 He then worked briefly in private practice from 1978 until 1979 with the firm of Sanford, Adams, McCullough and Beard before becoming clerk of court for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina in 1979.In 1981, Leonard was appointed to be a federal magistrate judge, a position he held until becoming a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge in 1992.In his last year at the district court, Leonard received the first Director’s Award for Leadership in the Federal Courts for his work in setting up training programs for judicial employees.