1978).
Bob and his wife, Sally, were law school classmates. They married a few weeks after sitting for the Bar Exam, beginning their 38 years as husband and wife. They welcomed their son, Sam, in 1981 and daughter, Laurie, in 1982. Mr. Cone joined Tuggle Duggins, PA in 1986 and remained there for 31 years, actively practicing until just before his death.
Bob served the legal profession in numerous ways. He chaired the UNC Law Foundation Board, leading by example through his personal giving and participation in fundraising endeavors. He served as President of the Greensboro Bar Association (GBA) and the GBA Young Lawyers Section, as Chair of the GBA Fee Dispute Resolution Committee, and co-founder of the Herb Falk Society, which promotes pro bono service by GBA members. He served as President of the Guilford Inn of Court and as a preceptor at Elon Law School. Cone was
elected as an 18th Judicial District Bar Counselor to the NC State Bar and served from 2010 until forced to step down due to illness in 2016. Bob rarely said “no” when volunteers from the legal community were needed, as evidenced by his work on several GBA-sponsored Habitat for Humanity houses.
In 2011, Bob received the NCBA Centennial Award, presented jointly by the North Carolina Bar Association and the Greensboro Bar Association. In 2016, he was honored with the State Bar’s John B. McMillan Distinguished Service Award. Bob was a lifelong member of Temple Emanuel, where he chaired the Education Committee, taught Hebrew School, and led the successful effort to save the Temple’s historic Greene Street location. He supported the Greensboro Jewish Federation in innumerable ways and was honored posthumously as a recipient of the Federation’s Benjamin Cone, Sr. Leadership Award. He and Sally served as hosts for Jewish refugees resettled in Greensboro from Baku, Azerbaijan. Bob served as a Trustee of the Jewish Foundation of Greensboro.
Within the broader community, Bob served as a Trustee of The Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital (now Cone Health) for 20 years and chaired the Cone Health Foundation Board. He chaired the Greensboro Public Library Foundation Board and served as President of Rotary Club of Greensboro. He was an active Board member and supporter of Greensboro Urban Ministry. In 2016, Bob and Sally were honored as co-recipients of the North Carolina for Community and Justice Brotherhood/Sisterhood Citation Award for their “extraordinary efforts to combat bias, bigotry, and racism and create a more compassionate and respectful community for all of us.”
