E. Osborne Ayscue Jr., Charlotte trial lawyer and mentor, dies at 92
Edwin Osborne “Ozzie” Ayscue Jr., who brought his “quiet leadership” in Charlotte legal circles to the state and national levels, died on May 20. He was a day shy of turning 93.
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Ayscue, a Monroe native, was the seventh lawyer to join the Charlotte-based law firm Helms, Mulliss, McMillan and Johnston, which eventually merged with the international law firm McGuireWoods.
His involvement propelled him to the upper echelons of legal leadership. At different times, Ayscue served as president of the Mecklenburg Bar Association, the North Carolina Bar Association and the American College of Trial Lawyers. He was also inducted into the North Carolina Bar Association Legal Practice Hall of Fame in 1993. He remains the only North Carolinian to have led the ACTL.
Ayscue attended public school in Union County before attending high school at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. He later followed in the footsteps of his father — who was also a lawyer — attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for both his undergraduate and law degrees. He served as editor-in-chief of the North Carolina Law Review while in law school. Between the two degrees, he served two years in the United States Navy.
He met his wife, Emily Mizell Urquhart, while at UNC. They were married for 65 years, and moved from Charlotte to Chapel Hill in 2017.
As a trial lawyer, he demonstrated a particular aptitude in establishing a connection with jurors.
“I watched it so many times, to have them trust him to explain the case fairly,” said Jon Buchan, who worked with Ayscue for nearly 40 years and was a longtime lawyer for The Charlotte Observer. “And here, this sort of low-key, bowtie-wearing gentleman’s credibility would rub off on his client, and the jurors would give that client the benefit of the doubt.”
The Mecklenburg Bar Association named its Ayscue Professionalism Award after him, of which he was the first awardee in 2004.
“It was named for Ozzie because he exemplifies the qualities of professionalism and excellence that members of the bar ought to aspire to,” said McGuireWoods partner Brad Kutrow. “I think … that’s a recognition by his peers at the bar of what an exemplary leader he was.”
Ayscue was also “generous with his gifts” as a leader and mentor across his communities, said Kutrow.
“He exemplified quiet leadership in a way that I will always remember,” Kutrow said. “I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you if not for Ozzie Ayscue.”
Ayscue served on several nonprofit boards and advisory groups across his career, especially for his alma mater.
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He was a member of the Board of Friends of the UNC Library, the Board of Visitors of UNC, the UNC Press Advancement Council and served as the president of the UNC Law School Alumni Association board.
According to an obituary by the family, Ayscue also served on the board of local and North Carolina Legal Services, the St. Mary’s School board and House of Delegates of the American Bar Association.
His daughter, Emily Ayscue Hassel, said that his professional and volunteer commitments made him a busy father. But he made sure to spend one-on-one quality time with each of his four children, she said.
Although none of his children ended up pursuing careers in law, he supported them across their fields.
“He did encourage us to pursue our own interests with excellence, and we all ended up doing very different things,” said Hassel, who works in education reform.
In a January 2010 guest column for the Observer, Ayscue urged readers to “accept the present outcome and devote their efforts to making the changes” in assignments in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. He drew on the historical example of busing in CMS — a decision originally ordered by Judge John B. McMillan, one of Ayscue’s mentors.
“I think that, in a way, was his way of supporting me,” Hassel said of her father’s column.
Ayscue loved canoeing and country music. One of his favorite songs to sing was “Always On My Mind,” a song first popularized commercially by Elvis Presley.
“I think that’s how he felt,” said Hassel. “He was so busy and loved what he did, and even when he didn’t have time to follow up on every personal relationship, he truly was thinking about people.”
A funeral service for Ayscue will be held in Charlotte at Christ Episcopal Church, 1412 Providence Rd., at 2 p.m. on June 29, with a reception to follow.
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