Rivers
Okafor

I do the work I do because what I'm doing matters today. Custody and domestic violence cases are urgent — the order entered next week will be the order the family lives under for years. There is no comfortable distance from the consequences in this practice area, and I have come to think that is exactly the right way to work.

Before law school, I was a high school history teacher in Durham. I think about that experience often — about what it looks like to be a kid whose family is going through something, and what the adults around them can and cannot do. Most of my custody clients are parents who are trying to do the right thing for their children in a circumstance that doesn't have a 'right' option. The job is to help them find the best one.

I represent both petitioners and respondents in 50B DVPO proceedings. I handle a substantial volume of custody cases — initial actions, modifications, relocations, and contempts. I also work on adoption matters, particularly stepparent and second-parent adoptions, and post-decree enforcement.

I trained at Wake Forest University School of Law, where I was the recipient of the Daniel R. Wann Public Interest Fellowship. Before joining Ashby Family Law in 2022, I was an assistant district attorney in Mecklenburg County, where I prosecuted misdemeanor domestic violence cases. The criminal-civil intersection of family violence is something I think about every day.

I serve on the board of Safe Alliance, the largest domestic violence shelter in the Charlotte region, and I take a meaningful pro bono caseload through Legal Aid of NC.