The School of Law is located on the campus of North Carolina Central University at the corner of Cecil Street and South Alston Avenue in the Albert L. Turner Building, 87,672 sq. ft. four-story brick structure recently renovated and expanded.

Visit NCCU Veterans Law Clinic

• About

• Program Facilities

• Supervising Attorney 
  

• Director of the Clinical Program

• Dean of NCCU Law School

Attorney Craig Kabatchnick is the Supervising Attorney for the Veterans Law Project and NCCU Veteran's Law Clinic.  He is of counsel to the Everett & Everett law firm in Durham, NC, and specializes in veterans and military law.   He has handled matters involving medical malpractice at VA hospitals, nursing home care, disability and compensation rating appeals, reimbursement for private medical expenses, survivor benefits, effective dates and reopening of claims at the VA Regional Office level.  He assisted in a project undertaken by the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security at Duke University to study possible causes of the Gulf War Syndrome.

From 1990-1995 as former Senior Appellate Attorney, Associate Special Assistant and Appellate Attorney in the Office of the VA General Counsel, he represented the Department of Veterans Affairs before the United States Court of Veterans Appeals in more than 250 cases.  He was deeply involved in the VA adjudicative process with such issues as access to records, exposure to radiation/toxins, scope of physicians discretion as to modes of treatment, and eligibility for survivor benefits.

Kabatchnick is a native of Washington, D.C. and attended the University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science in 1979.  He received a Juris Doctorate from the George Washington University School of Law, Washington, D.C. in 1982.

Pamela Stanback Glean - Director of the Clinical Program
B.A., Duke University; J.D., North Carolina Central University.

  Professor Glean is a native of Hillsborough, NC. She graduated from Duke University in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in economics. She received her juris doctorate in 1980, after which she entered private practice in Greensboro, NC. In 1992, Glean returned to Durham where she served as Assistant County Attorney, and Staff Attorney for the Center for Child & Family Health. She began teaching at NCCU School of Law in 1996, and is currently a clinical supervising attorney.

  While at the Law School, Glean has served as coach and advisor for the Trial Advocacy Team, a member and advisor of the Faculty Senate, and a member of the University Graduation Committee. She also teaches regularly for NITA (the National Institute of Trial Advocacy) and The Principal's Executive Program.

  Professor Glean's hobbies include gardening and traveling, especially to the beach.

Raymond C. Pierce named Dean in 2005, joined the North Carolina Central University family following a successful career with the national law firm of Baker & Hostetler LLP. As a partner in the firm's office in Cleveland, Ohio, Pierce's legal practice concentrated in business transactions and public policy. In addition, he represented state governments in higher education and pension investment-related matters and was also a member of the law firm's Federal Policy Group based in Washington D.C. where he assisted clients with government-related issues. Prior to joining Baker & Hostetler, Pierce was a candidate for mayor of Cleveland.

From 1993 to 2000, Pierce served as President Bill Clinton's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. While deputy assistant secretary, Pierce managed the enforcement of federal civil rights laws in education and the development of federal civil rights education policy. Pierce led the development of the Clinton Administration's federal education and civil rights policy in response to the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ayers v Fordice, 505 U.S. 717 (1992) which addressed equal protection in higher education opportunities for African-American students and the impact of state policies on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Following the publishing of the Fordice Notice, Pierce directed the Department of Education's national higher education desegregation docket and negotiated resolution agreements with six states resulting in increased funding and enhanced educational programming for HBCUs. Through these efforts, Pierce was the commencement speaker at graduation ceremonies for five HBCUs on behalf of the Clinton Administration. He also served on committees with the White House Domestic Policy Council where he assisted in the development of federal urban economic development initiatives. Under Pierce's leadership, his agency received three Vice-President Awards for improving operations in the federal government. During his service with the federal government, Pierce was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Education to serve on three Senior Executive Service Appointment Boards. Pierce has lectured extensively on the subject of civil rights and education and served on numerous panels and task forces.

Prior to joining the Clinton Administration, Pierce was employed by the LTV Corporation from 1986-1993, beginning as a Labor Relations Counselor and later serving as an attorney in that company's Corporate Law Department. While in the Corporate Law Department at LTV, Pierce was a commercial transactions attorney primarily involved with the transportation section for railroads, waterways and trucking.

Pierce began his legal career in 1984 as a civil rights attorney with the John W. Walker Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas where he concentrated on class action employment discrimination cases. He is also a past Chairman of the Education Committee of the Cleveland Branch of the NAACP. Pierce is the recipient of numerous awards including the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund National Leadership Award, an NAACP National Service Award, the Case Western Reserve University School of Law Distinguished Graduate Award and in September 2005 Pierce was inducted into his law school alma mater's Society of Benchers. .

Pierce received his law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1983 and his bachelor's degree in 1980 from Syracuse University where he was admitted into the Sigma Tau Delta English Honorary Society. He is admitted to practice in Ohio and Arkansas.

North Carolina Central University was chartered in 1909 and opened its doors to students in 1910 as the National Religious Training School and Chautauqua.  Dr. James E. Shepard, the founder, served as the President of the institution from its founding until his death in 1947.  From the beginning, North Carolina Central University has declared its purpose to be the development in young men and women of the character and sound academic training requisite for real service to the nation.

In 1939, the North Carolina General Assembly authorized the North Carolina College for Negroes.  The General Assembly sought to establish a law school to provide African-Americans with an opportunity for a legal education.  Although the school was scheduled to open in 1939, its opening was postponed until the following year due to initial insufficient enrollment.  Nevertheless, the Law School formally opened for the study of law in 1940.  The entering class consisted of four students.

Always committed to providing opportunity, the school has continued to grow over the decades.  In 1944, the school admitted its first women.  In 1965, caucasian students were enrolled.  The year of 1981 marked the first year for the Law School's evening program;  the only evening law school program between Atlanta, GA and Washington, D.C.  As a result of the Law School's growth, the student body now includes more than 550 students.

Founded during a time of lawful racial segregation, an important aspect of the Law School's mission is to attrat capable persons from diverse backgrounds.  NCCU Law seeks students who are committed to public service and to meeting the needs of the under-served.

Purpose
The purpose of the Veteran's aw Clinic is to provide free legal assistance to veterans of the United States military and their families;  to provide aw students with the requisite knowledge, sensitivity, and experience to represent veterans while enrolled in law school and after graduation;  and to train potential volunteer attorneys to represent veterans. 

The Veteran's Law Clinic will be a part of the North Carolina Central University School of Clinical Legal Education Program.  Much of the requisite infrastructure, such as office space, support staff, and office supplies is already in place.  Due to the anticipated volume of the Veteran's aw Clinic, additional support staff, office supplies and equipment is required.