Nakia C Davis
Nakia C. Davis is a native of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. She received her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997 and her J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law in 2001. After becoming a licensed attorney, she worked with several reputable law firms in Durham, North Carolina, where she cultivated and enhanced her analytical and litigation skills in family law. On December 19, 2005, she established the Law Office of Nakia C. Davis, focusing her practice exclusively on family law.
In August 2006, she joined the North Carolina Central University School of Law faculty as an adjunct professor for the Family Law Clinic and became an assistant visiting professor in 2010. She joined the faculty as an assistant clinical professor in 2012, earning promotion to associate clinical professor in 2017 and senior clinical professor in 2020, the highest rank available to clinical faculty at the School of Law. In 2022, she was appointed by the late Dean Browne C. Lewis as Associate Dean of Clinical Legal Education and Experiential Learning. In August 2026, Dean Joseph Grant appointed her Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, where she provides leadership for the Law School’s academic programs and supports the continued advancement of its educational mission.
Among her other professional duties, she has served as co-director and facilitator of the NCCU School of Law Virtual Justice Project. Since 2010, she has served as co-director of the Performance-Based Aptitude Program (PBAP), the program that provided her own pathway to law school. She also served as co-chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Site Visit Preparation Committee in 2018–2019, working closely with Assistant Dean Adrienne Meddock to host the ABA site team responsible for assessing the Law School’s continued accreditation.
She served as clinical director and supervising attorney of the Family Law Clinic through Spring 2022. She has also taught Family Relations, a doctrinal, bar-tested course, and Pleadings and Practice with an emphasis on family law, an experiential course.
Dean Davis is active in the legal community, with particular emphasis on providing holistic legal services to underserved and underrepresented communities. She has served as president of the Durham County Family Bar, as a member of the Board of Directors for the Durham County Bar Association, and on various committees of the North Carolina Bar Association. Within the academic community, she has served on committees of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA), and American Bar Association.
Her scholarship interests include family law and the advancement of legal education through practical skills. She has served as a panelist and presenter in numerous legal and academic settings, addressing experiential education and leadership at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools, the AALS Annual Meeting, and the AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education. In 2024, she was a TEDx speaker at TEDx Morris Brown College.
In her spare time, she enjoys mentoring, traveling, and cooking for family and friends.