Deborah Triplett

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Shirley has left a lasting mark on Charlotte, and the proof, her portrait, hangs on the wall at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse. In between serving the public from the prosecutor’s seat and most recently working as a partner in the firm Tin, Fulton, Walker, and Owen, Shirley spent 16 years as a judge.

This year, Shirley is getting ready to embrace a new role (and a new seat) as a law professor for the Charlotte School of Law. Shirley saw potential in the Wesley Heights neighborhood long before it was a trendy address; she’s owned the neighborhood’s historic Wadsworth House since 2001, and will mesh her passion for law with her passion for community economic development this year by working with the Charlotte School of Law to create a law clinic for community economic development so that she can foster a sense of community responsibility in her law students.