Jill Schnabel Jackson
Jill Jackson grew up on a farm in Clark County, Wisconsin. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota in 1996 and graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1999. While in law school, Jill was a staff member for the North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation and a member of the Holderness Moot Court National Team. She also received the Gressman-Pollitt Award for outstanding oral advocacy during her first year of law school. Jill served for two years as a law clerk to the Honorable Sarah Parker of the North Carolina Supreme Court immediately after law school, then practiced family law with a large Raleigh firm for more than 16 years before establishing Jackson Family Law.
Jill’s practice is devoted to family law and appeals. She also has extensive experience dividing various types of retirement benefits, including IRAs, pensions, defined contribution plans, and governmental retirement plans. Jill is a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and a North Carolina Board Certified Specialist in Family Law. She recently was the Secretary of the North Carolina chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Jill has served on the Family Law Specialization Committee of the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization and on the Grievance Committee of the 10th Judicial District Bar. Jill has been recognized by Business North Carolina magazine as one of the “Legal Elite” in North Carolina and as a “Rising Star,” a “Top 50 Women Lawyer,” and a “Top 100 Lawyer” by North Carolina Super Lawyers magazine. She formerly was a member of the Family Law Council of the North Carolina Bar Association and is a past co-chair of the Equitable Distribution Committee of the Family Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. Jill also served on the Board of Directors for the 10th Judicial District Bar and the Wake County Bar Association. Jill currently serves on the CLE Curriculum Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association Family Law Section.
Jill is a frequent course planner and speaker at Continuing Legal Education programs throughout North Carolina. Jill also has been a guest speaker for family law courses at the University of North Carolina School of Law, North Carolina Central University School of Law, Campbell Law School, and Wake Forest University School of Law.
In addition to her legal activities, Jill is dedicated to volunteering in her community. Jill has served as the President (2016-2017) and Vice-President (2015-2016) of the Hunter Elementary GT/AIG Magnet Elementary School PTA and continued to serve on the Hunter PTA Board through June 2020. Jill also was a founding board member and the former Secretary of the Lucille Hunter Elementary School Foundation. Jill currently serves as the coach of the Mock Trial Team at Ligon Middle School.
Jill is married to J. Christopher Jackson, who is a lawyer with Morningstar Law Group. They reside in Raleigh with their two children.
Recognitions & Accomplishments
Awards & Honors.
Jill is honored that she was selected to receive the following accolades:
- The Best Lawyers in America (2012 – present)
- Business North Carolina magazine “Legal Elite” (2007 – present)
- Martindale-Hubbell Rating: AV (highest rating) (2011 – present)
- North Carolina Super Lawyers (2014 – present)
- North Carolina Super Lawyers “Rising Star” (2009 – 2013)
- North Carolina Super Lawyers “Top 50 Women Lawyers in NC” (2015 – present)
- North Carolina Super Lawyers “Top 100 Lawyers in NC” (2016 – present)
Appeals.
Jill has represented clients in North Carolina’s appellate courts in numerous family-law-related appeals. Notable opinions from Jill’s appellate practice include:
- Beasley v. Beasley, COA18-47 (7 August 2018) (equitable distribution)
- Crogan v. Crogan, COA14-214 (16 September 2014) (breach of contract, statute of limitations)
- Boseman v. Jarrell, COA08-957 (18 August 2009) (same-sex custody) (amicus counsel)
- Carson v. Carson, COA08-1462 (18 August 2009) (retroactive child support)
- Mason v. Dwinnell, COA07-176 (6 May 2008) (same-sex custody)
- Cotter v. Cotter, COA06-994 (21 August 2007) (enforcement of foreign judgment)
- Hook v. Hook, COA04-683 (3 May 2005) (UIFSA & alimony)
Achievements.
Jill has been a North Carolina Board Certified Family Law Specialist since 2006. This designation required Jill to pass an exam administered by the North Carolina State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization. Jill is required to take additional hours of continuing legal education in family law each year to maintain her family law specialist certification.
Jill was inducted into the Fellowship of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers in 2016. The AAML was founded in 1992 to provide leadership that promotes the highest degree of professionalism and excellence in the practice of family law. Fellows across the United States are generally recognized by judges and attorneys as preeminent family law practitioners with a high level of knowledge, skill and integrity. Academy Fellows enjoy a reputation for professionalism, competence and integrity, and are highly skilled negotiators and litigators who represent individuals in all facets of family law. The AAML’s consideration and acceptance process is rigorous, requiring a decade or more of substantial family law experience, certification, multiple points of dedication to the practice, authorship, amicus curiae participation in an appellate matrimonial matter, and an extensive competency evaluation. The AAML is comprised of less than 1,700 lawyers nationwide, with only 38 lawyers inducted in North Carolina.
Presentations.
Jill regularly serves as a speaker or course planner for Continuing Legal Education courses across North Carolina. Jill’s CLE participation over the years has included:
- Practical Magic: Revealing the Great Mysteries of Family Law, North Carolina State Bar Family Law Specialist Annual Meeting (2014)
- Can I Get a Witness: Evidentiary Issues in Family Law, North Carolina Bar Association (2013)
- Modern Family: Basics of Family Law, North Carolina Bar Association (2008 & 2010)
- “Wiretapping, Invasions of Privacy, and Other Domestic Torts,” The War of the Roses in the Digital Age, North Carolina Bar Association (2013 & 2015)
- Identification and Division of Various Types of Retirement Benefits,” Wake County Family Law Basics, Wake County Bar Association (2015)
- “Family Law: How to Avoid the QDRO Blues,” Risk Management Resources, Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company (2014)
- “Remedies Available in Domestic Relations Matters,” Collection and Enforcement of Judgments, North Carolina Bar Association (2011, 2014)
- “Preparing and Managing a Child Support Case,” Modern Family: 2012 Basics of Family Law, North Carolina Bar Association (2012)
- “Essential Elements of the Money Claims,” Money Matters (Family Law Intensive Program), North Carolina Bar Association (2011, 2012)
- “Desperately Seeking Separate Property: If Every Dollar Had A Name,” Family Law Intensive Program: Selected Issues Before, During and After Trial, North Carolina Bar Association (2005)
- “Entry of Judgment and Standards of Appellate Review,” Family Law Post-Trial and Appellate Practice, North Carolina Bar Association (2005)
Recognized by Business North Carolina magazine
as one of the “Legal Elite” in North Carolina
and as a “Rising Star”, a “Top 50 Women Lawyer,” and
a “Top 100 Lawyer” by North Carolina Super Lawyers
Recognized by Business North Carolina magazine and as a “Rising Star”, a “Top 50 Women Lawyer,” and as one of the “Legal Elite” in North Carolina a “Top 100 Lawyer” by North Carolina Super Lawyers
