RALEIGH – Campbell Law School Dean J. Rich Leonard has announced that U. Zeke Bridges III has been promoted to vice dean effective July 1, 2020.
“Early in my deanship, I recognized Zeke’s ability to get things done,” Leonard said. “He has been my right hand for the past six years. His experience as assistant dean coupled with his business acumen, his successful legal practice experience and thorough knowledge of the profession, align perfectly with the skills needed for this new position. Our novel program in Ghana last summer could not have happened without his tenacity and leadership.
“As I approach my seventh anniversary as dean of this fine school, I have some bold plans for our future. This move will allow me to assume a more external role in seeking additional resources and developing new initiatives.”
Bridges, who has served as assistant dean of administration since January 2014, joined the law school administration as the director of mentorship in January 2013. A 2003 Campbell Law graduate, Bridges brought a decade of private practice experience into his role at the law school. In addition to teaching classes in the law school, he has also served as an adjunct professor at Campbell University’s business school. He serves on several Campbell University committees and task forces, including co-chairing the law school’s Pandemic Planning Task Force.
“I am honored to serve Campbell Law in this role,” Bridges said. “As an alumnus, I know firsthand how special of a place this is, and I am humbled to be in a position to help mold an even better law school for the next generation of Campbell lawyers.”
As vice dean, Bridges will serve as the chief administrative and financial officer for the law school supervising all administrative assistant deans and department directors including admissions, alumni relations, the Career and Professional Development Center, communications, mentorship, student life and Pro Bono activities.
Bridges was voted “Administrator of the Year” in 2016 by the student body and named a “40 Under 40” award winner by the Triangle Business Journal in 2015. As director of mentorship, Bridges established the Connections mentorship program from the ground up, soliciting mentors, assisting mentees and managing the program through the spring 2014 pilot phase.
A native of Blakely, Georgia, Bridges earned an associate of arts degree from Young Harris College in 1997, followed by two B.A. degrees in political science and criminal justice from the University of Georgia in 1999. At Campbell Law School, he served as president of the Student Bar Association (SBA) in 2003 as well as law library assistant and law school ambassador. Bridges was also active in the Campbell Law Observer, Christian Legal Society and Men’s Legal Caucus, and served as a research assistant for Webster’s Real Estate Law in North Carolina. As a student, he earned both the Howard Christian Citizenship Award and the David Teddy Innovative Leadership and Service Award.
Following graduation from Campbell Law, Bridges founded Bridges Law Firm, PLLC, in Cary, North Carolina. In October 2009, he co-founded Western Wake Law Group, focusing primarily on contract drafting, estate planning and real estate while serving as managing partner at the firm’s principal office. Bridges was awarded a Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review rating of AV@Preeminent 5 out of 5.
He is active in the legal profession, holding memberships in the American Bar Association (ABA) in the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, North Carolina State Bar, Tenth Judicial District Bar, North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA), Wake County Bar Association, the Craven Everett Inn of Court and the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Section on Law School Administration and Finance. He serves on the NCBA Small Firm and Technology Council and the Education Law Section.
Bridges is also immensely active in his local community having served as board vice-chair, chair of the Governance Committee, and member of Executive and Operations Committees for Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina (PCANC) as well as volunteering with Lawyer on the Line and the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, among others. He currently serves as a church elder as well as on his church’s audio visual tech team. Bridges resides in Fuquay-Varina with his wife, Grace, and their two daughters.
ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW
Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law 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 4,200 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2019, Campbell Law celebrated 40 years of graduating legal leaders and 10 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina’s Capital City.