I. Beverly Lake

Who is I. Beverly Lake?

I. Beverly Lake, Jr. is an American jurist and public official, who served as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, he is the son of I. Beverly Lake Sr. and Gertrude Bell Lake. He was raised in Wake Forest, North Carolina and earned the rank of Eagle Scout as a youth. He received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award as an adult. Lake also served briefly in the United States Army from 1956 to 1958.

After he earned his law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1960, he entered into several private practices. Between 1969 and 1976, Lake served as a deputy attorney general for the state of North Carolina. After serving two terms in the North Carolina General Assembly as a Democratic state Senator, Lake switched parties in 1980. He then ran as the unsuccessful Republican nominee against incumbent Governor Jim Hunt.

After Republican James G. Martin was elected governor in 1984, Lake served briefly as Martin's legislative liaison before he was appointed to the state Superior Court in November 1985. Lake ran for the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1990 but lost to incumbent John Webb. Martin appointed Lake to the Supreme Court in 1992, but he was defeated for election that same year. Lake was elected to a regular term as an associate justice on the court in 1994, and was elected the court's chief justice in 2000, defeating incumbent Henry Frye. By North Carolina law, he had to step down in 2006, after his 72nd birthday. He was succeeded by then-Associate Justice Sarah Parker.