2022 - 2023 Of Counsel Magazine by North Carolina Central University

In Remembrance of Attorney Browne C. Lewis, NCCU School of Law Dean

WHEREAS, God in his infinite wisdom called to rest devoted legal scholar, attorney, author and North Carolina Central University (NCCU) School of Law Dean Browne C. Lewis on June 2, W2022.HEREAS,

Dean Lewis joined the Eagle family in July 2020, and immediately made a lasting impact on the NCCU School of Law. She was clear about her vision to lead the school as one that provides unique opportunities for diverse, talented future attorneys that position them to be practice-ready advocates in their chosen legal careers; and WHEREAS, Dean Lewis was especially passionate about social justice and its intersection with law, noting in a recent Attorney at Law Magazine interview that “the key value [she wanted] to imprint on the law school [was] overcoming the impossible through hard work, perseverance, and tenacity. It is important to overcome adversity and realize that you can accomplish any goal even if you do it in bite sized pieces”; and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the entire North Carolina Central University family mourns the passing of this distinguished leader and extends its condolences to members of Dean Browne C. Lewis’ family, including Attorney Joe Lewis Jr.; Emma Rogers; Jeanie Palmer; Emma Lewis; Evon Williams; Don Lewis; Ora Bell Lewis and other loved ones.

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY

WHEREAS, Dean Lewis accumulated numerous accomplishments for the university and NCCU School of Law in her nearly two years as the law school’s leader. With her at the helm, the school received full reaccreditation from the American Bar Association (ABA), consistent enrollment increases at a time when other law schools saw steady decreases, and bar passage rates were above average. Additionally, the school received a number of gifts from corporations and foundations and prestigious law internships and fellowships were awarded to students. This includes a transformational $5 million contribution from the Intel Corporation to create the NCCU Intel Tech Law and Policy Center the first at a historically Black college or university (HBCU) and the only tech and law policy center that focuses on technology disparities and social justice; and WHEREAS, Dean Lewis also served the legal community as member of the American Law Institute and board member for the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI). A recipient of several prestigious national and international awards, and fellowships, she was a visiting scholar at Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics and The Hasting Center; Senior Fulbright Specialist where she lectured and conducted research at Haifa University and Hebrew University in Israel; Core Fulbright Scholar at King’s College in the United Kingdom; and Robert Wood Johnson Public Health Law Scholar.

On the 21st day of June Two thousand twenty two Dr. Johnson O. Akinleye Kevin M. Holloway Chancellor NCCU Board of Trustees, Chair

If giving by check, please make your donation payable to NCCU FOUNDATION INC. and write on the memo section “(i.e., law School Annual Fund) Please Mail To: NCCU School of Law, PO Box 1431 - Durham, NC 27702

Equally exciting is the renewed interest of alumni throughout the country in reconnecting with the law school programs, mentoring students, and learning about ways to give back. NCCU School of Law is appreciative of all donors, especially alumni. Research has shown that the average rate of giving for HBCU alumni has consistently been around 10% with some institutions having much higher rates while others hover in the low single digits. We have doubled our efforts to foster a culture of giving, beginning as early as with first-year law students. We wish to instill in our students an appreciation of all those who have gone before them, who worked and sacrificed to make it possible for them to have the opportunity to attend such a preeminent institution. As we grow programs and develop corporate allies, we must invest in reaching more alumni and growing our donor rolls. We have seen an uptick in alumni interest in establishing endowments and scholarships. We must keep that momentum. Hence, we have begun developing a virtual educational series on giving with a focus on scholarships and endowments.

PLEASE VISIT LAW.NCCU.EDU

HBCU Law Schools are rare gems. We must treasure and protect these gems for future generations of lawyers who will fill the ranks of the judiciary, law enforcement, and all areas of legal practice and Wepolicymaking.thankour current donors and future donors who heed the call to invest in NCCU School of Law’s mission and vision.

NCCU School of Law dedicated Classroom 202 in honor of Bert and Carolyn B. Collins who have created a $300,000 scholarship endowment for law students. AND DONATE TO ONE MORE THE LISTED PROGRAMS/FUNDS: Law School Annual Fund Law School General Scholarship Fund Performance Based Admission Program (PBAP) Social Justice and Racial Equality Initiative EAGLE Association Fund Law School Library Eagles 80th Fund

Thank you for your continuing support for NCCU School of Law! Every gift makes a difference to our students, faculty, and law school community. Powered by philanthropy, NCCU School of Law provides scholarships to outstanding students, retains inspiring educators and offers programs that support one of the finest law schools in the country.

2 OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 SUPPORT AND GIVE BACK TO NC CENTRAL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Leave a Legacy: When you include the NCCU Foundation in your estate plan, your generosity ensures NCCU School of Law’s ability to fulfill its mission well into the future, and will leave a lasting legacy to be remembered. For more information about endowed funds or planned giving and bequests, please contact the Division of Institutional Advancement at 919-530-6151 or visit ncculegacy.org.

Since the historic election of Howard University Alumna Kamala Devi Harris to the office of Vice President of the United States of America, national attention has focused on Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). NCCU School of Law has been a benefactor of this intense interest and has been afforded more opportunities to share its mission and academic excellence along with a litany of its successful graduates to the country. Our law school application rates continue to increase, and more employers are recruiting and hiring our legal eagles. Furthermore, agencies and corporations are investing resources in providing scholarships and internships to our students, which make them more competitive in the job market.

The Honorable Kristin Kelly Broyles District Court Judge - Judicial District 21 Forsyth County

26E Mecklenburg County

The Honorable Justin Minshew District Court Judge - District 8A Greene, Dorothy Hairston Mitchell - District Court Judge District 14 Durham County

The Honorable Reggie McKnight Superior Court Judge - Judicial District

4 Message from Dean Browne C. Lewis 6 Mayor Elaine O’Neal Q & A 8 Introducing NCCU School of Law’s Social Justice and Racial Equity Institute (SJREI) 9 NCCU School of Law Technolgy Law & Policy Center Launch, Executive Director, Fall Activites 11 Kurt G. Vernon and Kia Hardy-Vernon Endowed Scholarship 12 Alumna Dena J. King Sworn in As United States Attorney from the Westerm District of North Carolina 13 More Than a Marathon: Preparing Students for the Bar Exam by Adopting an Olympics Mentality by Meredith Darlington Hudson - Director of Bar Preparation 15 Pipeline Grants to help underrepresented Undergrads Matriculate into Law 16 Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Programs, Fred J. Williams, AssistantRetires Professor Dr. Jonathan Augustine Authors New Book - Called to Reconciliation 17 Assistant Professor Ansel Brown travels to East Africa 17 Julian T. Pierce Memorial Scholarship Committee Makes Donation to NCCU School of Law 18 Innovation for the NCCU School of Law Pro Bono Program 20 Legal Clinic Conference Room Named in Honor of Judge A. Leon Stanback Jr. 21 NCCU School of Law Judges 24 2022 Student Bar Association President Chazle’ Woodley Q&A 25 NCCU School of Law Students Win Legal Design Derby 26 NCCU School of Law’s Moot Court Team in the McGee Championship 27 Intel Summer Associate Legal Internship 28 NCCU School of Law’s PBAP: What Started as an Obstacle Ended Up Becoming a Key to Success 29 Peggy Brown Fellowship Rianah Alexander 30 PBAP - Meet and Mingle 31 HBLS Day (Collage) 32 Nickeyea Wilkinson-Pickett 33 Oneshia Herring Named Deputy Director for Civil Rights 34 40 Under 40 Alumni Awards 35 Mark Gray II: Family Legacies, Generational Lawyering and Giving Back 37 Where is the Voice of the Criminal Defense: Take Several Seats at the Table 38 An Update on Incubating Legal Practices: New Name, Same Mission (Incubator for Legal Practice and Innovation) 40 Three Workplace Trends the Legal Community Should Watch in 2022 42 An Aneurysm Turned an Attorney into a YouTuber 43 NCCU School of Law Alumni Serving the State at NC Counts Coalition 45 Memorial: Mr. Elvis Lewis, Jr. (1944-2021) 46 NCCU School of Law Donor Honor Roll TABLE OF CONTENTS Dean: Browne C. Lewis Associate Dean of Administration & External Relations (Development Office): Marsetta Lee, Esq Director of Marketing and Communications: Terri Godwin Hyman University Program Specialist: Karuna Rekhraj Web Support: Elias Brown Printer: Impress Print & Graphic Solutions The NCCU School of Law publishes the Of Counsel Magazine. This Publication is supported by the Title III Program. Approximately 3250 copies of this issue were printed at the cost of $4.53 each. North Durham,640SchoolCentralCarolinaUniversityofLawNelsonStreetNC27707AbouttheCover–JudicialAppointments

The Honorable Cull Jordan, District Court Judge - Judicial District 12 Cumberland

County

The Honorable Morgan Swinson District Court Judge - Judicial District Four Duplin, Jones, Onslow

and Sampson counties

III

Lenoir and Wayne TheCountiesHonorable

In my last message, I focused on the pandemic, the presidential election, and the political upheaval in our country. As I write this message, conditions are noticeably better. Flowers are blooming, the days are longer, and birds are chirping outside my window. Spring has definitely put in an appearance. I hear students in the hallways chatting and laughing because they are so excited to be back together, and planning summer vacations. The Nest has definitely been revived. As I look at my legal eagles, I am so very proud to have the privilege of serving as their Asdean.Iwrite this brief message, we are on the verge of the first black woman joining the United States Supreme Court. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has a brilliant legal mind and a wealth of experience that makes her uniquely suited to serve on the highest court in the land. (Her father, Johnny Brown, is a graduate of North Carolina Central University). During the confirmation hearing, Senator Cory Booker told Judge Jackson: “You have earned this spot. You are worthy. You are a great American.” Those words brought tears to Judge Jackson’s eyes and to the eyes of many people who were watching. Those words embody what we have been telling our students since our inception. Based on the accomplishments of our legal eagles, it is clear that the message is being Ireceived.oftenwalk the building and chat with the students. Lately, our conversations have centered around judges and the power that they wield. Judges issue major decisions that impact our lives. NC Central University School of Law exists primarily because of the actions of judges. In 1935, Lloyd Lionel Gaines, a black man, applied to be admitted into the University of Missouri School of Law. Sy Woodson Canada, a white man who served as the registrar of the law school, did not realize that Gaines was black, so he accepted his application. However, when Canada received Gaines’ academic transcript from Lincoln University, an HBCU, he realized his “mistake.” Then, he denied Gaines’ entry into the law school. Consequently, Charles Hamilton Houston and the NAACP filed suit on Gaines’ behalf. Ultimately, the Supreme Court upheld the “separate but equal” doctrine. It required the state of Missouri to create a law school for black students or to admit Gaines into the white law school. In response, the Missouri legislature established a law school at Lincoln University. Several southern legislatures, including North Carolina, followed Missouri’s lead. Thus, NCCU School of Law was created, so black students would not have to be permitted to enroll in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. NCCU School of Law has been educating judicial eagles since its inception.

Message from Dean Browne C. Lewis

4 OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022

Prior to starting my tenure as dean almost two years ago, I was aware of the rich history of NCCU School of Law. However, I did not know that we had such a presence in the judiciary until I started encountering our judicial eagles. Shortly after I was selected as the new dean, I received a congratulatory telephone call from Judge Elaine O’Neal, the interim dean, welcoming me to the Nest. Judge O’Neal was the first woman appointed as chief district court judge in Durham County and the first female North Carolina Superior Court judge in Durham Court. Currently, she is the first black woman to be elected as mayor of the city of Durham. One of my first acts as dean was to engage with our Board of Visitors (BOV). Four judges serving on our BOV are Judges Patricia Evans, Monte D. Watkins, Jared Rice, and Jefferson Griffin. Judge Evans is a Durham County District Court Judge who tutors at-risk children. Judge Watkins is a judge for Division V of the Tennessee 20th Judicial District Criminal Court who has a reputation for showing fairness to both the defense and the prosecution in all his cases. After serving as a city councilman, Judge Rice was appointed to replace his mother as judge on the New Rochelle City Court in New York. Judge Griffin is a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals who also serves as a Captain in the North Carolina Army National Guard. During my first few months, I participated in listening sessions with NCCU School of Law alumni. During one of those sessions, I had the privilege of meeting Judges Virgil Walker and Keith Williams. Judge Walker is a judge for the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania and Judge Williams is a magisterial district judge for Delaware County in IPennsylvania.havehadthe opportunity to work beside and interact with several of our judicial eagles.

