One of the first things attorney Theresa Viera tells victims of domestic
violence is to pack a “go bag” with all of their essentials so they can be
ready at a moment’s notice. She also recommends packing a camera, like the
disposable one she and her mother used.
“It’s very hard to collect evidence on these things,” she said.
Viera is lead attorney and founder of Modern Legal, a family law practice
designed to help families navigate the legal system. She is passionate not
just about protecting those who are vulnerable within individual families
but catalyzing change in the greater community.
“My goal was always to figure out how to create healthier relationships,”
Viera said. “How to create a healthier community and world.”
She learned the value of an attorney’s guidance at the age of 11, when she
and her mother escaped a toxic situation. Her mother found a lawyer by
thumbing through the yellow pages. Viera still calls the attorney, “Helen,”
and recalls fondly the way her first voicemail sounded in Helen's
“assertive yet endearing voice.”
Viera discovered the power in her own voice appearing in court as a child.
The day she testified at the age of 12, she vowed to become a lawyer one
day. Upon her graduation from George Washington University, she was so
determined to get to law school, she didn’t feel the need to celebrate.
“I actually thought it was silly when I went to my college graduation,”
Viera said. “I was thinking, ‘This is not the end. Why am I wearing a
robe?’ My mom wanted the pictures, so I said, ‘OK, fine.’”
She went from a childhood in which she had a pony, lived in a three-story
house in Cary, N.C. and saw “Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway to rolling
pennies to help pay for groceries. But she learned how to fight back, and
now she’s doing it on behalf of others. She’s helping clients find a way
forward.
“The sooner an attorney can step in, the better it is,” Viera said.
Viera founded her firm four years ago, seeking ways to repay a service she
feels like the legal system of North Carolina did for her. She graduated
from law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The
Carolinas is where she wants her services to grow.
“Part of my passion in developing a law firm here in North Carolina, and
our goal, is to expand and provide family law services throughout the
state,” she said.
North Carolina has 48 counties that are considered “legal deserts” with
fewer than one attorney for every 1,000 residents. Many of them are in
small, rural communities. According to a 2022 survey by the American Bar
Association, North Carolina ranks 39th (2.5) and South Carolina 50th (3.1)
in terms of fewest lawyers per 1,000 residents.
Finding attorneys in family law is even harder.
“I think a lot of lawyers don't get into it because there's so much gray in
family law,” Viera said. “Lawyers like black and white, or as clear an
answer as possible. The law either says yes or no, or you're pursuing a
guilty, not guilty, one or the other. Unfortunately, there is no one size
fits all for any family. There's also the emotional toll because you're
dealing with such intimate subjects and relationships.”
Viera would like to see Modern Legal expand in both North and South
Carolina.
“The goal is to open up additional hubs where attorneys would be housed,
and then figuring out ways to set up satellite offices, especially in the
legal deserts,” she said. “So that anyone who is able to find us can get
those services.”
Article by Carroll Walton
Photography by Loretta Hughbanks
Originally published in City Lifestyle Queen City