Linda McDonald Carter currently serves as an Associate Professor and Director of the Paralegal Studies Program at Essex County College. Her humble beginnings started over five decades ago during the tumultuous 1950’s and the Civil Rights era that evolved into the Black Power Movement. Linda blossomed early as an active citizen, protesting the Vietnam War at the tender age of 12.  She vividly recalls seeing the world through the eyes of the media and TV show about attorney Perry Mason rather than the realities she witnessed daily growing up in the Scudder Housing Projects located in Newark’s Central Ward after the Newark Rebellion of 1967. She vowed then to become an attorney, not necessarily to practice law and make money, but, rather to help make a difference in her community assisting with interpreting the language of law and providing direction on how to navigate the justice system.

 

Linda’s burning interest in the world in which we live intensified as she was introduced to new cultures, religions, and people. Throughout her experiences she gained an appreciation and deep respect for the History of the African Diaspora, and the political “isms.” She enrolled in Upward Bound at Bloomfield College, studied Political Science at Rutgers University, participated in the Continuing Legal Educational Opportunity Program at Howard University, and eventually completed her studies in law at Rutgers University.

 

After living in Southern California, Linda returned New Jersey. Again, working in the area of voter registration; particulary, working with the New York/New Jersey Motor Voter Project. Later In 1989, she began her current career providing instruction as an adjunct at Essex County College. Simultaneously, in 1990 she held the position of Assistant Corporation Counsel in East Orange. In 1992, she opened her own law firm, before joining with Lisa Hendricks-Richardson, Rhonda Pope Stephenson and Vanessa Williams Powell, to form one of the first and largest African American women law firms in New Jersey ( if not the U.S.) Richardson, Stephenson, Powell and Carter, LLC in 1996. During this time, Linda also served as an Assistant Public Defender for the City of Orange.

 

Linda is a member of the Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey – Vice President & member of the Social Justice Committee, the Garden State Bar Association –Member of the Social Justice Task Force, the New Jersey State Bar Association, and New Jersey Bar Association Committee on Paralegals, American Bar Association the American Association for Paralegal Education, Essex Bar Association and Paralegal Association of New Jersey. She also serves on the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics Fee Arbitration Committee for Essex County and was recently appointed to the New Jersey State Bar Foundation Law Adventure Committee & Program Development Committee.  

 

Linda completed a Fellowship through the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Bridging Historias through Latino History and Culture Program, at the Graduate Center, CUNY, Presentation, titled, “The Evolution of Latino Politics in the U.S.” Additionally, in march 2016 Linda was sworn-in to practice law before the United States Supreme Court and later in November 2016 she was elected to the position of American Association for Paralegal Educators (AAfPE) reprehensive to the American Bar Association (ABA)

 

Linda’s community service activities are extensive and include currently serving as an Elder in the grass roots organization VOCAL (Voices of Change and Liberation).Linda is the eldest of 6 brothers, 2 sisters; aunt of 17 nieces and nephews and also grandaunt of 17. She is also the wife of a real cool husband, Aaron.