Browne C. Lewis Browne C. Lewis, Dean NC Central University School of Law

OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 5

Former Chief Justice Beasley appointed me to the Commission on Fairness and Equity. While serving on the Commission, I had the chance to work with Michael Morgan, Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Prior to her appointment as District Court Judge in District 14, Judge Dorothy Hairston Mitchell was an Associate Clinical Professor and the Supervising Attorney of the Juvenile Law Clinic at NCCU School of Law. She also served as the Legal Director of the Center for Child & Family Health and the CoDirector of the Social Justice and Racial Equity Institute. Recently, I spent time with Judge A. Leon Stanback, Jr. and his family when we named the conference room in our Legal Clinic in his honor. Judge Stanback served as Superior Court Judge for the 14th Judicial District of the Third Division of the Superior Court in Durham. I am immensely proud of our Legal Eagles who have recently become judges. These include Reggie McKnight (District Court 26 E), Justin Minshew (District Court 8A), Morgan Swinson (District Court 4), Kristin Kelly Broyles (District Court 21), and Cull Jordan III (Cumberland MyCounty).listof our judicial eagles is not exhaustive. I look forward to meeting more of our alumni who are on the bench. Moreover, I am convinced that many of the legal eagles in our Nest today are the judges of tomorrow. NCCU School of Law is the place where judicial eagles are birthed. Read the stories in this magazine and judge for yourself.

CHAT WITH DURHAM MAYOR ELAINE O’NEAL ‘91

O’Neal grew up in the West End community in Durham, which at the time consisted primarily of professionals. O’Neal said, “One of my first jobs as a teenager was at NCCU School of Law through the City of Durham Youth Program.” She worked in the Law Library under Hazel Lumpkin as a library Sheassistant.saidthat as a teen, the exposure to the library, lawyers, and other professionals helped her. However, she only decided to become a lawyer upon meeting a civil rights attorney from her neighborhood who introduced her to the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People. “This was my first exposure to politics and law,” said O’Neal, who is the only lawyer in her family.

Accustomed to getting the work done without much fanfare, the media attention is something she’s working on getting used to. O’Neal said, “I love the work, but not the publicity.”

Mayor O’Neal sat down on a recent Zoom call to talk about the legal profession, the importance of HBCUs, and her Alma Mater—NCCU. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics in 1984 and a Juris Doctor in 1991, which makes her a “double eagle.”

The City of Durham and NC Central University’s own Mayor Elaine O’Neal is no stranger to stepping around glass as she figuratively continues to shatter the glass ceiling in her career. O’Neal was the first woman to serve as a chief district court judge in Durham County and the first female North Carolina Superior Court judge in Durham County. Before running for mayor, O’Neal served as interim dean of NCCU School of Law from 2018 to 2020. 1st O’Neal is now the first Black woman mayor of the Bull City.

In her brief tenure to date as Durham Mayor, O’Neal has found herself at the helm of a city rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic, challenged with increasing crime, and grappling with disparities that taint everything from housing to public health.

6 OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022

According to data from the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University, Black women mayors lead seven of the 100 cities with the largest populations in the United States.

By Terri Godwin Hyman Director of Marketing and Communications

Having recently marked her first 100 days in office, O’Neal says it’s “a lot of work,” something she’s used to. “This should be normal for a woman of color to be in this position,” O’Neal said. “Some days, I feel like a museum object. It shouldn’t be a thing; this should be normal. Women are very capable of running cities and navigating spaces that have traditionally been held by men.”

NCCU School of Law Graduate is First Black Woman Mayor of the Bull City

Legal Amplified!!!Pride……Eagle

Vice President Kamala Harris, a Howard Alumna, reignited the interest of popular culture in HBCUs. As a former law school dean, comment on the value of HBCUs and HBLS, particularly NCCU School of Law. I can’t imagine a world without NCCU School of Law. Just for my life and what it has meant for me and the lives I’ve been able to touch because of my degree. The contributions of judges on the bench from NCCU School of Law are extraordinary. I don’t have the vocabulary to tell you how important that is. There are so many NCCU School of Law graduates in public service right here in Durham and throughout North Carolina and the nation. We would not be who we are as a city, who we are as a state or a country without HBCUs and the value Black attorneys bring to this arena. Are there any Partnerships with higher education institutions that will be part of your administration? I’m always on the campus of NCCU. I make it a point to stay in touch with the chancellor and the law school dean. I want to make sure our students stay safe. I’m concerned about the influx of traffic on Fayetteville Street as students are crossing the streets. The city is looking at how we can help in that regard. I want students to know that they have a Durham Mayor who is a double eagle and always here to help. We’re also looking at implementing ShotSpotter, a gunfire detection system with sensors that can be installed on buildings and lamp posts for faster police response times. What do you wish you had known in law school? My education at NCCU School of Law was not lacking in any respect. My professors Fred Williams, Irving Joyner, Charles Smith, Finesse Couch, and Adrian Fox trained me well. That is why I am so committed to the school because the faculty equipped me with everything I needed to succeed in my legal career. I made lifetime friends and we remain a family today. What advice would you give future law students? Study hard. Law school changes the way your brain thinks about problems and issues, and it requires discipline and lots of studying. You also need balance and discipline. Are there any final thoughts you would like to leave with us?

As an undergraduate at NCCU, I pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Alpha Lambda Chapter Spring ‘82, and this year our line will be on the yard celebrating our 40th anniversary. NCCU is embedded in my life and my heart, and it always will be.

OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 7 QUESTION & ANSWER SESSION WITH MAYOR O’NEAL Nearly all people of color are still under-represented in the legal profession. According to the American Bar Association, 85% of all lawyers are white and only 4.7% are black. What advice do you have on how to achieve greater diversity in the legal profession? One of the toughest hurdles for African Americans is the LSAT. It goes back to testing. The SAT is probably the first standardized entry test most college students take. I remember taking the LSAT and realizing that I had never been exposed to the scenarios presented on the exam. The LSAT is a big hurdle for African Americans who have not had exposure to the legal profession. There are assumptions that we all have been exposed to things that we have not. I earned a math degree and graduated with honors, but the LSAT was still difficult. The scenarios presented on the exam were not a part of my world. If the scenarios were reflective of the Black experience, I would have aced it on the first try. The LSAT is not written from our perspective, and it caters to a certain population and class of people. So, the biggest hurdle we face is the entry in the door. Prep courses help, but they do not address cultural differences. If the roles were reversed, the majority culture would have the same difficulty passing the test.

Systemic and institutional inequities, especially in matters of race, remain significant barriers for people and communities working to reach their full potential. We seek to advance racial equity by engaging in holistic, interdisciplinary problem solving that offers concrete proposals, policies, initiatives, and legal solutions that will help to repair and reverse the legacy of racial injustice.

FEATURED ARTICLE

12OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 NCCU School of Law alumna Dena J. King was officially sworn in on November 29, 2021, as United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. nominated Ms. King on September 28, 2021. The United States Senate confirmed her on November 19, 2021.

I am honored to serve as United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina

More Than a Marathon: Preparing Students for the Bar Exam by Adopting an Olympics Mentality

Heresuccess.atNorth Carolina Central University School of Law, the Office of Academic Success is committed to supporting our students from orientation until they pass the bar exam. One of the messages we convey to our students is how bar preparation starts at the same time law school does. On day one law students are already learning the skills and substantive law they will need to be successful on the bar exam upon graduation. Those core 1L classes of Civil Procedure, Contracts, Criminal Law, Real Property, and Torts are all tested on both the essay and multiple choice portions of the bar exam. Further,

Actively thinking ahead about the bar exam and continuously working towards taking that exam (as law licensure is the goal for most of our law students) is an important part of bar exam

ACADEMIC SUCCESS

Athletes around the world are already preparing for 2026, when the next Winter Olympics will be hosted in Italy. These athletes will train for and compete in other events and championships during the months and years in between, building up to their ultimate goal: the test of human strength and endurance in their Olympic event.

like athletes during those training years, law students will train by taking midterm and final exams every semester, testing their legal knowledge in those courses. They should evaluate what worked for them and what did not, noting what they want to both maintain and improve upon after each assessment. This includes not just their knowledge of substantive law, but also their reading, writing, and analysis skills.

By making self-assessment a habit throughout their law school career, they should have a good idea of their personal strengths and weaknesses before they begin their bar review program.

Critical Thinking provides 1L students the study skills required for successful navigation of law school and the bar exam.

The law school has made substantial investments to provide additional resources to students while they are enrolled here in order to enable them to be even stronger when they enter the bar preparation period. We offer revamped courses, Advanced Legal Analysis (ALA) 1 and 2 and Comprehensive Legal Analysis (CLA) – formerly North Carolina Distinctions – both designed to prepare students to be successful on the bar exam.

Similarly, first-year law students should enter law school with their projected bar exam date scheduled in the back of their minds. While years away in the future, every step students take during their law school journey, starting on their first day, brings them closer to their expected bar exam date. Thus, they should take purposeful Muchsteps.

If you are reading this article, chances are you’ve heard more times than you can count how studying for the bar examination is like training for a marathon. I especially agree with this statement in the context of the 10-12 weeks a bar taker will spend either from May through July for the July bar exam or December through February for the February bar exam. However, with the 2022 Winter Olympics just wrapping up in Beijing, China, I also propose that preparing for the bar exam is like preparing to compete at the next Olympic Games, years in the future.

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By Meredith Darlington Hudson ‘14 Director of Bar Preparation

The course focuses on the multiple choice portion of the bar exam, the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE). This class gives our students the opportunity to take two semesters of learning and practicing the strategies and tactics required to be successful on the MBE. Each semester focuses on different substantive law subjects tested on the bar exam: Civil Procedure, Contracts, and Criminal Law; and Real Property, Torts, and Criminal Procedure. An additional benefit students gain by taking ALA is these same MBE subjects may be tested on the bar exam’s essay portion. Thus, students have an another chance to review and reinforce their knowledge of highly tested bar exam material.

Last summer a May 2021 graduate was in the law school preparing for the July bar exam. That graduate came into our office distraught over the amount of information there was to learn over the summer. She expressed the sentiment that she could never learn it all. This was a great opening to remind her that she isn’t learning it all over the summer because she was doing the work all along. She’s been working hard to learn this material since she started law school, and now it’s all coming together. Years of training are culminating in this final summer push. That graduate was dedicated to her work both in law school and all summer. To none of our surprise, she passed the July 2021 bar exam. She, as well as the other bar takers in the building last summer, trained in all sorts of conditions. Sometimes the rooms were as icy cold as one would expect to feel at the Winter Olympics, and other days the rooms felt searing hot with conditions one would expect to feel at the Summer Olympics. Both are conditions one might expect to find themselves in on bar examination day. However, they pushed on. They covered the walls of study rooms with rules they’d collected from 1L, 2L, and 3L years. They created stacks of flash cards measuring from the floor to almost shoulder height. They worked through tiredness and times of low motivation, but they never gave up. Of the graduates who regularly studied at the law school last summer, 90% passed the July bar exam. They worked hard throughout law school, and then they brought themselves over the finish line by continuing to do the work all summer. They gifted themselves the confidence on exam day that they did everything they could to set themselves up for success. As we tell our students, every pass at the material makes them stronger. The stronger they are when they graduate, the stronger they will be when they sit for the bar exam. That starts on their first day of law school and does not end until they pass the bar exam. We are here to support them and encourage them throughout these years. When their ultimate event, the bar exam, finally comes around, it is their time to shine and execute.

Additionally, CLA gives students the chance to practice time management, as they have more freedom to decide when they want to complete each week’s assignments. This also mimics the bar review process. During bar prep, bar takers will have daily tasks assigned by their bar review course to complete, but they will be responsible for creating their study schedule and deciding when during their day they will complete those items.

