Our Team

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Bio highlights: Allison joined Legal Aid of North Carolina as Director of Pro Bono Programs in 2023. She worked as Director of Pro Bono Initiatives at UNC School of Law from 2016-2023, where she also served as an adjunct professor. She began her career as an attorney at North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services, Inc., following her graduation from UNC School of Law in 2009. 

Works from: Raleigh

Resident of: Durham

Native of: Greenville, SC

Fun fact: Loves creative projects and has taken courses in cake decorating and pottery.

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Bio highlights: Tricia joined Legal Aid of North Carolina as the Strategy and Operations Manager on our Pro Bono Programs team in 2025. Prior to joining us, Tricia spent five years in the corporate world as in-house counsel for major companies, including OpenTable. Her other experience includes serving as a law clerk at Asian Americans Advancing Justice, serving as an associate at a New Jersey law firm, and serving as an extern for a judge on the NC Court of Appeals during law school. She has a JD from UNC Law and a bachelor’s in English from Boston University.

Works from: Raleigh

Resident of: Chapel Hill

Native of: Boxford, MA

Fun fact: I’m almost a blue belt in jiu jitsu. I also love to cook.

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Bio highlights: Hannah joined our Pro Bono Programs team as a supervising attorney in 2023. She also serves as the Community Engagement Manager for the Charlotte office. She’s been with Legal Aid of North Carolina since 2016, serving first as a staff attorney and then a supervising attorney in the Charlotte office Housing Unit. She earned her JD from Georgetown Law and her bachelor’s from Duke University.

Works from: Charlotte

Resident of: Charlotte

Native of: Chicago, IL

Fun fact: Camped out all four years of college in Krzyzewskiville to attend the Duke-UNC basketball games in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Go Blue Devils!

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Bio highlights: Marquita Pittman became the Raleigh Community Engagement Manager at Legal Aid of North Carolina in 2025. Her role includes serving as a supervising attorney on our Pro Bono Programs team, where she oversees pro bono efforts in the Raleigh area. Marquita joined Legal Aid NC in 2019, serving as a domestic violence staff attorney in our Raleigh field office until assuming her new role as Community Engagement Manager. Marquita received her JD from Cooley Law School in Michigan and her bachelor’s in political science from Shaw University in Raleigh.

Works from: Raleigh

Resident of: Raleigh

Native of: Chicago, IL

Fun fact: One of my favorite things to do is to travel. My goal is to visit everywhere!

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Bio highlights: Lauren Ashley joined our Pro Bono Programs team as a staff attorney in 2025. Working from our Asheville office, she focuses primarily on our efforts to coordinate pro bono services for survivors of Hurricane Helene.

“As a resident of Asheville,” Lauren Ashley said, “I’m not only an advocate for Helene survivors, but I also experienced this disaster firsthand. I’ve witnessed the immense need for legal assistance in communities throughout Western North Carolina, and I feel fortunate for the opportunity to use my experience and skills to help meet those needs.”

Originally from Georgia, Lauren Ashley earned her J.D. from Mercer University in Macon and worked as a civil litigation attorney until relocating to Asheville in 2019. Since becoming licensed in North Carolina, her practice has focused on real estate law and estate planning & administration.

Works from: Asheville

Resident of: Asheville

Native of: Augusta, GA

Fun fact: When I’m not working, you can find me wading through mountain streams in search of native brook trout or exploring the woods with my fiancé and our two heelers, Miles and Blue, who take their roles as trail blazers very seriously.

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Bio highlights: While Erin’s day-to-day work is focused on housing and family law cases in our Central Carolina office in Carrboro, she also manages our private attorney contracts program. She earned her JD from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1997.

Works from: Carrboro

Resident and native of: Rural Orange and Alamance counties

Fun fact: Loves trails – on foot or horseback – especially in the fall and early spring. 

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Bio highlights: Grant joined Legal Aid of North Carolina in 2024 as a Case Coordinator on our Pro Bono Programs team. He earned his bachelor’s in political science and communications, with a minor in conflict management, from UNC Chapel Hill in 2024. During his junior and senior years, he worked for the Carolina Center for Public Service on its Engagement Week project, an annual, week-long celebration of research institutions and communities working together to improve the lives of residents. Between his junior and senior years, he interned with the NC Division of Juvenile Justice, where he helped children who had committed criminal acts avoid jail time and further involvement with the justice system. “The legal system can seem big and scary to people unfamiliar with it,” said Grant. “I enjoy helping people navigate the system and relieving them of that fear.”

