News of the Firm

Copeley Johnson & Groninger PLLC congratulates Valerie Johnson for being selected by the North Carolina Advocates for Justice (NCAJ) as a recipient of the 2019 Ebbie Award. The award is named after Ebbie Bailey, who helped her husband establish the North Carolina Advocates for Justice more than 50 years ago. NCAJ created the award in 2003 in Ebbie Bailey’s  honor to “recognize service and inspired commitment to NCAJ and its mission.” This year, Valerie was recognized for her strong advocacy for justice, particularly for those who have been injured by the wrongdoing of others. She …

Valerie Johnson Receives Ebbie Award Read More »

“Salvation for a race, nation, or class must come from within. Freedom is never granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted.” These were the words of A. Philip Randolph, former leader of an early African-American trade union called the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. In 1965, he and civil rights leader Bayard Rustin established the A. Philip Randolph Institute to unite the labor and civil rights movements. Today, under the leadership of President Clayola Brown, the APRI continues to strengthen electoral power bases in currently and historically disenfranchised communities. On Saturday, …

Preparing for the Future at the APRI Banquet Read More »

At 9:38 a.m. on April 10, 2019, city officials in Durham received word that a contractor drilling a downtown sidewalk had accidentally ruptured a 5 cm gas line. Firefighters were evacuating people when a massive gas explosion occurred half an hour later. The blast, which occurred on the city’s 150th birthday, destroyed one building, shattered windows in Duke University’s downtown campus, and caused a huge fire that firefighters spent hours trying to bring under control. A 61-year-old coffee shop owner was killed and 25 people injured, nine of which were Durham firefighters. One of them, …

First Responder Injuries and the Durham Explosion Read More »