In addition to ALA and CLA, all graduating students are invited to enroll in the Spring PASS (Prepare, Adapt, Study, Succeed) Program. PASS is an additional way students can experience transitioning from law student to bar review student while focusing on MBE strategies and tactics for Evidence and Constitutional Law. Students who take ALA and/or PASS and/or CLA have access to the course materials, which are created by bar review companies. By using those materials, students are able to experience the bar preparation process by using resources designed for bar preparation. These opportunities allow our students to enter bar preparation with the understanding of how they actually do bar prep rather than diving head first after graduation without direction.

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Instead of, “Go Team USA!” we shout, “Let’s Go Legal Eagles!”

Advanced Legal Analysis 1 and 2 is offered to all 2Ls/3LEs and 3Ls/4LEs.

Comprehensive Legal Analysis is a required spring semester class for all 3Ls/4LEs. The course focuses on the written components of the bar exam, the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) and Multistate Essay Exam (MEE). When students take CLA, they are learning how to transition from law student to bar preparation student. Thus, this class gives our students the opportunity to learn and practice the strategies and tactics required to be successful on these written portions of the bar exam by watching bar review style lectures and completing written assignments, simulating what they will soon do during the bar prep process.

Just like Olympic coaches working with athletes for years, on game day we are there for that support and encouragement. We are on the sidelines cheering the bar takers on, reminding them of the hard work they’ve put into this challenge all along.

The Law School Admission Council awarded a $100,000 grant to create the Preparing Aspiring Law Students (P.A.L.S.). The P.A.L.S Program will invite 30 first-generation college students and students who are economically disadvantaged. The law school will work closely with the state’s 10 HBCUs and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, a Native American-Serving Institution. P.A.L.S. intervention is grounded in Jacquelynne Eccles’s Expectancy Value Theory, which begins with an examination of the “culture milieu” or the understandings imposed by our broader society. The P.A.L.S. Program will acknowledge the existence of stereotypes regarding the performance and expectations of all applicants to law school.

NCCU School of Law has been awarded two pipeline grants to help under-represented undergraduates matriculate in law school.

The Second Chance Legal Pipeline Program award of $300,000, funded by AccessLex will provide support, encouragement, and assistance to members of under-represented communities who have demonstrated an interest in becoming lawyers by submitting law school applications which did not result in acceptances. NCCU School of Law is one of only a handful of law schools in the country to receive these grants. “We’re excited for the opportunity to offer these programs,” said Dean Browne C. Lewis. These grants will allow NCCU School of Law to inspire the next generation of law students. Thank you to Associate Dean and Professor Malik Edwards for his diligence in securing the grants. Both programs will begin in summer 2022. For more information and to apply, visit LAW.NCCU.EDU.

OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 15 ACADEMIC SUCCESS

GrantsPipelineto Help intoMatriculateUndergradsUnder-representedLaw

The book was released in February 2022. Augustine, a nationally recognized speaker and church leader, demonstrates that the church is called and equipped to model reconciliation, justice, diversity, and inclusion.

Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Programs, Fred J. Williams, Retires

PBAP was created by former NCCU School of Law Dean Mary Wright and Professor Charles Smith nearly 30 years ago. It is offered to a limited number of applicants whose credentials do not qualify them for unconditional admission but whose records nonetheless show promise of Williamssuccess.

Longtime Law School Professor Fred J. Williams retired with 40 years of service. Williams, an Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Programs, began teaching at NCCU School of Law School on January 1, 1980. Dean Harry Groves hired him to teach Criminal Law and Criminal Law Procedure. A Durham native, Williams became the go-to source for both. For decades, he has been an active member of the legal community and has served in numerous leadership roles. Early in his career, he worked as a public defender in Fayetteville, NC. In 1985, he was appointed as a Special Superior Court Judge by NC Governor James B. Hunt. During his time on the judicial bench, he traveled to numerous counties throughout the state.

Assistant Professor Dr. Jonathan C. Augustine Authors New Book

earned his Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Duke University. A respected leader, he has inspired generations of lawyers. His commitment to teaching law never wavered. Year after year, he brought his unique spirit to every class and student he taught. Among the NCCU School of Law faculty, Williams has a collective joy to enjoy a new chapter in his life but a sense of loss of institutional knowledge. What is next for Williams? “Family, rest, and relaxation, that’s it,” he says.

Professor Jonathan C. Augustine published a new book titled: Called to Reconciliation: How the Church Can Model Justice, Diversity, and Inclusion

FACULTY NEWS By Terri Godwin Hyman Director of Marketing and Communications

FACULTY NEWS

“It’s been gratifying to have given students a foundation. I enjoy sharing my knowledge and educating students,” he said. NCCU School of Law is one of only six HBCU Law Schools in the country. When asked what makes this law school unique, Williams shared, “NCCU gives intelligent individuals, many of whom are minorities, an opportunity to attend law school by considering more than just the required standardized test scores. We know that LSAT scores are not always the best indicators of what a student can do. I admire our law school for establishing the Performance Based Admissions Program (PBAP).”

Makes Donation to NCCU School of Law SPOTLIGHT ON ALUMNI

Assistant Professor Ansel Brown Travels to East Africa

A special thank you to the Julian T. Pierce Memorial Art Dinner Program for presenting a generous donation to NCCU School of Law Scholarship Program. Alumnus Kelvin Jacobs ‘13, General Counsel at UNC Pembroke, graciously presented the donation to Dean Browne C. Lewis.

Professor Brown was honored to present his most recent article for publication, “Establishing an Integrated Judiciary to Facilitate the African Continental Free Trade Area,” to the African Group of Ambassadors to the United Nations. The article was published in January 2022 in the Minnesota Journal of International Law.

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Of the trip, Professor Brown stated, “While this was a personal trip, I was able to see first-hand the immense potential for collaboration between HBCU law schools such as our own and partners in Africa.”

FACULTY NEWS

Julian T. Pierce Memorial Scholarship Committee

Deans Browne C. Lewis and Marsetta Lee at lunch with alumni in Pembroke, NC.

January of 2022, NCCU School of Law Assistant Professor Ansel Brown traveled to East Africa with the Africa-Israel Chamber of Commerce, a faithbased organization charged with advancing the economic development of Africa through trade, investment, and leadership development. As Director of the African Diaspora Chamber of Commerce, Professor Brown met with local chambers in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nauru, and Kigali to impart vision and engage opportunities for facilitating business ties between Africa and the African Diaspora. During the trip, Professor Brown was also able to spend a few priceless days with family in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

As a result, Director Jefferies petitioned alumni to learn about their current pro bono work and seek out pro bono projects through the newly created NCCU School of Law Pro Bono Project Submission platform. This virtual platform allows attorneys, particularly alumni, to submit pro bono project proposals online to be a part of the law school pro bono program. With the launch of this new platform, alumni enthusiastically responded, breathing new life into the program. To no surprise, alumni are giving of their time, talents, and resources to advocate for the marginalized and train future lawyer leaders to do the same.

Pro bono work has made its way to the forefront of practice and legal education in the midst of the pandemic. Legal minds are finding creative ways to solve the exasperated, COVID-19 induced needs for its most vulnerable citizens. Budding attorneys have picked up the mantle to assist with these efforts as law school pro bono programs partner with the community to support and NCCUserve. School of Law understands the importance of service. It is the hallmark of the institution and engrained in its mission. In finding ways to support citizens in need during the pandemic, NCCU School of Law knew the question was not “if” but “how”. The NCCU School of Law Pro Bono Program has relaunched with strategic efforts to serve marginalized citizens while remaining safe during the pandemic. Under the leadership of the new Pro Bono Clinic Director, Lakethia G. Jefferies ‘09, dedicated law students and alumni have gotten creative in continuing the institution’s legacy of “truth and service”. While pivoting to remote spaces has come with its challenges, the NCCU School of Law Pro Bono Program found the silver lining and turned lemons into lemonade. Director Jefferies saw the remote spaces as an opportunity to engage and partner in new ways, particularly with alumni who were already doing worthwhile pro bono work. The barriers that once accompanied in-person work were now eliminated. Now alumni, throughout the state and country, could connect and collaborate in providing free legal services to those in need.

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By Lakethia G. Jefferies ‘09 Director of Pro Bono Clinic LAW CLINIC

Innovation for the NCCU School of Law Pro Bono Program

Legally changing your name is a major milestone for many transitioning people. However, it can be a complex and expensive endeavor. Alumni Katheryn A Jenifer, ‘20 and Nicholas Patten, ‘20 are leading the efforts in supporting diversity and inclusion through the NCCU School of Law Name Change Clinic. The NCCU School of Law Name Change Clinic is a virtual clinic where law students, attorney volunteers, and experts meet with attendees seeking legal information. This clinic offers step-by-step guidance and legal assistance for attendees embarking on the name change process.

These are but a few on the growing list of pro bono projects offered through the NCCU School of Law Pro Bono Clinic. Unarguably, everyone has experienced setbacks due to the pandemic, but Jefferies is optimistic about the possibilities and opportunities to connect and serve those underrepresented in new ways. While the pandemic will fade away, Jefferies believes its effects in bringing about innovation and new collaborations will endure.

A few highlighted projects are as follows:

NCCU SCHOOL OF LAW WILLS CLINIC – ELDER LAW PROJECT:

Alumnus William C. Moore, ‘92, serves as the supervising attorney for the NCCU School of Law Elder Law Project (ELP). He gives freely of his time and expertise in training students and partnering with the Pro Bono Clinic to provide health care directives and wills for indigent elderly clients of Durham County. While the ELP has a strong legacy at NCCU School of Law, this pro bono project has been coined as Attorney Moore’s “pro bono baby”.

In collaboration with the North Carolina Advocates for Justice (NCAJ) and the North Carolina Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Criminal Justice System (NC CRED), students work with alumni Emily Gibson, ‘09 and Christopher Heaney, ‘09 to prepare for litigation across the state regarding the removal of confederate monuments, portraits, writings, or other relics. As part of representation in criminal cases, students work with these attorneys on research and filing motions to remove or cover confederate statues.

NCCU SCHOOL OF LAW NAME CORRECTIONCLINIC:

MONUMENTCONFEDERATEREMOVALRESEARCHPROJECT:

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he NCCU School of Law dedicated its Legal Clinic Conference Room to Judge A. Leon Stanback, Jr. during a ceremony held on November 10, 2021. Judge Stanback served as Superior Court Judge for the 14th Judicial District of the Third Division of the Superior Court in Durham, North Carolina. He was appointed to the court in 1989 and retired in late 2009. “I am humbled and honored by this recognition and overflowing with love and gratitude for my entire family,” said Judge Stanback. CLINIC

In 1980, Judge Stanback led Stanback & Stanback, P.A., managing business affairs and supervising attorneys in the firm. In 1985, Judge Stanback expanded his career to serving on the Governor’s Minority Executive Advisory Council. In this role, Judge Stanback advised the Governor of North Carolina on employment, education, and economic development issues. Judge Stanback later became Commissioner of the North Carolina Parole Commission, where he developed programs that helped rehabilitate inmates and made recommendations concerning pardons and Stanbackcommutations.presided over various civil and criminal Superior Courts of North Carolina. In 1989, he was appointed to the North Carolina Superior Court for the 14th Judicial District serving Durham County. After leaving the bench, Judge Stanback 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 is a member of numerous legal and professional organizations, including the North Carolina Bar Association and the National Bar Association Judicial Council. He is also a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. In his esteemed career, Judge Stanback has received numerous awards and honors. Judge Stanback is married to Michelle F. Stanback and they have three daughters: Catherine, Kynita, and Portia, and a granddaughter, Victoria. A. LEON STANBACK, JR.

The Honorable Judge A. Leon Stanback, Jr. Honored at Naming Ceremony

LAW

Dean Browne C. Lewis and Michelle F. Stanback unveiled a plaque and portrait of Judge Stanback that hangs in the Clinic Conference Room.

Congressman G.K. Butterfield attended the naming ceremony and spoke about his friendship with Judge Stanback. The two met on the campus of NCCU when Judge Stanback was entering law school. The ceremony also included tributes from longtime friend Attorney H.M. “Mickey” Michaux, Jr., and former Durham Mayor William V. Bell.

“NCCU School of Law has been at the center of my legal career since I began Law School in 1965. I am thrilled that the Legal Clinic Conference Room will stand as a beacon of inspiration for future law students.”

