Ashley Fillippeli did not go to law school planning to become a family lawyer. 

In fact, when she graduated cum laude from Campbell Law, all signs pointed toward criminal law. During law school, Ashley interned with the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Raleigh, the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission. She was well on her way to a career in criminal defense. 

Then the firm where she was working needed a family law attorney. 

Whether Ashley volunteered or was volunteered has been somewhat lost to history. What we do know is that a relatively new attorney suddenly found herself handling a family law trial. 

And she loved it. 

That first family law trial may not have been part of Ashley’s career plan, but apparently, it was a pretty effective audition. 

More than a decade later, Ashley has built a family law practice that looks very different from the criminal law career she once imagined. She works extensively with custody and support matters and helps Clients negotiate separation agreements that address everything from finances and property to what life with the kids is going to look like going forward. And when a case needs to be tried, the attorney who once thought she was headed for a career in criminal defense is still very comfortable in a courtroom.

Ashley believes preparation and strategy accomplish a lot more than theatrics. Clients who have seen her in the courtroom describe her as prepared, direct, and strategic, with the ability to advocate fiercely without creating unnecessary hostility. 

But one of the things Ashley has learned over the years is that there is more than one way to get a family law case across the finish line. 

Ashley also practices Collaborative Law, a process designed for people who want to resolve their divorce or separation without going to court. Both sides, along with their collaboratively trained attorneys, agree to work toward a resolution outside the courtroom and can bring in financial, parenting, or other professionals when their situation calls for it. It doesn’t mean the issues are easy or that everyone suddenly agrees. It means the people involved are choosing a different process for working through them. 

Ashley likes being able to offer Clients those choices. Some cases need a courtroom. Some need a conference room. Some need creativity, patience, or a carefully drafted agreement that anticipates problems before they happen. Knowing the law matters, but so does knowing which tool makes sense for the particular family sitting in front of you. 

And Ashley has put in the work to know the law. In 2024, she became a North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Specialist in Family Law. Earning that designation requires substantial family law experience, advanced continuing legal education, evaluations from other attorneys and judges, and passing a comprehensive examination. For someone who never intended to practice family law in the first place, Ashley has gone considerably further than simply changing career plans. She became a specialist in it. 

Her peers have noticed, too. Ashley has been selected to North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Stars every year since 2018 and was named to Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite for Family Law in 2025. And in a bit of foreshadowing that nobody fully appreciated at the time, the future accidental family lawyer even earned a Book Award for Family Law Planning while at Campbell. 

Of course, law has never been Ashley’s only interest. Before law school, she was a member of the NC State Dance Team, which means there remains at least some possibility that Triangle Smart Divorce is simply holding onto her until Beyoncé needs another backup dancer. We’re honored that, for now, practicing family law at TSD appears to be her next favorite option. 

She still loves dancing, concerts, karaoke, and generally being anywhere a good time is happening. But these days, her daughter and Minnie, the family’s Great Pyrenees, provide more than enough exercise of their own. Apparently, Dance Team conditioning only prepares you for so much. 

When Ashley is looking for something a little more relaxing, she loves heading to the Outer Banks with her family or settling in with a true crime documentary. The latter suggests that the criminal lawyer she originally planned to become may still be in there somewhere. 

Ashley may not have planned on becoming a family lawyer. But more than a decade later, she’s a Board Certified Specialist helping TSD Clients across the Triangle find the right way through some of the hardest problems their families will face. 

And should Beyoncé ever call, we’ll be supportive. 

Maybe.