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Instructors and Staff

Instructors in the program are attorneys and legal assistants with experience in the area of practice in which they teach. The program director, also an attorney, teaches some of the core curriculum courses in addition to her role as chief administrator.

Marisa S. Campbell,Director
Paralegal Program
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (B.A., Political Science; Studies in Religion, 1989); Columbia University (Master of International Affairs, 1991); University of Michigan Law School (J.D., 1995)
Campbell is responsible for all aspects of Meredith's paralegal program, including overseeing curriculum and instruction to maintain compliance with American Bar Association approval guidelines; hiring, supervision and support of instructors; recruiting, admissions and placement; advertising and publicity; relations with the local and state bar and with an advisory committee of attorneys and paralegals; and preparing budgets and schedules. She also teaches legal survey and legal research and writing. In addition to her duties at Meredith, Campbell is a member of the North Carolina State Bar's Board of Paralegal Certification, is president-elect of the American Association for Paralegal Education and is an advisory member of the Authorized Practice Section of the North Carolina State Bar. Prior to her position at Meredith, Campbell was in private practice and served as the managing director for the National Alliance for Community and Technical Colleges under George A. Baker.

Tamar Harris
Paralegal Program Assistant
Meredith College (B.A. in Exhibition Design, 2003); Harris joined the Paralegal Program after working in the Office of Community Programs where she served as the FuHsing Project Program Coordinator. Harris served on the art department academic advisory board for three years and is the superintendent of art and photography for the N.C. State Fair. In addition to her service to Meredith College, she is the curator for Flanders Gallery.

INSTRUCTORS

Joe Ableidinger, Esq.
Legal Research and Writing
Duke University (B.A.,Public Policy, Summa Cum Laude, 1997); Harvard Kennedy School (M.P.A., 2005), Harvard Law School (J.D., Cum Laude, 2005)
Ableidinger is a consultant with Public Impact, a national education policy and management consulting firm based in Chapel Hill. He was previously in private practice and before that served as a law clerk to the Honorable Malcolm J. Howard on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and to the Honorable Allyson K. Duncan on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He has been teaching in the paralegal program since 2009 and also has served as a visiting lecturer in the Department of Criminal Justice at East Carolina University.

Miriam Baer, Esq.
Legal Research and Writing
University of Kansas (B.A., Crime and Delinquency Studies, Psychology, Human Development, Summa Cum Laude, 1981); University of North Carolina School of Law (J.D., 1984)
Baer is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission, a state agency whose mission is to protect the public interest in real estate brokerage transactions.  She previously served as the Commission's legal counsel for more than twenty years, handling consumer complaints, the prosecution and settlement of disciplinary cases and advising the Commission on legal matters.  As part of her current management responsibilities there, she oversees the licensing and regulation of real estate brokers.

Hilda Burnett-Baker, Esq.
Civil Litigation
Smith College (A.B., Government, 1975); Rutgers University School of Law (J.D., 1978)
Burnett-Baker is an assistant attorney general with North Carolina Department of Justice representing the N.C. Department of Transportation in eminent domain litigation. She has also served as an associate general counsel in the education section. She has a great deal of experience in teaching as a visiting assistant professor to the North Carolina Central University School of Law and served as the coordinator of and an adjunct instructor in legal studies at Montclair State College in New Jersey. Burnett-Baker has been teaching in the paralegal program since 1993.

Teresa L. Bowling, CLAS, NCCP
Real Estate Specialty
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (B.A., 1985); Meredith College Paralegal Program (Paralegal Certificate, 1989); Certified Legal Assistant, National Association of Legal Assistants (CLA, 1999); Real Estate Specialist (CLAS, 1999); North Carolina Certified Paralegal, North Carolina State Bar Board of Paralegal Certification (NCCP, 2005)
Bowling is a paralegal with Manning Fulton & Skinner PA in Raleigh, NC where she assists attorneys in commercial real estate transactions. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and earned her Paralegal Certificate, specializing in Real Estate, from the Meredith College Paralegal Program in 1989. She is an adjunct Instructor in Meredith College’s Paralegal Program, where she has co-taught the Real Estate Specialty course since 1993 and the Real Estate Title Searches short course since 1992. Bowling received her North Carolina State Bar Certified Paralegal (NCCP) certification in 2005 and earned both the Certified Paralegal (CP) designation and Advanced Certified Paralegal (ACP) credential in Real Estate from the National Association of Legal Assistants, Inc. in 1999. Teri is a frequent CLE/CPE presenter on topics related to real property title searches in North Carolina. A member of the NCBA Paralegal Division and the NCBA Real Property Section, Bowling has served the Paralegal Division in the following capacities: Immediate Past Chair (2009-2010), Chair (2008-2009), Vice Chair (2007-2008), Council Member (2004-2007), Continuing Legal Education Committee Chair or Co-Chair (2000-2003, 2004-2008 and 2009-present), Nominations Committee Chair (2009-2010), Professionalism Committee Chair (2004-2005), Ethics Committee Chair (2003-2004), and Liaison to the NCBA Real Property Section (2003-2005). In May 2009, Bowling was the recipient of the inaugural Distinguished Paralegal Award, given by the NCBA Paralegal Division to recognize service in paralegal leadership, paralegal education, paralegal-related civic/community volunteering, and the promotion of the paralegal profession. She is also a member of the National Association of Legal Assistants, Inc.

