Larissa Mervin’s Star Shines Bright as It Continues to Rise
From the moment she first introduced herself to fellow Leadership Academy attendees at the N.C. Bar Center in 2019, it was evident Larissa Mañón Mervin was a rising star within the legal profession and Legal Aid of North Carolina (LANC).
At the time, Mervin served as a Staff Attorney at LANC’s Concord location. In 2020, she was promoted to Senior Staff Attorney in the Charlotte office. Shortly thereafter, Mervin was named Supervising Attorney for the domestic violence unit in the same office and eventually, Pro Bono Programs statewide.
Fast forward through a global pandemic to 2023, and Mervin is currently serving on the North Carolina Bar Association’s Board of Governors and recently became Managing Attorney of LANC’s Charlotte office.
Not bad for a 36-year-old wife and mother of three! Best of all, she’s just getting started.
Mervin was born in Albany, N.Y., and grew up in and around Raleigh, N.C. When the time came to apply for college, she chose the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) because of its dance program.
Larissa Mervin answers the 4ALL phones in 2019 while participating in the NCBA Leadership Academy.
“I was in the dance department at Enloe High School and really enjoyed it,” Mervin said, “So I decided that I wanted to be in the dance department wherever I went to college. That’s why I applied to that particular university.”
“It ended up working out perfectly because I had the best experience at UNCG, although I eventually decided not to pursue dance. I switched my major to sociology at the end of my sophomore year and kept dance as a minor.”
What inspired you to change majors?
“I just wasn’t enjoying the dance program anymore. I started in that program because it seemed like the right fit; it was something I had done for a while, and I was good at it. But the more I did the classes, I realized it was more of a hobby to me, versus something I wanted to pursue professionally. So, I started reflecting and praying about potential options and next steps.
“My faith is important to me, so I asked the Lord to show me exactly what I needed to be doing to fulfill whatever purpose I have in this life. I kept reflecting on my upbringing, because I grew up in a lower-income household with a single mom. In that community at the time, I witnessed social injustices and violence – domestic violence in particular. I decided legal services would be a good fit and that’s why I pursued law school.”
Mervin began her legal education at Quinnipiac University School of Law in Hamden, Conn., in large part because she had family nearby and received a scholarship. For the first two years, all was well.
“I got really sick my second year of law school and ended up in the hospital,” Mervin said. “Come to find out I have an autoimmune disease which I didn’t know I had at the time, but when I first went to the hospital, they treated it with these high doses of intravenous steroids.
“As a result, I developed significant side effects and complications, on top of the symptoms of the autoimmune disease that sent me to the hospital in the first place. I was told by that point that I was going to need some level of either outpatient or inpatient rehabilitation for a neuropathy I had developed, and started exploring different programs that would be a good fit.”
Mervin found the care she would need back home in North Carolina, but she still needed another year of law school.
Larissa Mervin, left, and members of the LANC-Charlotte Office welcome new CEO Ashley Campbell (center, fifth from right).
“I really didn’t want to quit,” Mervin said. “I felt like this was my calling, like service was my purpose in life, so I needed to finish law school. The Quinnipiac community was incredibly supportive during that time and one of the staff members told me that there were programs available that would allow a student to attend a different institution their last year of law school; that the student would be considered a visiting student, and that they would then come back to their home institution to graduate.”
She was accepted into UNC School of Law, where she completed her law school coursework in 2010-11 as a visiting student. Mervin says she will never forget the phone call from Dean Michael States, who served as Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid at UNC School of Law from 2004-15 and now serves as Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
“He called while I was in the hospital to share the news of my acceptance and asked me about what was happening. He said that he obviously had read my letter and understood why I needed to come to North Carolina and why I needed to finish law school here. He was so kind and said that I absolutely could finish here, and I did.
“I went from a motorized wheelchair to a regular wheelchair, to a walker, then to a cane. By the time I finished law school, I no longer needed support to walk. Now, I run races and do all sorts of other activities with my family.”
Mervin graduated from law school and passed the bar in 2011. Shortly thereafter, she worked on a project for the Center for Death Penalty Litigation as a Contract Attorney and in 2013, joined Triangle Family Services as a Visit Facilitator, where she worked for three years. She joined Legal Aid of North Carolina in 2016 as a Staff Attorney in the Triangle and rejoined Legal Aid in the Concord office in 2018 when her family moved to the Charlotte area for her husband’s job.
With her new duties as Managing Attorney, Mervin will devote less of her time to pro bono programs. However, pro bono will always be a big part of her work and her calling as an attorney.
“Our clients are usually so grateful to get the service,” Mervin said. “A perfect example would be at a recent child custody clinic we hosted. There was a dad in a tough situation. Our attorneys and the student volunteers from Duke Law were able to spend extra time with him because he had many issues in his case and needed help. They were able to prepare pro se documents for a custody filing, but also for a domestic violence filing.
“The look on his face as he was leaving the clinic was just so rewarding. He came up and thanked me again and again, saying that we just didn’t know how much of a difference we made, and that it was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.”
The client still had to go through the court process, but the volunteer law students and staff helped him better understand that process and gave him the necessary tools to complete the process.
“And that is just one example,” Mervin added. “There are a lot of those client stories where they are just so happy and relieved that they’re getting the service they needed.”
Larissa Mervin, right, joins, from left, David Harris, Abby Burba and Kimberly Livingston at the grand opening of LANC’s new Charlotte office last year.
Mervin joined the NCBA in 2013 and ramped up her involvement in a big way when she participated in the Leadership Academy.
“When I became more engaged with service through the NCBA,” Mervin said, “it was because my then-Managing Attorney in the Concord office, Heather Bankert, told me I really should think about doing the Leadership Academy. She had participated in 2013, said it was a great experience, and that I should try it.
“So, I applied, and thankfully I was chosen. From there, I really developed a deep appreciation for what the North Carolina Bar Association does and started to learn more about different opportunities available to get involved. I met great people through the Leadership Academy, who also told me when there were opportunities to serve on a particular committee or section.”
Her involvement, Mervin continued, serves to balance out the practice of law between the realities of litigation and the collegiality of bar service.
“You see how people come together for the greater good,” Mervin said, “how people are there with a common purpose and mission, and how everybody really works well together. My experience with the NCBA has been one of the best experiences of my career so far and I look forward to many more years of service with the association.”
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.