CHARLOTTE · September 21, 2017 – Faith Fickling, a career-long Legal Aid lawyer and committed community servant, was named a 2017 Leader in the Law by North Carolina Lawyers Weekly. She was honored at the publication’s awards event Sept. 15 in Charlotte.
“Faith is a leader and doer,” wrote Heather Culp, an attorney with Essex Richards, in a letter supporting Fickling’s nomination. “She raises her hand and says yes. If she says she will get something done, it gets done. She encourages others to get involved and do their part to improve the community, leading by example and inviting folks to participate with her. She is early in her legal career and the sky is the limit for her.”
In 2006, only months after earning her Juris Doctor from the Syracuse University College of Law, Fickling began her legal career as a staff attorney in Legal Aid’s Pittsboro office. In 2007, she moved to our Concord office and joined our Senior Law Project. A year later, she moved to our Charlotte office, serving as a staff attorney there until 2013, when she became supervising attorney of the office’s Domestic Violence Unit, the position she holds today.
As head of the Domestic Violence Unit, Fickling not only oversees all of its legal work and administrative procedures, but she carries her own heavy caseload that requires her to be in court many days of the week. She also serves as a committed mentor to the unit’s attorneys, law clerks and interns, and regularly recruits and trains pro bono volunteers.
“She has a strong work ethic, a strong commitment to serving our clients and others, and strong leadership skills,” wrote Cindy Patton, managing attorney of the Charlotte office, in support of Fickling’s nomination. “She has become an invaluable member of our statewide organization.”
Fickling is also a leader in her local legal community. She served on the Mecklenburg County Bar’s board of directors from 2014 to 2016, is a 2011 graduate of the Bar Leadership Institute, has served on numerous Bar committees throughout her career, and is currently a member of its Professionalism, Lawyer Life and Culture Committee. Outside of the Bar, Fickling is an active member of the Mecklenburg County Domestic Violence Court Committee, which addresses issues in the county’s civil and criminal domestic violence courts.
“Faith is an outstanding lawyer of achievement: a smart, passionate and committed advocate for justice, especially for her economically vulnerable clients, and a role model for her colleagues for her consummate professionalism,” wrote George Hausen, executive director of Legal Aid of North Carolina, in support of her nomination.
“I am honored to be recognized as a Leader in the Law,” said Fickling. “Legal Aid has molded me into the attorney I am today and provides me with the privilege to pursue justice for those who need it most. I am proud and grateful to work with such incredible, smart and dedicated colleagues at Legal Aid. Their work is demanding, critical and – most importantly – equitable. They are also leaders in the law, and I truly share this award with them.”
Fickling is equally committed to community service outside of the legal arena. She is a member of the board of directors of Presbyterian Psychological Services, a nonprofit counseling center in Charlotte, and is a regular volunteer at Crisis Assistance Ministry, Second Harvest and the Clyde and Ethel Dickson Domestic Violence Shelter. In 2001, after earning her bachelor’s in international studies from American University, she joined the Peace Corps as an Education Volunteer, teaching English and promoting health and environmental awareness in Madagascar. In college, she interned with the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Fickling is a native of Buffalo, New York. She speaks French and some Malagasy, the native language of Madagascar.
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Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers to economic opportunity. Legal Aid’s Charlotte office serves clients in Mecklenburg County. Learn more at LegalAidNC.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Media Contact
Sean Driscoll, Director of Public Relations, 919-856-2132, seand@legalaidnc.org