BIOGRAPHY: JUDGE

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Since 1968, Judge A. Leon Stanback, Jr. has served North Carolina and the Durham community with distinction as a prosecutor, parole commissioner, private practitioner, and Superior Court Judge. An alumnus of NCCU, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1965 and Juris Doctor in 1968 from NCCU School of Law. After admission to the North Carolina Bar in 1968, Judge Stanback was hired as an associate attorney with Frye & Johnson Attorneys. He became an Assistant District Attorney (ADA) for Guilford County one year later. In his role as an ADA, 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.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022 - The Honorable Morgan Swinson was appointed District Court Judge in Judicial District 4, serving Duplin, Jones, Onslow, and Sampson counties. Prior, she was a Managing Partner and Attorney at Swinson & Atkinson. Swinson earned her Bachelor of Arts at North Carolina State University and her Juris Doctor from NCCU School of Law in 2007.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022 - The Honorable Kristin Kelly Broyles was appointed District Court Judge in Judicial District 21, serving Forsyth County. Prior, she was a Partner at Kelly & Payne, PLLC, an Adjunct Professor at Forsyth Technical Community College, and a Staff Attorney at Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from UNC Chapel Hill and her Juris Doctor from NCCU School of Law in 2008.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2021 - Governor Roy Cooper appointed The Honorable Reggie McKnight as Superior Court Judge in Judicial District 26E to serve Mecklenburg County. Judge McKnight earned his Bachelor of Arts at the University of South Carolina and his Juris Doctor from NCCU School of Law in 1996.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2021 - The Honorable Dorothy Hairston Mitchell was appointed District Court Judge in District 14, serving Durham County. Mitchell served as a Clinical Associate Professor at North Carolina Central University School of Law, Legal Director at the Center for Child & Family Health and served as Court Appointed Appellate Counsel for the NC Office of the Parent Defender. She earned her Bachelor of Arts at North Carolina Central University in 1999 and her Juris Doctor from NCCU School of Law in 2002.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2021 - The Honorable Justin Minshew was appointed District Court Judge in District 8A to serve Greene, Lenoir, and Wayne counties. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his Juris Doctor from NCCU School of Law in 2009.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 2021 - The Honorable Cull Jordan, III was appointed a District Court Judge in Judicial District 12 serving Cumberland County. He earned his Bachelor of Arts at Wingate University and his Juris Doctor from NCCU School of Law in 2001.

GALE SUPERIAORADAMSCOURT JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 12 ROBERT ALBRIGHT SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 18 ROSALIND BAKER JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 22 DAVID BAKER SR. JUDGE North Carolina Juducial District 10 CAMILLE BANKS-PRINCE JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 21 EDGAR BARNES CHIEF JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 1 STEPHEN BIBEY JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 20 GEORGE G. BRADDY CHIEF JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 3A BRENDA BRANCH CHIEF JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 6 ERICA BRANDON JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 17 LARRY BROWN JR JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 15 KRISTIN KELLY BROYLES JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 21 GREGORY BULLARD JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 16 LOGAN BURKE SENIOR RESIDENT SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 21 JAMES CHAMPION JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 27 CRAIG CROOM SPECIAL JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 10 RICHARD R. DAVIS JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 5 JASON DISBROW SENIOR RESIDENT SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 13A FRANCES DUFFIE JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 12 PATRICIA EVANS CHIEF JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 14 JAMES H. FAISON JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 5 KIMBERLY FLETCHER JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 18 ANGELA FOSTER JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 18 TERESA R. FREEMAN JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 6 PHYLLIS GORHAM SENIOR RESIDENT SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 5 CY SENIORGRANTRESIDENT SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 6B KEITH SUPERIORGREGORYCOURTJUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 10 JEFFERSON GRIFFIN JUDGE North Carolina Court of Appeals NATHAN GWYN JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court DOROTHY HAIRSTONJUDGEMITCHELL North Carolina Judicial District 14 O DAVID HALL JUDGE aNorth Carolina Judicial District 14 PAULINE HANKINS JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 13 RICHARD HARRELL CHIEF SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 5 HAL JUDGEHARRISON North Carolina Judicial District 24 DAVID HASTY JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 12 WENDY HAZELTON JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 3A GARY HENDERSON JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 26 TRACEY HEWETT JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 26 JAMES HILL CHIEF DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, SINCE 2010 North Carolina District Court, District 28 TABATHA HOLLIDAY-BREWER JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 18 DONNIE HOOVER SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE State of North Carolina Superior Court, District 26 BENJAMIN HUNTER JUDGE North Carolina Juducial District 11 CLAYTON JONES JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 14 CULL JORDAN JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 12 CULL JORDAN III JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 12 ADAM KEITH JUDGE North Carolina Juducial District 9th JOSEPHINE KERR-DAVIS JUDGE North Carolina 1st Superior Court Division, Judicial District 14B TONI KING JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 12 OLA LEWIS (DECEASED) AMANDAJUDGE MARIS JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 14 QUINTIN MCGEE JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 13 LINDSEY MCKEE-LUTHER JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 5 REGGIE MCKNIGHT JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 26 REGGIE MCKNIGHT JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, Judicial District 28 E JUSTIN MINSHEW JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 8A VERSHENIA MOODY JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 6 JUDICIAL IMPACT NCCU School of Law Judges

KEISHA WRIGHT HILL CHIEF MAGISTRATE COURT JUDGE Clayton County, Georgia Magistrate Court

JAN BROMELL HOLMES JUDGE South Carolina Circuit Court ALESHA15 E. LEWIS FlorenceJUDGE Municipal Court South Carolina

ONZLEE WARE JUDGE Virginia Circuit Court, 23rd Judicial Court

MONTE D. WATKINS JUDGE Tennessee 20th Judicial District Criminal Court Division V W. KEITH WILLIAMS II JUDGE Pennsylvania Magisterial District DelawareCourtCounty

GARRETT D. PAGE JUDGE Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas JARED RICE JUDGE New Rochelle City Court New York

AIJA TINGLING JUDGE The Bronx County Family Court 12th Judicial District of New York VIRGIL WALKER JUDGE Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas

JUDGE Prince William County, Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court, Maryland RAYFORD A. MEANS JUDGE Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas

MICHAEL R. MORGAN SUPREME COURT JUSTICE North Carolina Supreme Court DANIEL NAGLE JUDGE North Carolina Juducial District 10 ELAINE O’NEAL JUDGE Mayor of Durham (Former Judge) REGINA PARKER CHIEF JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 2 ASHLEIGH PARKER DUNSTON JUDGE North Carolina Juducial District 10 HATHAWAY PENDERGRASS JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 15 ADDIE H. RAWLS JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 11 EULA SUPERIORREIDCOURT JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 1 SHAMIEKA RHINEHART JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 14 HERBERT L. RICHARDSON JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 16B TERRY ROSE JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 11 VINSTON ROZIER SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 10 MARCUS SHIELDS JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 18 CHERI SILER-MACK JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 12 WILLIAM STACKHOUSE JUDGE North Carolina Juducial District 8 W. TURNER STEPHENSON III JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 6 MARK STEVENS JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 10 CHRISTINE STRADER JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 17 QUENTIN SUMNER SENIOR RESIDENT SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 7A MORGAN SWINSON JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 4 LEE JUDGETEAGUE North Carolina Judicial District 3A BRIAN TOMLIN JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 18 CAROLINE JUDGEPEMBERTONTOMLINSONNorth Carolina Judicial District 18 ANNETTE TURIK JUDGE North Carolina Juducial District 8 SCOTI USSERY CHIEF JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 13 THAI VANG JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 28 TERESA VINCENT JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 18 AMY JUDGEWALKER North Carolina Judicial District 25 JAMES WEBB SENIOR RESIDENT SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 19D MARIO WHITE JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 4 TIFFANY WHITFIELD JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 12 BRIAN WILKS JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 14 JOSEPH WILLIAMS JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 20 AMANDA WILSON CHIEF JUDGE North Carolina Judicial District 16 WILLIAM WOOD SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE North Carolina Superior Court, District 18 Beyond NC Judges DAVID BRYAN JUDGE Housing Part, Civil Court of the City of New York

ULYSSES B. LEVERETT JUDGE New York Supreme Court, 11th Judicial District, Civil Term JACQUELINE W. LUCAS

LORI DUMAS JUDGE Commonwealth Court of PhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaCourt of Common Pleas

2022

My goals are to provide students with more resources surrounding mental health because we are still attending law school in the midst of a pandemic. Also, my goals consist of providing opportunities for students to safely socialize and enjoy time with their classmates and colleagues. In addition, I plan to support as many student organizations as possible with their events, goals, etc.

WHY SHOULD STUDENTS GET INVOLVED WITH SBA?

WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE CAREER PLANS AFTER LAW SCHOOL?

Although I will miss my law school dearly, I’m looking forward to graduating this year, passing the bar exam, and being sworn in as an attorney. I’m also looking forward to seeing my son go to kindergarten. He started this law school journey with me, and now we’re both about to embark on a season of transition.

2 Take advantage of every resource available to you. You pay for the resources, so be sure to utilize them.

My future career plans are vast. However, I initially plan to serve as a litigation associate practicing civil litigation such as business litigation, mass torts, class action, higher education, products liability, and tort trial practice. I also plan to do juvenile justice work pro bono. I would love to serve in a public service role such as a judge or senator one day.

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WHAT ARE YOUR TOP THREE TIPS FOR LAW STUDENTS?

My New Year’s Resolutions are to spend more time outside enjoying the fresh air, exercise more, and be more mindful of my eating habits. They also include keeping a consistent schedule for therapy, continuing to plan out my weeks with flexibility, and continuing to cherish moments with my family.

WHAT THREE WORDS COME TO MIND WHEN YOU THINK OF NCCU SCHOOL OF LAW?

1 Embrace every moment of learning because each moment is grooming you to be a better attorney when you leave the nest. Trust me; three years will fly by!

MY TOP THREE TIPS FOR LAW STUDENTS ARE:

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS AS SBA PRESIDENT FOR 2022?

WHAT ARE YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FOR 2022?

LEGAL EAGLES SOAR

I encourage students to get involved with SBA or other student organizations because it truly allows them to experience another aspect of law school outside of studying and reading for class. Serving in student organizations will enable one to see the heart of the school, which is truth and service. It’s also a great way to meet classmates and colleagues and participate in creative events and service projects.

3 Never ever give up but persevere. You don’t have to conquer anything in a daytake it chunk by chunk and bit by bit. Hard work pays off!

Student Bar Association President Chazle’ Woodley ‘22

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS YEAR?

Truth. Service. Family. These are the three words that come to mind when I think of NCCU School of Law.

On Friday, November 5, 2021, NCCU School of Law Technology Law & Policy Center and the Duke Center on Law & Technology co-hosted the Legal Design Derby Virtual Solutions Showcase. In addressing the question, “how might we carry forward the legal system’s resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic to maximize access to justice,” each of the six teams of law students had five minutes to present their creative ideas. Using live and asynchronous content, students developed real solutions to the legal system’s challenges and opportunities due to COVID-19. The Legal Design Derby was open to all North Carolina law school students.

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE JUDGES: Sonja Ebron, Keith Richardson, Norah Rogers, and Camille Stell for their time and expertise and to the team mentors, presentation coaches, and technical rehearsal advisors for preparing students for the Legal Design Derby Virtual Solutions Showcase.

Vabrice Wilder Smiley, Brittany Burks, Hillary Teoyotl, and Lexus Real from NCCU School of Law (pictured) took home the first place prize, an award of $250 per person. Focused on improving traffic court, their idea of “Law on Wheels” brings the justice system to those who would otherwise struggle to access it.

NCCU School of Law Students Win Legal Design Derby

A second place tie was awarded to two teams from Duke University, comprised of six LLM students. They were each awarded $150 for their ideas of using flow charts to communicate legal processes (Team 3) and publicly funded art for sharing legal information using NFTs (Team 6). All participants in this fall’s Derby will be given the opportunity for support and resources in the spring of 2022 to continue to fine-tune their idea and build a prototype.

