Meet Gaston County's new District Court judge
The first time Holden Clark watched a murder trial, he was 14 years old. He had an uncle who was an attorney in Florida who would take Clark to court with him.
"When I was 14 years old, he let me sit in on a murder trial with him, so I spent six weeks down there, watching this trial, and I was infatuated with it. And I knew at that point, that's what I wanted to do," Clark said.
Clark is living his dream. Currently working as a family law attorney, Clark, 35, was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of District Court Judge John Greenlee. Clark had recently run unopposed for a District Court judge's seat, but this appointment allows him to take the bench May 15 instead of January 2025.
"Litigation is difficult between two parties. It can be incredibly taxing on the litigants, and it can be taxing on the attorneys. For me, this was an opportunity to go from fighting every day to helping people resolve problems," Clark said.
Originally from Gaston County, Clark is a 2010 graduate from Appalachian State University, where he majored in political science. In 2013, he graduated from Charlotte School of Law.
Those early years shadowing his uncle in court were formative, but it was something his uncle said about work as a lawyer that left a lasting impact.
"I asked him how he could defend guilty people, and he told me that if it wasn't for defending folks that we knew were guilty this system would not be there for the innocent. It's stuck with me throughout my entire legal career," he said. "It was also the theatrics of the courtroom, the social connectedness. But watching him help people and seeing how truly impacted their lives were was something that made me want to do it."
Clark began working for The Snow Legal Group in 2013, and in 2014, he began working as a public defender in Gaston County. For three years, he handled everything from misdemeanor trespassing cases to first-degree murder cases. His takeaway from that work was the humanity of the people he represented, he said.
"No matter where or who the client was or what they had going on, they were still a person. And even people that do bad things deserve to be treated like a human," he said. "One of the things that I learned in the public defender's office was that a lot of times crime is a symptom of something that's going on in someone's life."
After working as a public defender, Clark became a family lawyer, the kind of work that involves divorce and child custody issues.
"I made that transition into private practice not really knowing what I wanted to do," he said.
But, until May of last year, Clark continued working as an involuntary commitment attorney, representing people with mental health problems who were involuntarily committed for psychiatric treatment. As part of that job, he helped protect the rights of those who were committed and helped them find stabilizing resources after they were released from psychiatric care.
His passion for that work was personal.
"My very best friend in college committed suicide. And this was my way of helping repay the lessons that he taught me and to try to help others from going through that experience," Clark said. "It was the one thing I did each week no matter what was going on that I felt like I was making a tangible difference."
Clark said he was drawn to family law because it was an opportunity to help parents and children through a deeply difficult situation.
"So family law is one of those situations where folks are in one of the worst situations they could possibly be in with a family separating. And it felt like a place where I could use my soft skills of being compassionate and helpful, and try to change the experience for them," he said. "It was also an area where I felt like I could really help kids who were dealing with the struggles with their family tearing apart by helping recalibrate the parents on what was important."
Clark was interviewed by Gov. Roy Cooper last week. Two days later, Cooper's office announced Clark's appointment.
"Everything that I've ever done, I do with my full heart. Every case will be the most important case that comes in front of me," he said. "And there's going to be days where there's folks that are misinformed, but they still deserve to be treated with respect. That's what I truly hope to bring to the bench is respect and fairness. You can resolve cases and help people solve problems and still be kind at the same time."
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Meet Gaston County's new District Court judge
