Judge Linda Stephens

North Carolina Court of Appeals

alumni
lstephens@tcdg.com

Judge Stephens, whose educational credentials include a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Carolina, summa cum laude, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, began her legal career as law clerk to Judge (later Chief Judge) R. A. Hedrick of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. In August 1980, she was appointed a Deputy Commissioner of the North Carolina Industrial Commission and served in that capacity for four years. She left the Commission to join our firm in August 1984, became a partner in 1988, and was of counsel from January 1, 2006 until she was sworn in as a Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals on February 2, 2006.

While in private practice as one of our firm's senior partners, Judge Stephens served as President of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys in 2001-2002, a member of its Board of Directors from 1993 to 2005, and Chair of its political action committee, the North Carolina Defense Fund, from April 2002 until January 2005. Previously, she had served a three-year term on the North Carolina Bar Association's Litigation Council, the executive and governing board for its litigation section, and as North Carolina liaison to the Workers' Compensation Section of the Defense Research Institute. In October 2002, DRI presented her with its Fred H. Sievert Award as state defense organization leader of the year. In addition, she has served on the Workers' Compensation Subcommittee of the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization from its inception in 2001, and was its Chair from 2003 to 2005.

Judge Stephens has written and lectured extensively on North Carolina workers' compensation law and practice, including at the April 2003 Annual Meeting and Education Conference of the North Carolina Association of Self-Insurers, was listed in the l995-2006 editions of The Best Lawyers in America, and was chosen by her peers as one of the Top 50 Female Lawyers in North Carolina in the 2006 edition of North Carolina Super Lawyers. She is also a lifetime member of The National Registry of Who's Who, was formerly a member of the Board of Directors of the Wake County SPCA, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of S.A.F.E. Haven for Cats.