NCCU School of Law Students Win Legal Design Derby- (L-R) – Vabrice Wilder Smiley, Brittany Burks, Hillary Teoyotl, Lexus Real

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Left to right are Mitchell Wohlhueter, Jamila Smith, Cameron Fortune, Denise Bennett, and Justice Thomas

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Moot Court Team in the ChampionshipMcGee

3L students Alexis Carter, Katherine Copeland, and Jazmine Langley who participated in the McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition held via Zoom March 25, by the Mitchell Hamline School of Law. In a field of 24 teams, NCCU School of Law team finished in second place. Team member Katherine Copeland was named the Overall Best Oral Advocate. This team had an impressive run that included toppling the #1 seed in the quarterfinal round and accumulating three consecutive wins to advance to the championship round. The team displayed extraordinary advocacy skills during the arguments and received accolades from the judges throughout the competition.

TownsendKilpatrick 1L Mock CompetitionTrial L-R : are Alexis Carter, Katherine Copeland, and Jazmine Lang

LEGAL EAGLES SOAR

NCCU School of Law Trial Advocacy Board participated in the Kilpatrick Townsend 1L Mock Trial Competition. They competed against first-year students from other local law schools and successfully advanced through each round to the Championship Finals. Team members Denise Bennett, Cameron Fortune, Jamila Smith, Justice Thomas, and Mitchell Wohlhueter earned an overall secondplace finish for their hard work and efforts. Cameron Fortune was named Best Advocate for three of the competition rounds during the course of the competition weekend.

Intel InternshipAssociateSummerLegal

Excerpts of their experiences follow:

SHANTE MAYS Shante Mays is a student at NCCU School of Law, a wife, and the mother of three beautiful and energetic daughters. In 2021, she had the privilege of working for Intel’s new Racial Justice Department. She explained that her work included researching Intel’s racial justice involvement, then comparing and contrasting it to Intel’s competitors. Mays also had the opportunity to gain experience in mergers, acquisitions, negotiations, and contracts. As part of her internship, she traveled to Washington, D.C., and met with Intel’s CEO and general counsel. “This internship gave me a profound perspective about the critical issue of racial justice and inequality in America,” said MaysMays.hasalready received an offer to return to Intel next summer. “This has been an incredible and very fruitful experience with Intel,” said Mays.

Thank you, Intel and NCCU School of Law for a great summer!

MADISON MITCHELL

My internship with Intel was a meaningful experience. I had the opportunity to work on projects covering Patent Law, Employment Law, Corporate Law, Intellectual Property Law, and Privacy and Security. These projects provided new insight into areas of law I was not as knowledgeable of and afraid to explore. Furthermore, Intel provided experiences to enhance my networking skills in the legal profession by providing seminars and scheduling meetings to speak with Intel staff. I was also provided an amazing mentor with whom I still communicate with today. I am grateful to have received the Intel Legal Internship.

We are thankful to Intel in preparing the next generation of corporate attorneys by giving them exposure to corporate law on day one of their law school journey.

LEGAL EAGLES SOAR

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In February 2021, Intel Corporation launched a $5 million social equity partnership with NCCU School of Law. The company announced the inaugural NCCU-Intel Summer Associate class. The three NCCU-Intel Summer Associates were rising second year law students (2Ls) Shante Mays, Madison Mitchell, and Moses Washington.

My internship at Intel was phenomenal. During my internship, I gained practical experience in the following areas of law: Employment, Privacy & Security, Intellectual Property, and Corporate. Intel prepared me for the future by connecting me with attorney-mentors and boosting my confidence to succeed in the legal profession. Additionally, I left Intel with a sense of the trajectory of my career path and a deeper knowledge of the various opportunities that exist in the legal profession. From the technology and law to the company culture, working at Intel was a wonderful experience that I highly recommend to NCCU School of Law students.

LEGAL EAGLES SOAR

It was only three years ago; I was sitting behind the front desk of a hotel waiting for my 11:00 pm –7:00 am night shift to end. For anyone whose never worked the night shift at a hotel, most of your work is done within the first few hours, and the rest of the night is spent checking in guests that arrive late. This allowed me time during my shift to do whatever my heart desired, which was mainly watching multiple movies on Netflix with my family-sized bag of Cheetos. During conversation with a friend, he asked if I still had dreams of going to law school. I had not thought about law school in years. I commented that was something I gave up on years ago due to my underwhelming undergrad performance and mediocre LSAT score. Little did I know that conversation with my friend would change the next three years of my life. He told me I was too young to give up on my dreams, and if becoming a lawyer was something I truly wanted, to take five minutes every night to do things like look up law schools in the area, how much it would cost to retake the LSAT, or anything to move towards my goal. Investing those five minutes a night was not difficult since I had so much free time working the night shift. Eventually, all that time added up, and I found myself retaking the LSAT and applying to NCCU School of Law. I reached out to the school’s Dean of Admissions to tell him that despite my academic performance in the past, I was confident that I could excel in law school if given a Ichance.wasnot accepted right away. Instead, I was invited to PBAP along with about 50 applicants for two weeks of law school classes in the summer. Based on performance and other factors, about half would get accepted to the law school, while the other half would be denied. It was a bittersweet moment, as I was disappointed that I had not received unconditional acceptance, but was grateful for the opportunity to prove myself. My foot was already in the door. I just had to work harder to push myself all the way through. Little did I know my experience at PBAP would be invaluable to my success in law school. I learned how to brief a case, write law school essays, navigate through multiple choice questions, and network students and attorneys all within those two weeks. In addition, I was afforded the opportunity to make the mistakes a first-year law student would make and learn from them before the fall semester started. Since I was a nontraditional student PBAP was the “practice” I needed. Once the fall semester began, I was able to hit the ground running. Exams were no longer nerve-racking. I had a better grasp of how to manage my time and a higher level of comfort and confidence. So even though PBAP started as an obstacle I had to overcome to pursue my dreams of becoming a lawyer, it ended up being a key factor to my success. Without the PBAP program, I would not be where I am today.

NCCU School of Law saw something in me when no one else did, and I look forward to making this institution proud.

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*Performance Based Admissions Program (PBAP)

By Kenny Vachareeyanukul ‘22

NCCU School of Law’s PBAP: What Started as an Obstacle Ended Up Becoming a Key to Success

Awarded Prestigious Peggy FellowshipBrowning

Ms. Alexander competed with almost 700 applicants to secure the Peggy Brown Scholarship. Peggy Browning Fellows are distinguished students who have not only excelled in law school but who have also demonstrated their commitment to workers’ rights through their previous educational, work, volunteer and personal experiences. Rianah certainly fitted this Rianahdescription.grew up in Harrisburg, North Carolina, and studied political science and strategic communication at High Point University. Prior to law school, Rianah worked on various political campaigns helping elect progressive candidates across North Carolina. She has always been interested in public interest and social change. However, her interest in the labor movement deepened after her work as a Legislative Aide at the North Carolina General Assembly. In her role, she assisted in introducing legislation for paid family leave, health-care expansion, and fair chance laws for workers with prior convictions. Most recently, she managed constituent claims for unemployment assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. She witnessed first-hand the insufficient resources and protections available for workers at the state and federal levels. Her decision to attend law school grew out of a desire to play a more active role in advocacy, shaping, and expanding legislation. She was excited to gain a better understanding of the role of legal counsel in the fight for economic justice with National Employment Law Project this summer. At NCCU School of Law, Rianah is the Vice President of Law Democrats. Ms. Alexander extends gratitude to the Peggy Browning Fund for offering students interested in workplace justice like herself. She stated: “As a fellow, I had the honor of interning at the National Employment Law Project. Although my experience was remote due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Peggy Browning and NELP worked tirelessly to ensure I had a rewarding experience. I attended Brown Bag lunches hosted by social justice organizations, networking events with Peggy Browning alum, and a Workers’ Rights conference. Through my experience, I improved as a writer and advocate for economic and labor justice.”

Rianah Alexander was awarded the Peggy Browning Fund 2021, and spent last summer interning remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic at National Employment Project in New York.

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The Peggy Browning Fund is a not-for-profit organization established in memory of Margaret A. Browning, a prominent union-side attorney who was a member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from 1994 until 1997. Peggy Browning Fellowships provide law students with unique, diverse and challenging work experiences fighting for social and economic justice. These experiences encourage and inspire students to pursue careers in public interest labor law.

Rianah Alexander, 2L

LEGAL EAGLES SOAR

LEGAL SOAR

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PBAP - Meet and Mingle

Dean Browne C. Lewis and Montre’ Freeman, PBAP Alumnus and former City Manager for Elizabeth City greet PBAP students during reception.

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Associate Dean of Clinical Education and Experiential Learning Nakia Davis ‘01 entered NCCU School of Law Performance Based Admission Program (PBAP) in 1998. She credits the program for launching her legal career. PBAP is offered to a limited number of applicants whose credentials do not qualify them for unconditional admission but whose records nonetheless show promise of success. Davis, who also serves as the Director and Supervising Attorney of the Family Law Clinic, co-directs PBAP with her colleague, Associate Professor Don Corbett. PBAP was created by former NCCU School of Law Dean Mary Wright and Professor Charles Smith nearly 30 years ago. “As a school of opportunity, there are many factors taken into consideration regarding the outcome of student success,” points out Davis. She accredits PBAP students’ success to their quick adaptation to the program’s rigors and learning how to perform under pressure. Applicants selected for PBAP undergo two weeks of rigorous study. The PBAP program curriculum is unique and provides law school students with the strong foundation needed for success. “PBAP was harder than anything I had ever done in law school,” said Davis. A total of 30 participants were extended admission from the 2021 PBAP summer PBAPprogram.isa treasure that is always fully supported by the law school administration and alumni. On September 22, 2021, Dean Browne C. Lewis held a meet and mingle to welcome back PBAP students.

Professor Nakia Davis

Performance Based Admission Program

OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 31 LEGAL EAGLES SOAR HBLS Day February 10, 2022 was the first annual “I Love My HBLS Day!” NCCU School of Law joined in this day of unity, solidarity and pride as the “Big 6” Historically Black Law Schools: Howard University School of Law, Florida A&M University School of Law, Southern University School of Law, Texas Southern University School of Law, University of the District of Columbia School of Law, and NCCU School of Law! “I Love My HBLS”

Wilkinson-PickettNickeyea

SPOTLIGHT ON ALUMNI

expansive knowledge in healthcare, technology and innovation, privacy and data security, and sales and marketing. Currently, Nickeyea is Senior Counsel, US Legal OperationsRespiratory at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). In her role, Nickeyea supports assets in GSK’s robust respiratory portfolio by serving as a key legal advisor on commercial activities in the US market. She focuses on the promotion, sale, and marketing of primary care medicines.

Nickeyea enjoys partnering with technology innovators and stakeholders to find the appropriate way to navigate the risks. Prior to GSK, Nickeyea was counsel at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC).

While there, she served as the lead counsel and subject matter expert to multiple cross-functional teams, including Blue Cross NC’s award-winning Innovation Garage. Additionally, Nickeyea supported several key initiatives focused on improving the overall health of individuals across North Carolina, including a 3.2 million investment from Blue Cross NC that provides resources to UNC Health to conduct a groundbreaking clinical study to address non-medical drivers of health, like food insecurity.

In her spare time, Nickeyea enjoys working on art pieces in various mediums; spending time with her husband, family, and friends; and participating in community-based initiatives.

‘13

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Nickeyea Wilkinson-Pickett was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jamaican parents. As a child, she was introduced to the healthcare profession by watching her grandmother work day and night caring for others as a nurse. For many years, Nickeyea believed that she would follow her grandmother’s footsteps by becoming a healthcare professional, specifically, a neurosurgeon. Nickeyea’s career choice shifted in high school while enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) Political Science. AP Political Science exposed Nickeyea to countless career paths, including the practice of law. She brought the idea of becoming a lawyer to her AP teacher, Mr. Walsh. As fate would have it, Mr. Walsh nominated Nickeyea to a program that gives underrepresented students an opportunity to shadow Willkie Farr & Gallagher attorneys. This program shaped the course of Nickeyea’s life. Fast forward two decades, Nickeyea is now an attorney with expertise in business partnerships and commercial transactions. She is called upon to advise on complex issues at the intersection of data privacy, healthcare equality, research, intellectual property (IP), diversification, and Nickeyeacompliance.has

A National Bar Association 40 Under 40 Award recipient, Oneshia is involved in several civic organizations, including the National Bar Association, Washington Bar Association, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for Kid Power. This organization works to inspire youth leadership through academics, civic engagement, health and wellness, and mentoring in Washington, District of Columbia.

