Divorce Lawyer Awards and Recognition in Raleigh, NC
When you are comparing divorce lawyers in Raleigh, awards only mean something if you know how they were earned. A badge a firm paid for and a certification from the state licensing body carry very different weight, so this page lists the recognition Rosen Law Firm holds and explains who decides each one, what the criteria are, and how many people receive it.
Most of what follows comes from peer votes, independent judging panels, or the North Carolina State Bar. Lisa M. Angel, the firm’s president and owner, has practiced North Carolina family law for more than 30 years, and the recognition below spans 1997 through 2026.
North Carolina Board-Certified Family Law Specialist
Granted by: North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization
Held by: Lisa M. Angel, continuously since 1998
Share of North Carolina lawyers who hold any specialty certification: 3.5%
This is the credential that matters most, because it comes from the body that licenses North Carolina attorneys rather than from a publisher or a directory. It is earned by meeting published standards and passing an exam, and no amount of advertising affects whether an attorney holds it.
To sit for certification in family law, an attorney has to show they devoted an average of at least 600 hours a year to family law over the five preceding years, with no year below 400 hours. They have to name ten lawyers or judges familiar with their work and have completed peer reference forms returned by at least five of them. They have to complete required continuing legal education. Then they have to pass a written examination covering marriage, divorce, alimony, equitable distribution, child custody and support, enforcement of support, domestic violence, and adoption, along with the federal tax code sections that govern how property and support are treated in a divorce.
Certification lasts five years. Keeping it means proving continued substantial involvement, completing more CLE, and submitting to peer review again. Lisa has held the certification since 1998, which means she has been through that renewal process five times.
The North Carolina State Bar began certifying specialists in 1987 and added family law as a category in 1989. As of January 2025, the Board counted 1,161 board-certified specialists across every certified field in a community of roughly 33,400 North Carolina lawyers, or about 3.5%. This credential is also the reason the firm can say it specializes in family law, since in North Carolina the words “specialist” and “specialize” are tied to board certification.
Read the full certification standards from the North Carolina State Bar, or see Lisa Angel’s bio.
Super Lawyers, 2015 through 2026
Granted by: Super Lawyers
Years recognized: 2015 through 2026, twelve consecutive years
Share of attorneys selected: no more than 5% of the lawyers in the state
Super Lawyers runs a multiphase selection process that combines peer nomination with independent research. Once a year, lawyers across the state are invited to nominate attorneys whose work they have personally observed. An attorney may nominate someone in their own firm, but that nomination only counts if it is matched by at least one nomination from outside the firm, and out-of-firm nominations carry more point value than in-firm ones. That structure is designed to stop large firms from voting for themselves.
Candidates are then evaluated on twelve indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. The highest scorers move to a peer review by practice area, where a panel rates each candidate from one to five. Finalists are grouped into four categories by firm size, so a solo practitioner is compared against other solo practitioners rather than against a lawyer with a hundred colleagues behind her.
Selection is annual and starts over each year. Twelve consecutive years of selection is a longer record than a single listing, because it reflects twelve separate rounds of peers being asked the same question and giving the same answer.
See the Super Lawyers selection process.
Legal Elite in Family Law, 2024 and 2025
Granted by: Business North Carolina magazine
Years recognized: 2024 and 2025
Category: Family Law
Selected by: peer ballot of North Carolina State Bar members
Legal Elite is decided entirely by other lawyers. Business North Carolina sends ballot notices to every member of the North Carolina State Bar living in the state and asks a single question: of the North Carolina lawyers whose work you have observed firsthand, who would you rate among the current best in each category.
Only licensed attorneys can vote, and self-nominations are not accepted. As with Super Lawyers, a voter may name lawyers from their own firm only if they also name lawyers from outside it in the same category, and the outside votes are weighted more heavily. The magazine contracts a third-party research company, DataJoe Research, to run the online voting and verify the results rather than tallying ballots in-house.
The award is also structured so it does not accumulate indefinitely. The top vote-getter in each category joins the Legal Elite Hall of Fame and becomes ineligible to win again, which keeps the list from filling up with the same names year after year.
See Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite.
Leaders in the Law, 2023
Granted by: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
Year recognized: 2023
Class size: 24 honorees statewide
Selected by: an independent panel of legal professionals and peers
Nominations for Leaders in the Law are open to anyone in North Carolina. Once nominated, an attorney completes a detailed questionnaire and can submit supporting material including a resume, letters of recommendation, news coverage, and prior recognition. A panel of independent legal professionals and peers then scores every nominee.