Works from: Raleigh

Resident of: Carrboro

Native of: Wilmington

Fun fact: Can bend his thumbs backwards to touch his wrists

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Bio highlights: Leslie joined Legal Aid in 2016 as a paralegal with The Child’s Advocate, one of our special projects. She previously worked with special populations in the Wake Co. School System and privately. She has a paralegal certificate from Meredith College and a bachelor’s from Montclair State in New Jersey.

Works from: Raleigh

Resident of: Garner

Native of: Parsippany, NJ 

Fun fact: Corgi lover 

Bio highlights: Kemiyah joined Legal Aid of North Carolina in 2024 as a Case Coordinator on our Pro Bono Programs team. Kemiyah’s previous experience includes serving as a legal file clerk for Moore & Van Allen, where she focused on corporate law, and serving as a paralegal for the McAdoo Law Group, where she focused on family law and litigation. She earned her bachelor’s in criminal justice from Eastern Kentucky University, and she sees law school in her future. 

As to why she is pursuing a career in law, she says, “I have a philanthropic mindset. I find joy and purpose in helping others, especially in my own community. I believe we all have to do our part to make the world a better place. When my time ends, I want to look back and be proud of what I accomplished and what side of history I was on.” 

Kemiyah is a devoted mother to her daughter, Kimora, born in 2023. 

Works from: Charlotte

Resident of: Charlotte

Native of: Lexington, KY 

Fun fact: I study astrology/planetary alignments and zodiac signs for fun. 

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Bio highlights: Brionna joined Legal Aid as a case coordinator for our Pro Bono Programs team in 2022. She earned her bachelor’s in Social Work from Austin Peay State University, in Tennessee, in 2020. During college, she interned as a social worker at Sigma Health Services, in Raleigh.

Works from: Raleigh

Resident of: Raleigh 

Native of: Memphis, TN 

Fun fact: Loves painting, drawing and interior decorating.

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Bio highlights: Tranisha joined Legal Aid NC as a case coordinator on our Pro Bono Programs team in August 2023. She works exclusively on our Heir Property Pro Bono Project. Tranisha is a licensed realtor who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology and is currently working on a second master’s in clinical mental health counseling.

Works from: Raleigh

Resident and native of: Durham

Fun fact: Wants to one day open a community counseling and housing center.

Bio highlights: Avery Marsh joined Legal Aid of North Carolina in August 2024 as a case coordinator on our Pro Bono Programs team. She has a paralegal certificate and her bachelor’s from UNC Chapel Hill. She has worked as a web developer and has a certificate in artificial intelligence from Stanford University. Her attraction to the law stems from her desire to make a difference. “I’m looking for an industry where helping people is a very clear outcome of what I’m doing,” she says. “Legal Aid NC is a phenomenal place to be. We are helping people with pressing personal problems.”

Works from: Raleigh

Resident of: Raleigh

Native of: Chapel Hill

Fun fact:  Avery enjoys competing at fighting game tournaments.

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Bio highlights: Hannah joined Legal Aid of North Carolina in 2025 as a Case Coordinator on our Pro Bono Programs team. She works from our Asheville office and focuses on our pro bono efforts for survivors of Tropical Storm Helene. This is her second stint with our firm, having served as a paralegal with our Senior Law Project from 2019 to 2021. Her other prior experience includes service at a patent law firm in Morrisville, a legal-technology company in Chicago, a South Carolina patent firm, and South Carolina’s probation and parole agency. She earned her paralegal certification from NALA in 2020 after graduating with an associate degree in paralegal studies. She also has a master’s in criminal behavior, a bachelor’s in criminal justice and sees law school as a potential path in the future. About her reason for returning to Legal Aid NC and her interest in law school, Hannah says, “Having worked in IP and corporate law, I want to be back on the side of practice where helping people is the primary focus. The legal arena is complex and typically you encounter people who need help to navigate it on their worst day. Making sure they have the support they need is my absolute goal.”

Works from: Asheville

Resident of: Arden

Native of: Richwood, OH

Fun fact: I love macaroni and cheese and know the best places in Asheville (and surrounding areas) to get the most delicious bite.

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Bio highlights: Sean joined our Pro Bono Programs team as communications manager in 2022. He joined Legal Aid in 2012, serving as public relations director until joining the Pro Bono team. He worked for the Legal Services Corporation, in Washington, D.C., from 2003-2011. He earned his bachelor’s in Political Science from Mary Washington College, in Virginia, in 2003.

Works from: Raleigh

Resident of: Durham 

Native of: Annandale, VA 

Fun fact: Loves black cats and has a collection of black-cat trinkets from around the world — and three actual black cats!