Barbara Jackson NC Court of Appeals

Biographical and Professional Information

When asked during job interviews over the years what my greatest strength is, I consistently have responded, my integrity. I always have strived to conduct myself in a manner that will reflect well both on myself as a person and as a member of the legal profession.

I am (almost) a Wake County native, having moved here at age three with my family. I graduated from Athens Drive Senior High School in 1980. From there, I attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I majored in English literature and history, graduating in 1984. In 1986, I attended the Legal Assistants’ Program at Meredith College and worked as a paralegal in the Special Litigation Unit of the Attorney General’s Office, assisting with complex litigation prior to attending law school at the University of North Carolina.

Happy Day!
Law School Graduation with fellow graduate, Kristin King.

Since graduation from UNC law school in 1990, I have practiced law here in Wake County. I was fortunate to begin my career clerking for former Chief Justice Burley B. Mitchell, Jr. at the North Carolina Supreme Court. Not surprisingly, I received an excellent education in criminal law and procedure during my clerkship!

From there, I went on to serve as Governor Martin’s Assistant Legal, then Associate General, Counsel. Much of my time in the Governor’s office was devoted to matters of Executive Clemency, dealing with individuals in the penal system and their families. In addition, I had the opportunity to work with attorneys and staff dealing with issues affecting all of the Governor’s Cabinet Departments. Included among the issues our office

Barbara Jackson with Chief Justice Burley B. Mitchell (Retired).

dealt with were the Voting Rights Act, the Hatch Act, state and federal constitutional issues, issues of riparian rights, state personnel issues, state contracts, and public records issues.

In 1992, I joined the staff of the Governor’s Advocacy Council for Persons with Disabilities (GACPD) as Deputy General Counsel. GACPD is the federally mandated protection and advocacy agency for the state of North Carolina and is charged exclusively with representing the civil rights of persons with disabilities in areas such as special education, prevention of abuse and neglect in institutional settings and ensuring access to government services. For example, GAPCD represents disabled persons so that they are permitted to bring an assistance animal into a courtroom or to have an interpreter present.

I spent over four years with GACPD, primarily representing students whose school systems were not meeting the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In addition, my experience representing patients at the state’s four psychiatric hospitals afforded me the opportunity to visit each one of them on numerous occasions. This was a unique experience which I valued greatly.

I left GACPD for private practice at the end of 1996 and joined the law firm which is now Holt York McDarris & High. While there, I continued representing parents of children with special needs and also represented builders and property owners in rezonings and other land use matters, represented clients in state and federal court in commercial litigation and administrative hearings, prepared commercial leases and conducted commercial and residential real estate closings. I believe my four years in a varied, private practice adds to the experience I have gained in my years of public service and will be an additional asset that I can bring to the Court of Appeals bench.

Since February 2001, I have served as General Counsel for Cherie K. Berry, North Carolina’s Commissioner of Labor. As General Counsel, my office is responsible for providing all in-house legal services for the Department of Labor. In addition, the Legal Affairs Division interacts with, among others, attorneys and members of the public who require our services or information, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Board, the Office of Administrative Hearings and the Rules Review Commission, and the United States Department of Labor. My role has been particularly interesting because Commissioner Berry is the first Commissioner of Labor in some time who is not herself an attorney.

Statement of Integrity, Professional Competence
and Judicial Temperament

During the course of my fourteen years practicing law, I have had the opportunity to practice in a wide variety of legal and professional forums.

Barbara Jackson at graduation from North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership.

I have appeared most extensively before the Office of Administrative Hearings representing students with disabilities, the Private Protective Services Board and the Alarm Systems Licensing Board. Although I was fortunate to settle my education law cases before hearings on the merits, many cases for the occupational licensing boards went to hearings before Administrative Law Judges.

In addition, I have represented clients in District Court, Superior Court, and before the State’s appellate courts. Most of my trial court experience has been in motions practice, arguing complex matters in Superior Court. In addition, I have represented clients in both disability rights and land use matters before the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and in appealing disability rights cases to the North Carolina Supreme Court. I led GACPD’s (unfortunately unsuccessful) effort to petition the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari in one of these matters—Beaufort County Schools v. Roach, 513 U.S. 989 (1994). Notwithstanding our lack of success, this was a great professional moment and I was very proud of the work product we produced in support of our effort.

In addition to these traditional legal forums,

Barbara Jackson with Senator Elizabeth Dole, one of her political heros.

I have had the opportunity to practice extensively before municipal Boards of Adjustment—quasi-judicial bodies—and elected city councils, county commissioners, town boards of aldermen and the like while an associate in private practice. This was interesting work in that it requires being prepared to deal with a variety of different opponents and situations. Sometimes your opposition is an attorney; sometimes it is a well educated and well prepared citizen group; other times it may be an ill prepared individual who requires a gentle touch, and, although you usually know who the opposition is and can prepare going into a meeting, sometimes, it is impossible. This experience provided excellent training in working on the fly and developing spontaneous—and creative—solutions to complex problems—problems that often involved people’s homes, and therefore, heightened their emotions. The flip side of this issue was always working with your client to make sure he or she could better understand what those individuals were going through and how best to achieve a solution that would allow the client to accomplish his or her goals, while taking into account the complex mix of individual concerns and political issues that faced the decision makers.

When asked during job interviews over the years what my greatest strength is, I consistently have responded, my integrity. I always have strived to conduct myself in a manner that will reflect well both on myself as a person and as a member of the legal profession. Our profession is grounded in the imperative that attorneys abide by the Rules of Professional Conduct—rules that require us to maintain that sense of integrity and to be as straightforward and honest in our dealings with our colleagues as possible while maintaining our obligations of client confidentiality. I have followed those rules, tenets and principles assiduously throughout my legal career—and frankly, it has not been difficult

Barbara Jackson with Patrick Ballantine at the Unity Conference.

because those are core values with which I was brought up and which I was expected to follow. I have found that this course of conduct has served both me and my clients well throughout my career, and I expect to continue to conduct myself in this manner on the Court of Appeals bench.

Finally, I am a fair and even-handed person. I think that is a central characteristic that one should look for in seeking a candidate for a judicial office. In addition, with the breadth and depth of my personal and professional experience, I have the legal ability to form a carefully considered opinion, based upon both the facts and the law and render consistent justice to the citizens and the attorneys of the State of North Carolina. I am always courteous to others, although I would expect to maintain a reasonably orderly courtroom. I think my career choices have demonstrated a commitment to equal justice under law, freedom from bias and compassion.

I think you can see from the career path I have chosen during my fourteen years practicing law here in Wake County that my commitment to public service is strong. I hope to take that commitment to the next level in my bid for the North Carolina Court of Appeals.