Marissa Meredith, a Legal Method and Communication Fellow, is one of 16 attorneys participating in the 2019 North Carolina Bar Association Leadership Academy for emerging legal leaders who want to enhance interpersonal and communication skills.
An Elon Law faculty member with a passion for mentoring is now taking part in a statewide program designed to nurture and encourage future leaders in the legal profession.
Marissa Meredith, a Legal Method and Communication Fellow who joined the law school faculty last summer, is one of 16 attorneys selected for the 2019 North Carolina Bar Association Leadership Academy.
The group meets five times over the spring and early summer at the North Carolina Bar Center in Cary for a day of leadership development, and the program culminates with recognition at an NCBA awards dinner at the organization's annual meeting in June. Joy Ruhmann and Level Up Leadership are providing the training.
“One of the things I’ve realized is that as a teacher, you are a leader,” Meredith said. “In my position, I’m leading 1Ls into the profession. I wanted to learn how to more effectively communicate with others who have different thought processes and ways of taking in information.”
A native of Richmond, Virginia, Meredith earned her undergraduate degree from the College of William & Mary before graduating in 2015 from N.C. Central School of Law where she was a member of the Law Review, the Student Bar Association, and the African Law Student Association.
Meredith led her law school’s chapter of the Phi Delta Phi International Legal Honor Society in 2013-14, and she served with the Law Student Division of the American Bar Association during her second and third years at N.C. Central.
Meredith cited her mother, a former middle school math and science teacher, as the inspiration for her pursuit of a law degree. She wants to be the type of mentor to today’s students that her mother was for her.
“My mom would ask me regularly, like clockwork, what I wanted to be when I grew up,” Meredith said. “I remember being young when I said I wanted to be a lawyer. She gave me tools and advised me on what I needed to do!
“Having her in my life, I started interning at the age of 18 for law firms, just trying to figure out what it was I liked about the profession. I had classmates who stumbled into being a lawyer, and they’re still stumbling trying to decide which avenue to take as attorneys. Because of my mom focusing me early on, I was able to determine my passions earlier than most of my classmates.”
Meredith said her career goal after completing her two-year Elon Law LMC Fellowship is to continue in legal education in some capacity. Said Meredith: “I love making a difference in my students’ lives and guiding them in their careers.”