RALEIGH — Campbell Law School’s Dean J. Rich Leonard and 11 students went “Over the Edge” of the One City Plaza building in downtown Raleigh for a good cause on Friday, Sept. 25, and Saturday, Sept. 26.
“It is a great and fun fundraiser,” said Leonard about this year’s “Over the Edge” challenge, which supports Special Olympics North Carolina. For the first time, Leonard participated in the VIP/Celebrity “Over the Edge” edition that found him rappelling down the side of the building in front a large group of law students, faculty and staff members on a sunny Friday afternoon.
Leonard said he took the plunge in honor of his late father, for whom the Special Olympics was his favorite charity.
Several Campbell Law alumni sponsored law students in the Restorative Justice Clinic, which is under the supervision of Director Jon Powell ’98, and in the Richardson Family Education Law Clinic, which is under the supervision of Director Lisa Lukasik, both of whom were on hand to watch them go “over the edge.”
Participants went to the top of the 17-floor One City Plaza building and rappelled down the side with the help of professional climbers and “Over the Edge” staff. The brave law students who aren’t afraid of heights were a mixture of second-year and third-year law students and included Sidney Cisneros, Coleman Clark, Regan Cox, Ashley Drew, Cynthia Edwards, Dominique Frederick, Chimara Good, Joshua Hawkins, Suzy Brito Lagunas, Emily Morales and Michael Sterious.
Charles Brittain ’96, who currently serves as public guardian for Cumberland County, and Billy Richardson ’80, for whom the Richardson Family Education Law Clinic is named, donated the entire fundraising minimum to sponsor the students to go “Over the Edge,” as Powell did a few years ago in honor of his brother who he describes as “a special needs kid who had a profound impact on shaping my life.”
Powell added in an email invitation to students, “It is for a great cause and is definitely an experience you will not soon forget. My drop began at the top of the Wells Fargo Building, pretty scary stuff, and ended in the arms of my proud 90-year-old mama. If you decide to do it, I don’t think you will regret it.”
Visit this link to WRAL’s report from Saturday’s event.
ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW SCHOOL
Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law School has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion, and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. Among its accolades, the school has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) as having the nation’s top Professionalism Program and by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 5,000 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2026, Campbell Law is celebrating 50 years of educating legal leaders and 17 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina’s Capital City.