Margaret Shea Burnham is herself a 1983 Wake Law graduate. While at Wake Law, Margaret won first place in the first-year Moot Court competition. She was then selected to be on the National Moot Court Team during both her second year and third year. Margaret was also a member of the Wake Forest Law Review, serving as the Research Editor during her third year. Upon graduation, she was inducted into the Order of Barristers.
Following graduation, Margaret became an associate with the law firm then known as Adams Kleemeier Hagan Hannah & Fouts in Greensboro, North Carolina, becoming a partner January 1, 1990. Margaret remained with the same law firm as it merged … Read more »
Margaret Shea Burnham is herself a 1983 Wake Law graduate. While at Wake Law, Margaret won first place in the first-year Moot Court competition. She was then selected to be on the National Moot Court Team during both her second year and third year. Margaret was also a member of the Wake Forest Law Review, serving as the Research Editor during her third year. Upon graduation, she was inducted into the Order of Barristers.
Following graduation, Margaret became an associate with the law firm then known as Adams Kleemeier Hagan Hannah & Fouts in Greensboro, North Carolina, becoming a partner January 1, 1990. Margaret remained with the same law firm as it merged first into Nexsen Pruet Adams Kleemeier, then Nexsen Pruet, and now Maynard Nexsen. After 41 years at the law firm, she is now Senior Counsel.
While practicing law, Margaret has served in both the litigation and the commercial real estate departments at the law firm. In 1997, she passed the exam by the North Carolina Board of Legal Specialization to become a Board Certified Specialist in Real Property Law: Business, Commercial and Industrial Transactions. She was awarded the James E. Cross, Jr. Leadership Award from the North Carolina Board of Legal Specialization in 2014. Margaret was selected for membership in both the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys.
During her career, Margaret has been active with both the North Carolina Bar Association and the North Carolina State Bar. With the NCBA, Margaret served on both the Litigation Section Council and the Real Property Section Council, later becoming the first female Chair of the Real Property Section Council from 1999 - 2000. She also served as Chair of the Local Bar Services Committee. Later, Margaret served on the North Carolina Bar Association Board of Governors. Margaret was also elected State Bar Councilor for the 18th Judicial District to the North Carolina State Bar.
Additional accreditations include being certified as a Mediator by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission in 1997 and being licensed as a North Carolina real estate broker in 2017.
As a career highlight, Margaret was awarded the Triad Business Journal "Women in Business" Award in 2006.
Margaret joined the Adjunct Faculty at Wake in 2017, teaching Real Estate Finance, Real Estate Development and Real Estate Drafting. In 2023, Margaret became a full-time Teaching Professor at Wake. While teaching, Margaret continues to work part-time at Maynard Nexsen.
Besides publishing numerous articles, Margaret served as one of the Co-Editors of several yearly supplements to North Carolina Real Estate with Forms published by Thomson Reuters.
Before Wake Law, Margaret attended Virginia Tech and graduated in 1980 with a BA in Political Science.
In her free time, Margaret volunteers with St. Francis Springs Prayer Center, Inc., a NC non-profit corporation that operates an inter-faith retreat center. She is currently Chair of the Board of Directors.
