Alisa D. Huffman

When I play the gratitude game with my kids, I always list my educational opportunities near the top. Early in life, I learned that often, good things come from difficult experiences. College was like that. I was able to attend The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill because of a scholarship from the N. C. Veteran's Administration. This opportunity would not have been possible except for my father's lifelong disability from service in the U. S. Army Air Corps. I've always been a person serious about life. As an undergraduate studying psychology and religious studies, I enjoyed exploring some of the big, unanswered questions from my childhood: Is there a purpose and meaning to life? If so, how do we find it? Does suffering pay off? What happens after we die? After receiving my B. A. in psychology from UNC, I obtained a Master of Social Work from the  Southern Baptist Theological Seminar in Louisville, Kentucky. After graduating, I practiced clinical social work for five years before entering law school at Campbell University. I enjoyed practicing law in Wake County before my thirteen-year career as a court manager in state government. Most recently at the N. C. Administrative Office of the Courts, I worked as the Senior Manager of Court Programs where I supported court programs across the state: family courts, custody mediation, drug courts, domestic violence, and alternative dispute resolution. Like all of us, the formal hats I wear (social worker, lawyer, court administrator) and informal hats (wife, mother, divorceé, sister, friend, daughter) are integrated into all that I do. One reason I decided to return to the practice of family and elder law at this point in my life is so that I can wear the various hats I've collected over the years to help families grow and evolve through some of the tough transitions in life.