The scoring covers five areas: legal organizations and positions held, community organizations and positions held, achievements in the practice, leadership achievements, and what makes the nominee stand out. Two of those five are about service outside the practice of law, which is unusual for a legal award and a fair reflection of what the program is trying to identify.
North Carolina Lawyers Weekly launched the program in 2011. Classes have generally run between 20 and 35 honorees for the entire state, and the 2023 class named 24. The recognition is a one-time honor; the publication does not name the same attorney again, and in 2025 it folded Leaders in the Law into a broader program called Excellence in Law.
See the Leaders in the Law selection criteria.
Managing Partners to Watch, 2024 through 2026
Granted by: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
Years recognized: 2024, 2025, and 2026
Selected by: the publication’s editorial team, drawing on peer nominations and insights from within the legal community
Managing Partners to Watch is North Carolina Lawyers Weekly’s recognition of the firm leaders who shape and grow their firms, rather than a practice-area honor. The list highlights managing partners who have grown firm revenue, built and retained their teams, kept their firms active in their communities, and moved their firms toward meaningful goals.
Honorees are chosen by the publication’s editorial team, working from peer nominations and input from trusted sources across the North Carolina legal community. The statewide lists are short, generally running around twenty managing partners a year. Lisa has been named in three consecutive editions, 2024 through 2026, recognition that reflects her role leading Rosen Law Firm as president and owner, not only her work in the courtroom.
See North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.
If you want to talk with the firm rather than read about it, call or text (919) 787-6668, or take the next step online.
Family Law Power List, 2022 through 2025
Granted by: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
Years recognized: 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, four consecutive editions
Selected by: peer nomination
Class size: 20 attorneys in the 2022 edition, 28 in 2024, and 32 in 2025
The Power List is North Carolina Lawyers Weekly’s practice-area list, built to name the most respected and accomplished attorneys in one field at a time. Because it is confined to a single practice area rather than covering the whole profession, the lists are short. The family law edition published in late 2022 named 20 attorneys for the entire state, the 2024 edition named 28, and the 2025 edition named 32. Lisa has been named to the family law Power List in every edition from 2022 through 2025.
Honorees reach the list through peer nomination. The publication evaluates whether an attorney is regarded as a leader in the field, is well-versed in the relevant case law, statutes, and regulations, is experienced with a record of success in cases and transactions, is a lawyer other lawyers respect and refer clients to, and is a leader in the community with a record of bar involvement.
The referral criterion is worth pausing on, because it describes something clients cannot easily see. Opposing counsel and other firms know which divorce lawyers actually handle a complicated equitable distribution or a contested custody matter well, and referrals between attorneys are a practical measure of that judgment.
See North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.
Women in Business Awards, 2004
Granted by: Triangle Business Journal
Year recognized: 2004
Eligibility: one award per honoree, ever
Triangle Business Journal honors women who have built established records of significant accomplishment in business, community service, or both. Nominations are open to the public, and honorees are chosen by editorial review inside the newsroom.
The publication states its own standard plainly: honorees are chosen through an independent editorial review, with selections based entirely on their merits, achievements, and contributions to their organizations and local community, and commercial interests with the Business Journal are not considered. Editorial leadership has final approval over every honoree. That is a more direct disclaimer than most award programs publish.
Previous winners are not eligible again, so a name appears on the list once and only once. Recent classes have run between 25 and 28 honorees drawn from the 16 counties of the greater Triangle region. Lisa had been practicing North Carolina family law for eleven years when she was honored in 2004, and had held her board certification for six.
See the Triangle Business Journal past honorees.
Academy of Women, 2003
Granted by: YWCA of the Greater Triangle
Year recognized: 2003, the program’s 21st year
Category structure: one woman inducted per category per year
The Academy of Women was established in 1983 as a membership group of women who excelled in their fields and reflected the YWCA’s mission of eliminating racism and empowering women. It ran on eleven fixed categories, including Professions, which covered fields requiring an advanced degree and licensing. One woman was inducted per category per year, so an entire class was eleven or twelve women drawn from across the Triangle.
Nominations came from individuals, businesses, and community organizations. A nominee had to live or work in the Triangle, and former recipients were not eligible again. Submissions were capped at two pages and had to give specific examples of how the nominee’s work had produced meaningful results and positively affected the community.