In the years before DOJ, Oneshia was a Policy Counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending. She worked with state and federal lawmakers, regulators, and partners to draft and enact laws that promote fair and equitable lending practices for low-income persons and communities of color. She started her career on Capitol Hill as Counsel for the U.S. Senate Housing, Banking, and Urban Affairs Committee through the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Fellowship Program.

Oneshia Herring earned a Bachelor of Science from the Florida State University, a Master of Arts from the University of Central Florida, and a Juris Doctor from the NCCU School of Law. She is a North Carolina State Bar member and lives in Prince George County, Maryland.

OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 33

Oneshia Herring ‘10 Named Deputy Director for Civil Rights

Oneshia Herring was recently named the Deputy Director in the Office for Civil Rights, Office of Justice Programs (OJP) at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). She works to ensure that federal funds are being used to promote equity and are not financing illegal discrimination. Before working with OJP, Oneshia worked in DOJ’s Civil Rights Division as a Senior Counsel in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General and a Senior Trial Attorney in the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section. She diligently worked to advance the Division’s priorities. She handled several high-profile fair housing and fair lending matters resulting in roughly 7 million dollars in relief to aggrieved persons.

Oneshia also serves as the Chair of the DOJ Association of Black Attorneys.

SPOTLIGHT ON ALUMNI

these

The Office of graduates of the university’s school of award was established to recognize NCCU alumni making a significant contribution School of Law is proud recognize distinguished alumni

and commend them for their outstanding legal service to their communities. JONATHAN BOGUES ’13 ATTORNEYASSOCIATE Jordan Price Wall Gray Jones & Carlton, PLLC KINNA CLARK ’14 DIRECTOR OF GIFT SERVICESPLANNING University of North Carolina System JAMAR CREECH ’14 PARTNERMANAGING Diversified Law Group, LLC MARCEL MCCREA ’04 MANAGING MEMBER Phillips and McCrea, PLLC WILLIAM MOULTRIE ’14 ASSOCIATE DEAN University College, North Carolina Central University DAVID COLE PHELPS ’13 FOUNDER AND OWNER The Law Office of D. Cole Phelps, PLLC, MISSY WELCH ’05 ACTING ASSISTANT DEPUTY DIRECTOR NC ABC Commission TIFFANY WHITFIELD ’11 DISTRICT COURT JUDGE Fayetteville, NC SPOTLIGHT ON ALUMNI Forty Under Forty Alumni Awards

Alumni Relations honored forty outstanding alumni at the Forty Under Forty Alumni Awards Gala on Friday, September 24, 2021, at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center in Durham. Of the forty alumni honored, eight were

law. The

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NCCU

to arts, entertainment, healthcare, science, education, law, business, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, public service, and government. NCCU

While his family’s tradition of attending NCCU School of Law (and the academic scholarship he received from Dean Stephen Douglas) may have encouraged Mark, once at NCCU, the professors and culture of support and wereencouragementthehighlightson his time at the law school. “Seeing the pictures on the wall of the people that came before me made an impression on me. I liked the fact that I was a legacy [at NCCU] and part of a unified Uponcommunity.”graduation, Mark went on to practice in Greensboro at the Gray Legal Group, the law firm his father, now retired, had started in 1991. Mark was interested in many different business endeavors and legal areas, but the opportunity that he couldn’t pass up was taking over the family

The scholarship I got from Dean Douglas impacted my decision to attend NCCU and I want to have the same impact on students that come after me.

OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 35

Growing up, Mark Gray II heard a lot of “lawyer talk” in his family. Having two parents who are lawyers (Mark Gray and Angela Newell Gray ’94) certainly influenced his decision to pursue a legal education, but for Mark, that was only a small part of a family legacy of lawyering. Mark grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina and graduated from Grimsley High School. From there, he headed to N.C. State University where he majored in Sports Management with minors in Psychology and Spanish. His ultimate goal was to become a licensed sports agent upon graduation and passing the bar. With a mother and grandmother (Dottie Newell ’74) who’d attended NCCU School of Law, as well as an aunt (Regina Newell Stephens ’87), an uncle (Michael Newell ’09), and another aunt who’d been employed by the law school (Pamela Newell), NCCU was high on the list. An academic scholarship tipped the scales and made NCCU School of Law the obvious choice. What was less obvious to Mark, at the time, was the grind required to be successful. “I was under the impression that I’d get by with little effort. My first semester grades quickly dissuaded me from that impression as I almost flunked out,” Mark remembers. With the help of his professors, who recognized his potential and challenged him to put in the work necessary to be successful, he quickly rebounded. Mark reset his mind and energy and turned things around second semester. After graduation, he applied the same work ethic to preparing for the bar exam.

Mark Gray II LawyeringGenerationalandGivingBack

SPOTLIGHT ON ALUMNI

“Seeing my uncle, Michael, graduate and pass the bar on the first try put the pressure on to succeed and I needed that push,” says Mark.

By: Deedee Nachman, Professor of Law

: Family Legacies,

“I WAS ONE OF MARK’S 1L PROFESSORS AND RECENTLY SPENT TIME WITH HIM TO TALK ABOUT HIS LAW SCHOOL EXPERIENCE, HIS FAMILY LEGACY AND HIS CAREER TO-DATE. “

In December, 2021, Mark established the Gray Legal Group Scholarship at NCCU School of Law. Mark made an initial donation to the scholarship of $20,000 and anticipates similar donations in the future to keep the scholarship active. Unlike an endowed gift, Mark expressed the desire that the entirety of the donation be allocated each year to law students who may have a financial need or who are outstanding scholars.

“I’m fortunate to have inherited 30 years of legal experience and reputation that just made my process a lot smoother,” says Mark. Since taking over the reins at Gray Legal Group, Mark’s practice has focused primarily on personal injury. In October, 2021, NC Lawyers Weekly reported on a landmark wrongful death case Mark settled on behalf of the estate of a woman leaving behind a young son. Driving on I-40, the young woman’s car broke down. While awaiting roadside assistance inside her car with emergency blinkers on, her car was hit by a tanker truck. Although the details of the settlement are sealed and subject to a non-disclosure agreement, Mark shares that it was “a horrific accident and sad case leaving a young son without a mother.” The suit reached a multi-million-dollar settlement. Mark decided then that big wins and big cases provided a unique opportunity to give back to the community. It also confirmed for Mark that institutions matter.

36OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 firm and practicing law in the community where he grew up. Mark credits his father for being a great legal mentor and the strong reputation of the Gray Legal Group for providing him with a chance to begin his legal career in an existing practice, as opposed to encountering the challenges associated with building a practice from scratch.

“The scholarship I received from Dean Douglas impacted my decision to attend NCCU School of Law and I want to have the same impact on students that come after me,” Mark said. When he’s not practicing law or working on his real estate development endeavors, Mark loves to travel to places where he can hone his Spanish skills. In addition to the offices located in downtown Greensboro, Gray Legal Group maintains a satellite office in Charlotte, NC and if you drive east on I-85 from Durham to Charlotte you’re likely to see Mark’s face on a billboard or two. Mark has done a lot since graduating almost five years ago and, as he looks to the future, he plans to build on the foundation of Gray Legal Group and take it in new and diverse directions. By embracing his family’s legacy, he is now able to build his own legacy of giving. And, as for advice he’d offer incoming students?

In his local community, Mark and Gray Legal Group have sponsored canned food drives incorporating the local middle schools and students into a competition with a monetary prize for the school receiving the most donations and a winter clothing drive for under resourced individuals in Greensboro.

“Take it seriously from the jump because it goes by quickly.”

In his book, Presumed Criminal, Professor Carl Suddler describes how race became a construct for criminality outside the South following World War II and how intergenerational criminality of Black youth became entrenched through justice systems.

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Where is the Voice of the Criminal Defense: Take Several Seats at the Table

Criminal defense attorneys must take an even more significant place as stakeholders in these towers and at these tables.

Attorneys who work in the justice system observe and exercise power (or perhaps not) in the inextricable morass of criminal justice, social disparity, and civil rights in the United States.

As NCCU School of Law and other leading institutions are doing, we must create more institutional settings where practitioners, researchers, policymakers, the public, community leaders, and nonprofit organizations come together not merely to present research results or discuss recent tragic events in society—though this is important—but to forge a more deeply nuanced approach to address the root issues that affect public safety for all.

SPOTLIGHT ON ALUMNI

As seen in our most recent national flashpoints involving police-citizen encounters, we still labor under these burdens even with recent criminal and juvenile justice reforms. While many attorneys working daily and directly with clients focus their attention on the individual clients to whom they owe an ethical duty, there is an opportunity to bring research and data into the courts and our knowledge into the communities. As frontline advocates, we tend to separate data and research on pervasive problems in criminal justice that involve large-scale analysis relying on correlations and studies. However, the factors are inextricably bound up together.

By Jimonique R.S. Rodgers ‘96 Criminal Defense Attorney Charles Hamilton Houston once said, “[A] lawyer’s either a social engineer or … a parasite on society. …A social engineer [is] a highly skilled, perceptive, sensitive lawyer who [understands] the Constitution of the United States and how to explore its uses in the solving of problems of local communities and in bettering conditions of the underprivileged citizens.” In this article, I call for criminal defense attorneys to expand their role as social engineers by engaging in greater public discourse and research at the intersection of criminal and civil rights. Few aspects of the American justice system are better documented than the disparities in the processing of individuals based on their perceived ethnicity. However, the academic and public discussion on racial disparity and crime can be misleading. The data establishes the persistence of racial biases among decision-makers in the justice system as well as racially disproportionate offending patterns. While some see these as mutually exclusive factors, this is a false dichotomy, oversimplifying a complex set of social Bothphenomena.anecdotal and research-based conclusions reflect that our justice systems directly reflect this country’s societal and political policies. This has been evident from the “well-meaning” efforts of the Child-Saving Movement to “protect our society” to the pervasive law enforcement intervention in schools and communities of color “to protect our children,” to the current disenfranchisement of potential voters of color through legislation and overcriminalization “to protect our democracy.”

We must develop more and better partnerships to include communities and the organizations that serve them. The ivory towers of academia have researchers who decide who, what, and how to study crime, gathering the data on crime and those deemed to commit it. We routinely have legislators, judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement in the room determining how to address the issue of crime, shaping the narrative of public opinion.

As an attorney practicing for over 20 years and a woman of color for my entire life, I know firsthand

By Mark Atkinson ‘20 SPOTLIGHT ON ALUMNI

Jimmonique R.S. Rodgers ‘96 (jimmoniquerodgers@ gmail com) is a criminal attorney and former deputy director of the Georgia statewide public defender system. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice & Criminology.

Nevertheless, defense attorneys are accustomed to speaking up for individuals’ rights even when we fear no one may listen. Our obligation is to our clients, and in a very critical way, the U.S. Constitution. Even where political and ideological pressure push practice and policymaking in directions contrary to justice, we must position ourselves to be heard. In the words of our own distinguished School of Law professor and Charles Hamilton Houston chair, Irving Joyner, we must “keep on pushing” to make the time right for a change.

An Update on Incubating Legal Practices: New Name, Same Mission (Incubator for Legal Practice and Innovation)

Tremendous political and ideological pressures shape public policy, and those forces may have little reverence for research-based evidence or individual rights. As criminologist Dr. Alex Piquero observed, “sometimes, no amount of science and messaging, whether by academics, researchers, nonprofits, and even members of the general public, can alter opinions that are solidified beyond what actual numbers say to the contrary” (2019, p. 88).

