LORI MACRAE VITALE was born April 21, 1970 in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. As the daughter of an Air Force officer, she has lived in a variety of places. After graduating from high school in Wichita Falls, Texas, she attended the University of Texas at Austin. In 1992, she completed her undergraduate education at Randolph Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations with a minor in Philosophy and German. In 1995, she received her law degree from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and became licensed to practice law in the State of North Carolina and in the U.S. District Court in the Middle and Eastern Districts of North Carolina. In 1996, she moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, and joined the firm of Cheshire & Parker (now Cheshire, Parker, Schneider, Bryan & Vitale) where she has focused her career on the practice of family law. In 2001, she was certified by the North Carolina State Bar as a Specialist in the practice of Family Law, which is the area of law relating to marriage, divorce, alimony, child custody and support, equitable distribution, enforcement of support, domestic violence, paternity and adoption. Lori has served as an arbitrator and is a trained Parent Coordinator and collaborative lawyer.

Professional Recognition and Involvement:

Lori was selected to be included in the Best Lawyers in America (2007-present), and is a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She was elected to serve on the Board of Directors for the Tenth Judicial District Bar Association (2006–2008) and is an active member of the Wake County Bar Association Professionalism Committee, where she is the Chair of the Professionalism Roundtable Discussion. In addition she is a counsel member of the North Carolina Bar Association Family Law Section (2002-2004; 2006-present), a Mediator for the Tenth Judicial District Fee Dispute Committee, and a course planner and presenter for family law legal education seminars (1999-present). She has served on the North Carolina Bar Association’s Family Law Legislative Committee (2006-2007) and Continuing Legal Education Committee (1999-present) and is former Chair of the Family Law Section’s Equitable Distribution Committee (2000-2004). Lori is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American Bar Association.

Speeches and Seminars:

As a member of the Family Law Continuing Legal Education Committee since 1999, Lori has planned a variety of seminars including: “Death and Divorce in North Carolina” (NCBA, September 2006); “Perils and Pitfalls in Alternative Dispute Resolution” (NCBA, September 2005); “Family Law In Bush’s America” (Family Law Specialist Seminar July 2005); “Hot Topics in Family Law: Evidentiary Issues in Child Custody” Cases (NCBA, September 2004); and “What About the Children?” (NCBA, September 2002). She is currently a co-planner for the 2008 Annual Family Law Conference.

In addition, she has been a lecturer and author on a variety of family law and professionalism issues, including: “Recent Developments in Professional Responsibility” (Wake Forest University, October 2006); “Broaching the Alternative Dispute Resolution Subject with Clients” (NCBA, September 2005); "Interstate Child Support" (Wake Forest University, October 2001); "Enforcing Your Order and Judgment Through Contempt and Proper Filing of Judgments" (NCATL, September 2001); "Parol Evidence" (NCBA, May 2001); "Legal Traps in Bankruptcy, Real Property and Domestic Violence" (NCBA, November 2000); "Post Trial Practice" (Wake Forest University, October 2000); "Child Support, Domestic Violence and Ex Parte Contact" (NCATL, January 1999).