A career-long advocate for children and families in Buncombe County, Susan began a small private practice in Black Mountain in 1992. As Child Support Enforcement Attorney and back up Juvenile Attorney, Susan demonstrated excellent litigation skills prosecuting abuse and neglect cases, effectively carrying out her charge to protect the safety of children. She participated in the Fatherhood Initiative, connecting children with fathers they had often not seen in years. She assisted in the creation of the Family Visitation Center, a facility which allows affordable, supervised visits and safe exchange of children caught between battling parents. She has dedicated efforts towards initiatives such as Family Court and Family Drug Court, and alternative sentencing resolutions such as Teen Court and the Earn and Learn project.
Susan's education includes a B.A. in humanities from Emory University in 1979, an M.A. in journalism from the University of Georgia in 1984 and her law degree from the University of Georgia in 1991. She was an editor of the University of Georgia Journal of Comparative and International Law and studied European Community law in Brussels and Public International Law at The Hague. Her legal experience consists of 6 years as a Department of Social Services attorney; 3 additional years as a Child Support Enforcement Attorney for a private company providing services to Buncombe County; and 5 years privately practicing juvenile, criminal and family law. She has served as the Chair of Buncombe Alternatives Inc., a board member of Earn and Learn, Teen Court, and Co-Founder, Past President, and Treasurer of the Family Visitation Center Board of Directors, and President of the Asheville Chapter of the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys.
Susan writes:
I am descended from a long line of North Carolinians . My family can be traced back to the founders of the towns along the coast of North Carolina - Beaufort, Morehead, Marshalburg, and Rosamond Harker of Harkers Island. My Great Grandmothers and Great Aunts were members of the Daughters of the Revolution and Daughters of the Confederacy on my mothers side. On my fathers side, I have a mixed background. His great grandfather was a Union soldier from Pennsylvania that was wounded during the War of North Aggression (According to my Great grandmother) and married his southern nurse from Marshalburg.
My father was the first in his family to obtain a college degree and then a medical degree both from Duke University. He married my mother who was the first woman in her family to obtain a college degree also from Duke University, and I was born during his Internship at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. then he enrolled in the Army and was stationed in Germany. I learned to speak German before English and then with a southern accent because we were stationed in Augsburg which is in Southern Germany where my brother was born.
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