As profiled in the Spring 2021 Of Counsel Magazine, we launched the Durham Opportunity and Justice Incubator (DOJI) to create opportunities for attorneys who wish to create their own legal practices and to improve access to justice in the community. After one year in operation, the incubator grew from the inaugural two-attorney cohort in Durham to nine attorneys. Those nine attorneys involved in the incubator, as of January 2022, are located across the state and beyond: Durham, Raleigh, Fayetteville, Bunn, Raeford, Charlotte, and Murfreesboro, TN. When the incubator started in the fall of 2020, the focus was to help attorneys in or near Durham launch their practices, and its name—The Durham Opportunity and Justice Incubator (DOJI)—matched that focus. However, attorneys across the state joined the incubator because the program was primarily online and available for remote access. With the growth and broader geographic

38OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 the contours of this problem. I have served as a prosecutor and defense appellate counsel in the Army, assistant general counsel for the national NAACP, and recently as a public defender and statewide deputy director for the Georgia Public Defender Council. To operate within the justice system is to navigate the disproportionate reach of a system of laws, policies, and practices into the lives of children and families of color. I have listened to individuals discuss why they committed crimes ranging from petty theft to murder. I have heard less than a dozen ever tell me that they almost did not commit a crime because of the threat of governmental punishment. On the other hand, I have heard many describe how familial and social factors contributed to enhanced contact with police and antisocial behavior. A substantive body of research bears out this anecdotal evidence. For example, one study by Del Toro et al. (2019) found that Black and brown boys stopped by police reported greater subsequent involvement in delinquent behaviors. Delinquency did not predict the police stop; the stop predicted delinquency. Once involved, individuals experience the cumulative consequences of their behavior, moving deeper into the criminal justice system, much like a fly trapped within but fighting against a spider web. Most criminal defense attorneys have similar stories, and we must tell those stories more often to inform public opinion, policy, and research. Policymakers, judges, and prosecutors must do more to bring defense attorneys into discussions.

This request for more defense attorneys to press their ways farther into public discourse and research does not come with a guarantee that by engaging, we can ensure that our input will be well-received.

WHO IS ILPI FOR?

Participating attorneys tend to be either recent law school graduates (having passed the bar) or experienced attorneys who have worked for a few years. In both cases, they want to start their own legal practice.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES ILPI PROMOTE LEGAL PRACTICES THAT ARE INNOVATIVE AND FINANCIALLY SUSTAINABLE?

As most readers of this magazine know, law school was a time to learn the law, such as the elements of trespassing or depraved heart murder, Supreme Court decisions on freedom of speech, legal writing, stare decisis, appellate briefs, trial advocacy, and piercing the corporate veil. As rewarding and challenging as those years in law school might have been, the courses largely did not prepare attorneys for the entrepreneurial path of starting their own practice. We created ILPI to help those entrepreneurial attorneys start their legal practices and create their own jobs.

WHAT IS THE ILPI PROGRAM AND WHAT ARE ITS BENEFITS?

The program lasts for twelve months and includes training from legal, technical, and business experts. There is also access to free CLEs through privileged membership status at Practicing Law Institute (PLI. edu) and access to free or discounted legal tech tools (e.g., Clio practice management software). The ILPI program also provides a curated notebook of helpful articles, checklists, and references. In addition, access to co-working space and a community of like-minded attorneys who support, inspire and teach each other are all benefits of the ILPI program.

The first step in innovation can be the simple act of questioning how things are done. Is there a better way to do it? The incubator promotes innovative practices such as subscription legal services; unbundled services; flat-fee pricing, technical tools for scheduling automation, client intake, document preparation; digital marketing; and creative use of videos for marketing and client screening. Related to financial sustainability, the first step is often realizing that running a legal practice is running a business. The best attorney in the world will run themselves out of business (or out of their mind) if they do not take care of the business side of their legal practice. Financial sustainability requires attention to business basics: billing, collections, networking, revenue and expenses, profitability, taxes, business continuity, and (yes) retirement planning. We invite a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to one of our first training sessions. A solo practice may not need a CPA or bookkeeper at the start, but the time will come when one will be necessary.

HOW DOES ILPI IMPROVE ACCESS TO JUSTICE?

As of January 2022, the cost ranges from $25 per month for entirely remote people to $100 per month for those who require co-working office space in Durham.

The legal market is packed with attorneys targeting the top income brackets. However, there is a lack of attorneys serving modest means clients and clients in rural counties. ILPI equips attorneys working for the underserved middle- and lower-income brackets or in under-served counties by promoting good business practices and innovative uses of technology and delivery of legal services. Attorneys who come through ILPI are exposed to innovative ways to provide affordable legal representation to those who may have considered legal services out of reach.

WHAT IS THE COST OF JOINING ILPI?

OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 39 involvement, we updated the incubator’s name to the Incubator for Legal Practice and Innovation (ILPI) in late 2021. ILPI exists to help entrepreneurial attorneys launch innovative and financially sustainable legal practices that improve access to justice. While the name was changed from DOJI to ILPI, the mission has not changed.

As ILPI has expanded its geographic reach over the past year, it has also sought to deepen its connection to attorneys before they become attorneys. Having been birthed from the NCCU School of Law, ILPI will always look for ways to support its graduates. Last summer (May-July 2021), when bar prep study space was hard to find, ILPI sponsored study space for seven NCCU School of Law graduates. Study space was made available at Provident1898 in downtown Durham’s historic NC Mutual Life building. ILPI also intends to support connections with other law schools. The majority of attorneys in the current cohort are from the NCCU School of Law. Still, it also includes attorneys from Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, and City University of New York.

The business opportunity to “do well by doing good” is real. Success is not guaranteed, but it is possible. ILPI exists to support the entrepreneurial dreams of those dedicated to serving others through the law. If interested in learning more about ILPI, how to join, or support it, email the executive director at mark@innovationlegal. org. Mark Atkinson (‘20) is the Founder and Executive Director of ILPI. He is married to Helen, and they have four adult children and one good dog. You can reach him at mark@innovationlegal.org.

40OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 SPOTLIGHT ON ALUMNI

Three Workplace Trends the Legal Community Should Watch in 2022

Unions and Workplace Activism

For in-house counsel and those practicing labor and employment law, 2022 will have a continued focus on unions that grabbed national headlines and gained footholds in companies and industries that

Remote Work While scores of jobs must be performed in person, the onset of the pandemic accelerated a shift towards remote work. Many companies are hoping to scale back remote work while trying to recruit in a tight labor market, balance employee preference and maintain office culture.

By Emily M. Dickens ‘02

The events of the last two years presented historic challenges for employers, including the legal community, as organizations were forced to adapt and reinvent themselves amid uncertainty. At SHRM (the Society for Human Resource Management), we’re paying particular attention to three workplace trends that should be on the legal community’s radar.

The full extent of how this will impact employers will become apparent this year. With remote work, applicants are not bound by geographical limitations. A remote worker can field multiple offers from companies across the U.S. and globally, opening the door to unchartered territories for lawyers regarding complex country tax regulations and even visa Therequirements.opportunity for the legal profession is to continue providing legal counsel not just focused on complying with the law but by promulgating innovative solutions to meeting the needs of the business, competing for the best talent, and challenging the status quo.

Upskilling and Re-skilling

OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 41 have historically rejected unionizing in 2021. Recent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board where Starbucks employees were allowed to vote for unionization in three stores; NCAA college athletes gaining the right to unionize; and Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama voting on unionization due to claims of intimidation are just the beginning. With President Biden stating that he intends to be “the most pro-union President leading the most pro-union administration in American history,” these are all important developments to keep watching in 2022. Key recurring issues for the legal practitioner’s attention relate to record profits without communicating how those funds are invested back in the business and/or not just distributed via big bonuses and shareholder payouts, expansion of benefits to newer employees, and opportunity for advancement.

The Great Resignation has employers across the country seeking qualified employees for unfilled positions. Those seeking re-skilling or upskilling grew by nearly 300 million worldwide, according to the International Labor Organization, and nearly 198 million workers were left unemployed. While 52 percent of organizations provide upskilling, including certification programs, apprenticeships and crossfunctional training, the focus is mainly on training new Organizations,employees. including SHRM, Apple and Google, have sought to democratize reskilling by generating paths for all workers to earn new credentials for relevant skills. The legal profession needs to pay attention to this issue relating to their role as employers and people managers of paralegals, document review specialists, law clerks, and other non-legal practitioners. Additionally, equitable access to training, reimbursement for training, and pursuing federal funding for training will be key issues for your clients. Tuition reimbursement and student loan repayment assistance are adjacent benefits that require oversight to comply with government guidelines and can assist with recruitment. Rather than being roadblocks, these trends provide a wealth of opportunities for the legal community to work in tandem with human resource professionals while providing innovative, agile and flexible counsel to millions of employers and employees.

Emily M. Dickens is the chief of staff, head of government affairs, and corporate secretary at the Society for Human Resource Management. She is a NCCU School of Law graduate and a NCCU Board of Trustees member.

was over, constant thoughts of money, finances, and my family’s financial future were all I could think about. During my time in the Intensive Care Unit, I realized that we did the bare minimum with our finances related to planning for the future. Yeah, we invested in our 401K, but we were not intentional. We were not thinking in a way that could change the life of my kids and future Whengenerations.Icame home, I looked at my wife and said, we have to do something different financially. We had effectively carried the same financial habits from when we were engaged right into our marriage. We realized that how we handled our finances all these years was not in the best interest of our Sometimesfuture.we need a kick in the rear to do what we should have been doing all along. Often, that kick in the rear end can push us to do something that we never intended to do as well. In 2021, I created DFD Creative Media. DFD Creative Media is a social media content creation company. Within DFD Creative Media, the company’s first project is a YouTube channel called the DebtFree Dad. Here, I provide financial literacy and education.

The doctors discovered I had an Arteriovenous Malformation (“AVM”). An AVM is a tangled group of blood vessels and veins that form incorrectly in your brain, causing an increased risk of rupture. An AVM usually happens before birth or shortly afterward. I had three options: 1) do nothing and live with a 5% yearly risk of rupture; 2) radiation treatment that would remove the AVM in 24 months (this still carries a risk of rupture until the AVM no longer poses a risk); 3) brain surgery to remove the AVM Beforeimmediately.mysurgery, I went down a rabbit hole researching brain aneurysms. I selected option number 3, and I realized how blessed and lucky I am because statistics surrounding brain aneurysms are scary for anyone or a family dealing with such an Onceordeal.thesurgery

I learned that I would need brain surgery to stop the bleeding from a ruptured aneurysm. A few days later, after waking up from surgery, the doctor entered the room and said, “we addressed the rupture, but we found something else.”

As we embarked on my family’s debt freedom journey, I thought that my family’s journey to

An Aneurysm Turned an Attorney into a YouTuber

By Marcus Weeks ‘10

SPOTLIGHT ON ALUMNI

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In 2021, I decided to change my family’s financial future. But, before I start on what 2021 had in store, I have to discuss 2020 briefly. On June 20, 2020, I walked into the main bedroom just after midnight to tell my wife happy birthday. When I left the room to watch television in the family room, I had a headache out of nowhere, and I never get headaches. Even more bizarre, this headache was centrally located at the base of my head and was a sharp 3 to 5 seconds of pain. The room began to spin, and my heart started racing. To avoid passing out alone in the room, I touched the wall and used it as a guide to get back into the main bedroom. Once I arrived in the main bedroom, I took a knee, woke my wife, and told her to call 911. I can only imagine what she was thinking. During the middle of a pandemic on her birthday, her husband falls ill. In about 15 minutes, paramedics had arrived. I was on my feet, not in pain, with no dizziness, not experiencing any abnormal symptoms by that time. However, I decided to go to the Emergency Room because this was such a random event. After many tests, I sat in my hospital room. Multiple hospital personnel with charts came by to speak with me. The final doctor came to me and said, “You are doing a lot better than this chart says you should be.”

Transparency is a big key to educating the community through YouTube content. We show our real investments, debts, actual returns, and our budget. In our first year of chasing financial freedom, we paid off $169,000 of debt. This included all of the usual suspects such as cars loans, credit cards, 401K loans, and a mortgage on a rental Currently,property.wearepaying off our $239,000 in student loans. In 2021, we paid off $64,000 towards our student loans. Additionally, we were able to grow our net worth by 46%. We not only know when our debt freedom date is; we also know when we should become everyday millionaires (fingers crossed that the stock market produces well).

