Education

B.A., University of North Carolina at Greensboro
J.D., North Carolina Central University School of Law

Biography

Ashley Hilliard received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2012. As an undergraduate student with a passion for words, she worked as a staff writer for The Carolinian, covering student and campus news. In 2016, she received her Juris Doctor from NCCU School of Law. While at NCCU, she was an editorial member and editor in chief of NCCU’s Law Review, a member of NCCU’s Pro Bono Council, and President and Program Coordinator of the NCCU Law Innocence Project.

After law school, Professor Hilliard returned home to Raleigh, North Carolina and worked as an attorney for a private firm, handling family law, criminal law and immigration law across the Triangle area. In 2019, Professor Hilliard transitioned into a non-traditional legal role working as a sales and use tax research analyst for a SaaS company in Durham, North Carolina. Since 2019, Professor Hilliard has spoken on topics including race and diversity in the workplace and non-traditional legal roles. In 2020, she served as a panelist for “Beyond the Law Firm: Exploring Alternative Legal Careers” hosted by the North Carolina Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. While working as an analyst, she also served as an adjunct legal writing professor at NCCU School of Law before joining as a full-time faculty member in August 2021.

Professor Hilliard is affiliated with the North Carolina State Bar, American Bar Association, Tenth Judicial District Bar, Legal Writing Institute and the Association for Legal Writing Directors. In her spare time, Professor Hilliard enjoys reading true-crime novels, snorkeling, gardening, and running.