The YWCA of the Greater Triangle closed its Raleigh location in 2012 after 110 years, and the Academy of Women no longer runs. The roster is closed at roughly 250 women inducted over 29 years.
Learn more about the YWCA of the Greater Triangle.
40 Under 40, 2002
Granted by: Triangle Business Journal
Year recognized: 2002, the program’s second year
Class size: exactly 40 honorees
Triangle Business Journal recognizes 40 leaders under the age of 40 from across the 16-county Triangle region each year. The count is fixed, so the list does not expand to accommodate a strong year.
To be eligible, a nominee has to hold a leadership role of consequence in their organization, have made significant career achievements in the preceding year, and have been substantially involved in community service outside of their day job. They have to live and work in the region, and previous winners cannot win again. Judges weigh the nominee’s work, their accomplishments in the workplace, their community impact, and what the publication calls future promise.
The same editorial independence standard applies here as to the Women in Business Awards: selections are based on merit and commercial relationships with the publication are not considered. Triangle Business Journal launched 40 Under 40 in 2001, so the 2002 class was the program’s second. Lisa was nine years into her career at the firm.
Read more about the Triangle Business Journal’s 40 Under 40.
Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, 1997
Granted by: North Carolina Bar Association Young Lawyers Division
Year recognized: 1997
Recipients: one per year
The Young Lawyers Division gives one such award each year to recognize distinguished and meritorious service by an attorney early in their career. The recipient is chosen by the division’s leadership and the award is presented at the North Carolina Bar Association’s annual meeting. Lisa received it four years into her career at the firm, for her service chairing the division’s domestic violence work.
Learn more about the North Carolina Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.
Appointment to the North Carolina Domestic Violence Commission
Appointed by: Governor Michael Easley and Governor Beverly Perdue
Role: commission member, later chair
This one is not an award, and it works differently from everything above. The North Carolina Domestic Violence Commission is a state body, and its members are appointed by the governor’s office rather than selected from a pool of applicants or nominees. Lisa was appointed by two consecutive governors and eventually chaired the commission.
She also founded Project Together in Wake County about twenty years ago. The program trains attorneys who do not practice family law to handle pro bono cases for domestic violence survivors, which addresses a specific gap: survivors seeking a protective order often cannot find or afford counsel, and most volunteer attorneys have never handled a domestic violence matter.
If you are dealing with a situation involving safety, the firm’s domestic violence resources explain your options in North Carolina.
What These Awards Have in Common
Read them together and a few things line up.
The recognition spans nearly three decades. The earliest award here is from 1997 and the most recent is 2026. Peer-voted honors in particular have arrived steadily rather than clustering around one strong stretch, and Super Lawyers has selected Lisa every year since 2015.
Most of it is decided by other lawyers. Super Lawyers, Legal Elite, the Power List, Managing Partners to Watch, and board certification all run on evaluation by peers, judges, or a state licensing board. These are people who see the work directly, including opposing counsel.
Community service shows up repeatedly. Leaders in the Law, the Women in Business Awards, 40 Under 40, the Academy of Women, and the 1997 young lawyer award all weigh service outside the practice. That maps onto the gubernatorial appointments to the Domestic Violence Commission, Project Together, and leadership roles with the North Carolina Bar Association Family Law Section, the Women’s Center of Wake County, and the Wake County Bar Association.
The teaching and writing back it up. Lisa has served as an adjunct family law professor at Campbell Law School and as a guest lecturer at Campbell Law and Duke University School of Law. She has written three books on North Carolina family law and divorce, including Smart Divorce: The End of a Marriage Isn’t the End of the World, North Carolina Child Relocation Law, and 365 Divorce Meditations. You can find them in the firm’s divorce bookstore.
None of that changes what your divorce costs. Rosen Law Firm sets a fixed fee up front, so you know your cost from the start instead of watching an hourly bill grow. You can read how the flat fee model works, see what clients say about working with the firm, or meet the rest of the team.
Take the Next Step
If you are weighing a separation, or your spouse has already started the process, a conversation is the fastest way to understand where you stand.
Phone or text: (919) 787-6668
Email: info@rosen.com
Raleigh office: 4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 106, Raleigh, NC 27607
The firm also meets clients in Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, and Wake Forest, and most meetings happen by Zoom for privacy and convenience. Get in touch or take the next step.
