NCCU Law mourns the loss of The Honorable Albert Leon Stanback Jr. ’68.
Judge Stanback served North Carolina and the Durham community with distinction as a prosecutor, parole commissioner, private practitioner and Superior Court Judge. An alumnus of North Carolina Central University he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1965 and Juris Doctorate in 1968. After admission to the North Carolina Bar, Judge Stanback worked as an associate attorney with Frye & Johnson Attorneys. Later he became an assistant district attorney for Guilford County. Judge Stanback prosecuted criminal cases and civil cases involving the Uniform Enforcement of Child Support Act in North Carolina. Over the next nine years, Judge Stanback was a partner in two law firms: Lee, High, Taylor, Dansby & Stanback Attorneys and Dansby & Stanback Attorneys.
In 1980, Judge Stanback led Stanback & Stanback, P.A., where he managed business affairs and supervised attorneys in the firm. In 1985, Judge Stanback expanded his career to serving on the Governor’s Minority Executive Advisory Council. He later became Commissioner of the North Carolina Parole Commission and developed programs that helped rehabilitate inmates and made recommendations concerning pardons and commutations.
In 1989, he was appointed to the North Carolina Superior Court for the 14th Judicial District serving Durham County. He presided over various civil and criminal Superior Courts of North Carolina. He later served as district attorney for Durham County until 2014, and started a private practice, Attorney A. Leon Stanback & Associates. He served on the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners. Judge Stanback was a member of numerous organizations including the North Carolina Bar Association, the National Bar Association Judicial Council and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
Judge Stanback received numerous accolades and honors throughout his distinguished career. The legal clinic conference room at NCCU School of Law was named in his honor in 2021.
We extend our condolences to his loving wife Michelle F. Stanback and their three daughters: Catherine, Kynita, and Portia, and granddaughter, Victoria.