Family Law, Mediation, Arbitration
Carolyn, or “Lynn” as most people call her, focuses her practice in family law and related civil litigation.
As a child of divorced parents, and having been raised by a single mother for the first eight years of her life, Lynn has a personal understanding of how family law issues impact all parties involved, including the children. She uses her professional experience combined with her personal understanding to assist her clients in making the legal process as simple, efficient and painless as possible.
Lynn is also a Certified Family Financial Mediator. After spending 8+ years as a litigator, she felt that she could use her extensive courtroom experience to help guide people towards settlement outside the courtroom. Since becoming certified in 2019, Lynn has mediated over 200 cases, and has successfully helped over 80% of those people settle their case. While Lynn still handles cases in active litigation on a regular basis, she has found that adding mediation to her practice has resulted in helping even more people reach a resolution in their lives. This brings her great joy, and she is very proud to help people in this way.
Lynn not only handles divorce and custody matters, but also helps her clients with alienation of affection cases. Her most notable trial resulted in a $1.5 million judgment for alienation of affection while in Raleigh. After returning to Charlotte, Lynn participated as co-counsel in an alienation of affection case, which resulted in a jury verdict of $1.3 million in their client’s favor. Subsequently, she handled another trial for alienation of affection which resulted in a $300,000 jury verdict in her client’s favor. Because of this experience, Lynn is well versed in the intricacies of the laws surrounding alienation of affection cases and has been selected as a CLE speaker on this topic.
Giving back to her community is a high priority for Lynn. For the past seven years, Lynn has served on the Board of Directors for Shelter Health Services, a 501(c)(3) which provides free healthcare and health education to homeless women and children through its walk-in clinic. She serves Shelter Health Services on the Executive Board.
Lynn is recently served as the Chair of the Mecklenburg County Bar Association Family Law Section and is Co-Chair of the Mecklenburg County Domestic Court Bar Committee. Lynn has also been a guest on the news and podcasts. To hear Lynn on the BrandBuilders Podcase, click here. To hear Lynn on Domestic Connection Podcast, click here. To hear Lynn on the Human Lawyer Podcast, click here.
In her free time, Lynn enjoys spending time with her husband Matt and their two kids. They love hiking and traveling.
Education
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Law, JD, 2011
- The Johns Hopkins University, BA (International Relations), 2008
Experience and Awards
- Best Lawyers in America® 2024 for Family Law and Family Law Mediation
- North Carolina Super Lawyers “Rising Star,” 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
- Legal Elite in Family Law, Business North Carolina, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
- North Carolina Board Certified Specialist in Family Law by the North Carolina State Bar
- Certified Family Financial Mediator by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission
- Successfully tried an alienation of affection and criminal conversation case before a judge in which her client realized a $1.5M verdict
- Successfully tried an alienation of affection and criminal conversation case before a jury in which her client realized a $300,000.00 verdict
- Successfully co-counseled an alienation of affection and criminal conversation case before a jury in which her client realized a $1.3M verdict.
- Speaker on various topics in the area of family law and legal practice as part of continuing legal education seminars and family law focused seminars
Committees and Involvement in Community
- Chair, Mecklenburg County Bar, Family Law Section 2022-2023, Co-Vice Chair 2021-2022
- Co-Chair, Mecklenburg County Domestic Court Bar Committee 2022-2023
- Mecklenburg County Bar: Bar Leadership Institute, Class of 2021
- Speaker at multiple Continuing Legal Educations (“CLE”) regarding alienation of affection and criminal conversation
- Speaker at CLE regarding Substance Abuse in the Legal Profession
- Speaker at Mecklenburg County Bar, Small Firm and Solo Practitioner Section regarding social media and law practice
- Member:
- Family Law Section, Mecklenburg County Bar
- Pro Bono and Legal Recruitment Committee, Mecklenburg County Bar
- Young Lawyers Division, Mecklenburg County Bar
- Dispute Resolution Section, Mecklenburg County Bar
- Solo Practitioners and Small Firm Section, Mecklenburg County Bar
- North Carolina Bar Association, Family Law Section