Everyone has different goals and dreams, but if 2021 has taught us anything, we must live for today but plan for the future. In this life, complacency does not get rewarded. We must choose not to be comfortable with our situation but take affirmative steps to change our situation. We fail only when we never try to succeed, and the only person who can improve your life is you.

In closing, I wish whoever is reading this much success, peace, and blessings in 2022.

The goal of this article is to encourage you not to do what we did, don’t wait until you get that divine kick in the butt to do what you should have been doing all along. If you want to start a business, build a brand, accomplish health goals, or become a millionaire, it’s all within your reach. I know more than anyone that tomorrow is not promised; thus, we have to take steps to achieve our dreams today and enjoy the times and moments with our loved ones while we can.

NCCU School of Law Alumni Serving the State at NC Counts Coalition

When Stacey Carless, ’13, began building NC Counts Coalition, her initial priority was to ensure a full and accurate census count for North Carolina. But she knew the work would grow to be much larger than Census. “Of course census work is crucial to our democracy, but we needed to create a foundation for future work. To figure out where we needed to go, I listened to the communities we served. I met people who wanted to participate, but who struggled with the (census) survey because of illiteracy, for example. How can we expect people to prioritize being counted in the census, or voting for that matter, if their basic needs aren’t being met?” By the close of the census count, Carless’ vision for the organization came into focus - NC Counts needed to grow so that it could work within communities yearround to address systemic barriers, while building relationships and educating on the importance of a financial freedom might help someone else interested in improving their financial situation.

By Kyle Hamilton Brazile, ‘13 Director of Civic Engagement at NC

You need not be an attorney to comprehend the devastating impacts the insurrection and a pandemic have had on our nation, or how those occurrences affect our local communities. It is also not difficult to see parallels in societal ills that give rise to Jim Crow, the Wilmington Coup of 1898, and militia organizations involved in the January 6th insurrection have trained for war in rural North Carolina (in Black communities such as Hoffman, NC).

The DebtFree Dad YouTube channel was created to promote financial literacy by allowing the community to see firsthand my family’s lessons and moves to obtain financial freedom.

Counts Coalition SPOTLIGHT ON ALUMNI

Kyle Hamilton Brazile, ‘13, is the Director of Civic Engagement at NC Counts Coalition, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization headquartered in Raleigh, NC.

Redistricting is the next step in the democratic process after the completion of the decennial census, and it involves the apportionment of political boundaries based upon changes in population witnessed over the last ten years. Drawn maps are fair when they reflect the communities of the State, not merely the political whims of those in office.

“Our work is important and clearly flows from our sense of obligation to zealously advocate for others,” said Rita Henry, ’07, the Director of Operations. Indeed, advocacy work continues to be key for our democracy. At NC Counts we stand in the gaps, bringing organizations and communities together to work against systemic and racist barriers that continue to hold us back. And we’ve only just begun.

North Carolina’s Constitution places this redistricting authority squarely with the Legislature with no veto authority from the Governor. And as we have seen countless times in the past - on February 7, 2022 the NC Supreme Court once again struck down maps drawn by the Legislature, calling their gerrymander “unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt”. The Courts have been the venue through which North Carolinians can seek protection in instances of racial and political gerrymandered disenfranchisement, and it has been the work of NC Counts over the past year to bring organizations together so that citizens are educated about the process, communities understand the need for responsive maps, and we are all able to connect our community issues to the map drawing process and speak truth to the Legislature. Health and vaccine equity have also become pillars of the organization. Working with the state of North Carolina, NC Counts formed a private/ public partnership with the goal of increasing the number of people of color and those from historically marginalized populations receiving COVID-19 vaccinations across the State.

Stacey Carless ’13 and Kyle Hamilton Brazile ’13

representative and inclusive democracy. “We must connect the work to issues, and ultimately connect how census, redistricting and voting all impact whether community issues are being addressed by elected officials.” That vision moves through the organization’s values as NC Counts now works to build a healthy, just, and equitable North Carolina through cross-sector partnerships that advance systemic solutions for communities facing systemic Thebarriers.successes of NC Counts’ efforts are clear in the outcomes - through collaboration between NC Counts, community partners, the US Department of Commerce and the state of North Carolina, the Coalition helped reduce the undercount of historically undercounted communities enough for North Carolina to gain its 14th Congressional seat and an additional vote in the Electoral College.

Shalondra Greenlee, ’14, the Regional Director for Region 4 of Healthier Together, explained the importance of supporting a local approach to recovery and resiliency in our communities. “It allows us to stay flexible, [for example] we know that vaccine access to communities where transportation is typically a barrier has required vaccination events at the transit authorities, in public housing, and community centers. This regional approach helps us stay responsive to issues as they arise so that we can continue to explore opportunities to build capacity for the organizations we serve by collaborating with stakeholders and sharing resources.”

The census work also laid infrastructure that would later be used during the organization’s vaccine equity and redistricting work. As the Director of Civic Engagement, I’ve worked to facilitate and coordinate redistricting work through efforts that pull together countless allies, community-based organizations, and partner organizations from across the State.

OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 45

MEMORIAL

Mr. Elvis Lewis, Jr. (1944-2021)

Elvis Lewis, Jr., age 77, of Durham, NC, passed away at Duke Regional Hospital Monday morning, August 2, 2021. Growing up in Vance County, he attended Henderson Institute, where he was an honor student who also excelled in track and baseball. He won the state typing championship as a senior in high school and was awarded a full scholarship to HeNCCU.was a double eagle receiving a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with honors, and a Juris Doctor. He graduated at the top of his law school class. While at NCCU, in the fall of 1964, he was inducted into the Tau Psi chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. He was a proud member of the NCCU Eagles Club and the Society of Golden HeEagles.began his legal career in 1968 as Assistant Regional Attorney for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in Charlottesville, VA. He was drafted into the United States Army in May of 1969 and was soon commissioned as a Captain in the Judge Advocate General Corps. In this capacity, he served as Defense Counsel and as a Prosecutor. In 1971, he moved with his wife and son to Kaiserslautern, Germany, where he served as one of the first Black judges in an overseas branch of the United States Army. In recognition of his military service, he received a National Defense Service Medal and an Army Commendation Medal. Following his honorable discharge from the armed services, he established private law practices in Danville, VA and Fayetteville, NC, where he also served as Chairman of the Housing Authority. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Claudine Daye Lewis; two sons, Elvis Lewis, III of Durham, NC, and Kevin J. Lewis (Chaundra) of Atlanta, GA; three grandchildren (Kennedy, Lauryn, and Chandler); his sisters Annie Beidleman of Mount Vernon, NY, and Edith Bazemore (Bill) of Fort Washington, MD; and a niece and nephew.

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Monte

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Paul L. and Edwina Jones

Iris P.

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A. Beach Stephen A. Beasley

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Renee L. Bowser

NCCU School of Law Donor Honor Roll

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46OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 Donor Honor Roll list reflects annual gifts made between Jan 1, 2021 - Feb 1, 2022. The Donor Honor Roll is our opportunity to thank alumni, friends and partners who have demonstrated their support. NCCU School of Law’s mission to provide a high quality, personalized, practice-oriented and affordable legal education to historically underrepresented students from diverse backgrounds in order to help diversity the legal profession. Your generosity increases scholarships for students, provides funds to support scholarly endeavors for faculty, augments academics programs, and enhances current facilities. Your contributions are crucial to maintaining and enriching the NCCU School of Law experience. DEAN’S $10,000.00+CIRCLE Atiba D. Adams Carolyn and Bert Collins Sr. Gillian F. Frasier Mark V.L. Gray, II Lawrence C. McSwain

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Constangy,AttorneysBrooks,

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Laurie N. Robinson-Haden Kurt Vernon and Kia Hardy-Vernon D. Watkins Foundation School Council Offices of John L. Burris

Fern

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EAGLE’S COURT $500.00

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OF COUNSEL MAGAZINE / 2022 47 MAROON & GREY CLUB $100.00$499.00 Natasha A. Adams Denaro J. Allen Pearla M. Alston Edward M. and G. Katheryn Anderson Linda . Anderson Ronald I. and Valerie DeWittRonnieShellyDawsonAprilGennellSandraPhylissKrishneeNicholasStaceyArienRoseLynnTiaShelleyEliasWilliamJenniferDawnAlfredCamilleNorjaAndersonH.BanksD.Banks-PrinceandPamelaBatesY.BaxtonD.BestC.BowieIIIE.BrownIIC.BrownM.BrownM.BurkeCaldwellP.CannonL.CarlessCarrV.ColeyV.Craig-TaylorCrumplerR.CurryandAlexanderB.DeAdderandVerleneB. George Dohanich William and Dawn MelindaDudley J. Dula Tolulope O. Edun Bartina L. HolmesManusBarbaraElizabethTrashaTheltonSusanHathawayGeoffreyCharlesAngeliqueArleneAllisonAlexandriaKimberlyDionElizabethGilmoreAl-TonyBrendaCaroleGraemeIraStormieStevenFrederickBrandonDominquedwardsT.EmmanuelEverettW.FlemingD.ForbesD.ForteL.FosterFrelickA.FryeD.GibsonandBerylS.GoldGrahamC.GraingerB.GwynnHalsemaD.HanksHarrisE.HarrisIIL.andBeverlyE.HauserHendersonN.HickmanHill-JeffersonHolcombE.andSheliaH. Frances E. Hooks Nzinga J. Hutchinson Simone Hylton Kelvin Jacobs Oleda TimothyJeffersonCoggins and Hazel L. Johnson Dax A. LaShawnJonathanReginaPhillipNicholasNinaChimezieTheodoreDorothySommerClementsKhadeejaWalterNathanBruceVincentJawaraKevinMarquisaAndreaMarsettaChinaLydiaHoutanPeterJowandaJonesE.JonesandLisaKamarchikKargarE.LavelleLeeLeeLevereLewisLubickLumumbaMalteseMarguliesMaustMcRaeMullard-MurphyNachmanNoelleOkobiOlsonOrtolano,IIIParkerParkerPattonPiquant Staris Powell Anita Powers-Branch Paul FranklinArielEloisePurnellRiversRobersonRobinson Jr. Ciara AngusDeannaSandraRhondaCristinaMatthewChristyStanleySamanthaCrystalRogersRouseRussSheatsSmithSperatiStoianStromanSunkettTaylorThompson II William Tonkins Jessica Tuttle Glenn Veit Brian and Lisa Wilks Fred MichaelWilliamsandPeggy Willis Anne PageLawHowardTiffanyWrightYanceyStallingsFirm&Rogers,P. A. North Carolina Bar Association Foundation To the best of our knowledge, the information in this Donor Honor Roll accurately reflects our record of all gifts made during the reporting period. However, we acknowledge that omissions or errors, while regrettable, may occur. If you discover any inaccuracy, please notify the Office of Development at (919) 530-5244 or email$1.00SUPPORTERNCCULAWDEVELOPMENT@NCCU.EDU-$49.00 Felica and Adams Anitra LoganKinnaLorynJimmieKaylaAshleyMelanieBarrettBatesBenefieldBrittBrundidgeBucknerClarkDarensburg III Allen CherellDardeDenaa’JosephMaryCarolSaddieWalterOliviaSandraMaurandaDavisElliottandEnglishFisherGibsonGillespieGoinsGoodwinandIrisGreenGriffinHammieHarris Gary Henderson Erich Howard Terri JimmoniqueElizabethNicoleLauraTovahAishaJuralDetreceRochelleHymanMayfieldMcmillionMelvinMillerN.MitchellJ.ParkerD.PatrickPriceR.Rodgers Stanley B. Sprague Kimberly R.H. Stahl Kevin Stokes Ryan M. Stowe Dale L. Thomas Jr. Amos Granger Tyndall Saroya L. Webb Bianca Williams Nikia J. Wilson United ChurchMissionaryMetropolitanBaptist

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Articles inside

HBLS Day (Collage

40 Under 40 Alumni Awards

Mayor Elaine O’Neal Q & A

Nickeyea Wilkinson-Pickett

NCCU School of Law Donor Honor Roll

Legal Clinic Conference Room Named in Honor of Judge A. Leon Stanback Jr.

Message from Dean Browne C. Lewis

PBAP - Meet and Mingle