Ann L. Majestic
After receiving her J.D. degree from Duke Law School, Ann Majestic joined Tharrington Smith in 1983, where she has concentrated in education law throughout her legal career. She received her undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1974 and earned an Ed. M. degree from Harvard in 1978. Before entering law school, Ms. Majestic worked at the National Association of State Colleges and Universities and in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia.
Ms. Majestic is the lead attorney for the school boards of Wake, Alamance and Moore County and the Durham Public Schools, and has advised and represented school systems throughout North Carolina. She also serves as outside counsel to the North Carolina School Boards Association and as counsel to Duke School for Children, Trinity School of Durham, and the North Carolina Psychological Association.
Ms. Majestic's practice has included litigation involving school finance, state and federal constitutional issues (equal protection, due process, free speech, freedom of religion, search and seizure), special education, student assignment, school accountability, student testing, employment law and teacher tenure. She is a frequent speaker at national, regional and state conferences for attorneys and educators and has published many articles in education law publications, including Inquiry & Analysis, Education Law in North Carolina, School Law in Review and School Law Bulletin.
Ms. Majestic has been licensed to practice in North Carolina since 1982 and is admitted to practice before all federal courts in North Carolina, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. She is past chair of the National Council of School Attorneys and the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys, and is a past member of the education law section council of the North Carolina Bar Association. In 1998 Ms. Majestic received the Distinguished Service Award of the North Carolina Bar Association for outstanding service to the education law section.