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Dorothy Bernholz, photo courtesy of The Daily Tar Heel/Jason Wolonick

Dorothy “Dottie” C. Bernholz certainly fits the bill of a “Hometown Hero.” Since her landmark case against the North Carolina State Bar arguing for the existence of Carolina Student Legal Services in 1976, Bernholz has been a pillar of the community and a figure that inspires the kind of respect and admiration that heroes are made of.

As the legal definition of adulthood shifted in the mid-70’s from age 21 to 18, a sudden swell in Americans with the rights and responsibilities of adults defined college towns such as Chapel Hill; and these new “adults” suddenly had need to navigate contracts, manage credit and safely react to civil rights violations. It was Bernholz, a relatively fresh-faced lawyer at the time, who was nominated in 1976 to represent students as the founding director of Carolina Student Legal Services (SLS.)

SLS was to be funded by student activity fees and designed to serve the needs of students who required professional legal counsel but were unfamiliar with the system that provided it. Unfortunately, her position and the existence of SLS itself was contested by the North Carolina State Bar. Bernholz sued, claiming that the First Amendment guarantees students the right to legal counsel and meaningful access to the court system. She won the fight, and created one of the first non-profit legal interest agencies in the country.

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With SLS secure, Bernholz became its director and stayed in the position for over thirty years. She served students and her community with unfailing altruism and energy, and remained engaged with her clients by going beyond lawyer-client dealings and fostering a student-teacher relationship where clients of SLS could have a positive and meaningful encounter within the legal system and gain a healthy appreciation of the legal process.

SLS has helped well over 80,000 clients since it began, and many of those students went on to become lawyers, legislators and judges in North Carolina and beyond. With a reputation for recouping money owed, forcing landlords to fix problems as required by law, keeping an open door and a smile that belies a ruthless legal ally, Dottie Bernholz has unquestionably helped to make our hometown a better place to live. She continues to serve on the Distinguished Service Committee, Ethics Committee, Executive Committee and Issues Committee of the North Carolina State Bar.

 

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