Jason T. Campbell, Esq.
Real Estate Specialty
Wayne State University (B.A., Political Science and Economics, 1992); University of Michigan Law School (J.D., 1995)
Campbell is an assistant attorney general with the North Carolina Department of Justice and represents the N.C. Department of Transportation in eminent domain litigation in Wake County. He began his legal career in Detroit, practicing eminent domain law representing property owners. Prior to joining the attorney general's office, he was a partner in Campbell & Shahady, PLLC, where he focused on real estate litigation in state and federal court as well as real estate transactions in residential and commercial properties.

Sarah Hall Kaufman, CLA, NCCP
Law Office Management; Civil Litigation Short Course
East Carolina University (B.A., Political Science, Psychology minor); Paralegal Program, Meredith College (Certificate, 1985); Certified Legal Assistant, National Association of Legal Assistants (CLA, 1987); North Carolina Certified Paralegal, North Carolina State Bar Board of Paralegal Certification (NCCP, 2007)
Sarah Hall Kaufman, CP, NCCP is a litigation paralegal with the firm of Ellis & Winters, LLP.  She has been with the firm since September 2003, having previously been a litigation paralegal with the Raleigh office of Moore & Van Allen, PLLC for eighteen years.  She received her Bachelor's degree in Political Science from East Carolina University in 1985 and her Paralegal Certificate (specializing in Civil Litigation) from Meredith College that same year.  In 1987, Ms. Kaufman received her CP designation from the National Association of Legal Assistants, Inc. in 1987 and her NCCP from the North Carolina State Bar in 2007.  Ms. Kaufman is an adjunct professor with the Paralegal Program at Meredith College, teaching the law office management course and a civil litigation short course.  She has previously co-taught the Civil Litigation Specialty for a dozen years.  She is a member of the Paralegal Division of the North Carolina Bar Association.  She is also a member of the Parkwood Volunteer Fire Department’s Board of Directors.

Samantha Kilpatrick, Esq.
Legal Research
Meredith College (B.A., Political Studies and Psychology, Magna Cum Laude, 1993); University of North Carolina School of Law (J.D., 1996)
Kilpatrick is a solo practitioner focusing on criminal law and also served as an assistant district attorney. She is a member of the Wake County Bar Association and the North Carolina State Bar. She has been teaching in the program since spring 2002.

James C. Ray, Esq.
Legal Survey: Business Organizations
Duke University (A.B., Psychology, 1968); Duke University (J.D., with Distinction, 1973); N.C. State University School of Design (M.Arch., 1977)
Ray is a member of the bar in North Carolina and Georgia, and maintains a private practice as a certified mediator in civil law cases and worker's compensation. He is currently in private practice; previously a partner with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae (formerly Moore, Ragsdale, Liggett, Ray & Foley), in Raleigh. He has written a training manual for the Corporations Division of the NC Department of the Secretary of State and several legal guides for laymen, including: The Most Valuable Business Legal Forms You'll Ever Need, 3rd ed. (Sourcebooks, 2001); The Complete Book of Corporate Forms (Sourcebooks, 2001), and The Most Valuable Personal Legal Forms You'll Ever Need (James Ray and Mark Warda, Sourcebooks, 2001). Ray has taught in the paralegal program since 1992 and also has served as an adjunct instructor of business law at N.C. State University and an adjunct faculty member in the School of Business at Meredith.

Nell Wagner, CLA, NCCP
Law Office Management
NC State University (Bachelor of Social Work); Paralegal Program, Meredith College (Certificate, 1996); Certified Legal Assistant, National Association of Legal Assistants (CLA, 2001); North Carolina Certified Paralegal, North Carolina State Bar Board of Paralegal Certification (NCCP, 2006)
Wagner is a North Carolina Certified Paralegal with Knott, Berger & Miller, LLP in Raleigh, North Carolina, working in the legal areas of personal injury, medical malpractice, estate planning and civil litigation. She also has experience doing domestic, real estate and corporate law. She is a graduate of NCSU and received her Paralegal Certificate from Meredith College in 1996. Wagner is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, Paralegal Division. Nell received her certification in 2001 from NALA and her North Carolina certification in February 2006.