Congratulations to Lakisha Chichester who was awarded the 2019 Distinguished Paralegal Award on May 2, 2019 at the Paralegal Division Annual Meeting in Winston-Salem.

The Distinguished Paralegal Award is given to a Paralegal Division regular member who has actively participated in paralegal activities such as civic/community volunteering, paralegal leadership, paralegal education, and promotion of the paralegal profession. The award includes a membership to the NCBA Paralegal Division which now includes one section membership and 12 hours of On Demand CLE for the following year. Lakisha was recognized and presented with a plaque commemorating her receipt of the 2019 Distinguished Paralegal Award and will be recognized at the 2019 NCBA Annual Meeting Awards Dinner, Thursday, June 20 at the Biltmore House in Asheville.

Chichester is heavily involved in the paralegal professional community. She is a graduate of the Meredith College Paralegal Program, where she recently addressed the 2019 paralegal graduating class during its commencement ceremonies on May 14th. She is a North Carolina Certified Paralegal and earned her Advanced Certified Paralegal from NALA.

Chichester is very active with the Paralegal Division serving as Chair on various Paralegal Division committees and participating in Division activities. She is currently the Section Liaison Chair. Behind the scenes she has done an outstanding job of organizing and implementing a more formalized structure into the Committee, including better defining the role and responsibilities of our Section Liaisons. Chichester regularly attends Council Meetings and is overall a (very) valuable contributor to the Division. Chichester also spends her time serving as a mentor to paralegal students and other paralegals. She is a great advocate for the profession as well as encouraging mentees to advocate for themselves.

Chichester also serves the professional community by serving as a Board Member on the North Carolina State Bar Board of Paralegal Certification and the State Bar’s Certification Committee.

Chichester serves in various capacities with other paralegal associations within North Carolina and with NALA.

She also has shared her time with various pro bono projects, including Legal Aid’s Lawyer on the Line program (through Meredith College), Paralegal Liaison with NC LEAP program, Site Coordinator for a High School Mock Trial program and as a member of the Meredith Paralegal Program Advisory Committee.

While all of the above would be enough to fill any one person’s calendar (maybe two or three people!), Chichester also volunteers with many of the organizations she supports. In just the past year, she has volunteered as an election poll monitor, marathon water station volunteer, and helps others by donating blood. Chichester has also given her time as a Career Coach and Mentor with Dress for Success of the Triangle. She also is a nature and outdoor enthusiast and book lover.

Even with all that Chichester does for the community and the legal profession, her most inspiring act was giving the gift of life to her sister. Last April, she donated one of her kidneys to her sister who had end-stage kidney failure.

Chichester lives life to the fullest while graciously giving her time to others. She even caught the eye of the staff at the North Carolina Bar Association who are featuring members who are excelling at living healthy lives in the categories of the themes to be featured at the 2019 NCBA Annual Meeting in Biltmore/Asheville, NC: Work, Mind, Body and Life. Read her profile here.

June 6, 2019/by Paralegals