WS Chronicle

Phyliss Craig-Taylor has been named the new dean of the North Carolina Central University School of Law. She succeeds Raymond C. Pierce, who has been dean of the School of Law since 2005 and is returning to private practice.

Craig-Taylor most recently served as associate dean for academics at Charlotte School of Law, a private law school in the Queen City. Assuming the dean’s office marks a return to NCCU for Craig-Taylor, who served as a law professor from 2000 to 2006. Over the last 22 years, she has taught at a number of schools, including the University of Florida College of Law, the University of San Francisco School of Law and the University of Warsaw College of Law in Poland. Her areas of teaching include property, real estate finance, advanced issues in poverty, land use, land loss, women and the law and professional responsibility.

“The appointment of Craig-Taylor signifies a continuation of the school’s mission to create a challenging educational program that will produce competent and responsible members of the legal profession,” NCCU Chancellor Charlie Nelms said.

Craig-Taylor was behind the establishment of a bar preparation program that increased the bar passage rate for targeted groups from 30 percent to 100 percent.  A support program focused on study skills, reading comprehension, time management and examination preparation were also established under her leadership.

Through her involvement with the American Bar Association, Craig-Taylor has held several leadership positions in the Section of Litigation, including serving as a division director. She has served on the N.C. State Bar Ethics Committee and the N.C. Bar Association Minorities in the Profession Committee.

Craig-Taylor has published numerous articles on land loss in the African-American community and discrimination in the application of laws for minority groups, including women. She is currently writing a book, “Open Door Days on the Last Plantation: An Analysis of Property Loss, Race and Citizenship.”

A graduate of the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, where she completed both her undergraduate degree and law degree, she later served as a partner in the law firm of England & Bivens and as a judicial clerk for the Alabama Supreme Court.  She also earned a Master of Laws degree at Columbia University.