J. Dickson Phillips, Jr. served as a local lawyer from 1949 to 1960, became dean of the UNC School of Law from 1964 to 1974, and served on the US Court of Appeals from 1978 to 2017. Educated in Laurinburg Public Schools, Davidson College in 1943, and the UNC School of Law in 1948, he was also a World War II paratrooper and a defender of equal rights for all, and he was born nearby.