About Lynn P
Lynn P Burleson built her legal foundation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning a B.A. in Public Administration in 1970 and an M.A. in Public Administration in 1974. She completed her J.D. at Wake Forest University School of Law in 1980. Her academic path combined public administration and law, a pairing that shaped the practical approach she brought to court and classroom alike.
Burleson entered the professional world in the early 1980s. She served as an Assistant District Lawyer in the 21st Judicial District in Winston-Salem in 1981. A few years later she moved from the prosecutor’s office to the bench. In 1984 she was a District Court Judge for the 21st Judicial District. After leaving the bench she spent time in private practice, including a stint at Kilpatrick Stockton LLP in 1987. Alongside practice, teaching remained a steady thread. She held adjunct positions at Wake Forest University School of Law in 1982 and later taught at High Point University in 1986 and again in 1994.
Her professional affiliations span local and national organizations. She has been a member of the North Carolina Bar Association since 1980 and belonged to the Forsyth County Bar Association and Twenty-First Judicial District Bar during the 1980s and 1990s. Since 1999 she has held memberships in the Wake County Bar Association and the 10th Judicial District Bar. On the national side, she is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a role she has held since 1993, and became a Diplomate of the American College of Family Trial Lawyers in 2008.
Burleson holds board certification as a specialist in Family Law from the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. She is also a certified arbitrator through the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Those credentials reflect a long engagement with family law and the procedural work it demands: contested hearings, settlements, and the use of arbitration to resolve disputes when appropriate.
Her career spans public service, judicial experience, teaching and private practice. That mixture has kept her connected to the mechanics of trial work and to legal education. Colleagues describe her as steady in the courtroom and conversant in the classroom, comfortable handling complex family law matters and the procedural choices they require.
She is based at Tharrington Smith LLP, where she practices family law and serves as a matrimonial arbitrator.
