Campbell Law Professor Johnny Chriscoe ‘90 to retire in May

RALEIGH - Campbell Law School Professor Johnny Chriscoe '90 will retire after 26 years of service in May, Dean J. Rich Leonard has announced.

Chriscoe, who began his career at Campbell Law in 2000 and was granted tenure in 2017, has brought his students the expertise he developed as a practicing attorney in the areas of torts, insurance law and civil litigation, among others.

An admired professor, Chriscoe is known for "bringing charm and intellect into the classroom," Leonard explained. "Professor Chriscoe has made an indelible mark on Campbell University School of Law and the lives of its graduates. He has educated first-year students on complex legal doctrine for more than two decades using a mixture of life experiences, humor and passion. He has trained a generation of upper-level students in the professional skills necessary to be successful in practice - from original complaint to the courtroom. Professor Chriscoe has a true gift as an educator capable of making complex legal theories accessible to every student in his tutelage."

As a testament to his popularity with his students, during his last Torts class on April 15, many of his students dressed up in sweater vests and donned mustaches to pay tribute to Chriscoe's signature look.

Chriscoe graduated with a bachelor's degree from Pembroke State University in 1980. Following graduating summa cum laude and first in his class from Campbell Law, Chriscoe served as a research assistant on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He later entered private practice where he focused on litigation, and continued to consult primarily in the areas of torts and insurance law.

When Chriscoe returned to Campbell Law, he served as Associate Dean for External Relations, Assistant Professor of Law and Associate Professor of Law. In addition to teaching torts, insurance law, trial and appellate advocacy and personal property. Chriscoe also coached a number of the school's trial teams.

Chriscoe has authored supplements for Howell's Shuford North Carolina Civil Practice and Procedure and is a past vice president of the Board of Directors of North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services.

He has won Student Bar Association's Professor of the Year award four times - most recently this year, and was the recipient of the 2008 Dean's Excellence in Teaching Award and the 2024 Dean's Excellence Award.

Chriscoe's reputation as a witty, engaging teacher dedicated to making complex legal subjects accessible to all is best expressed by his students' reflections from recent evaluations:

"Professor Chriscoe makes the course engaging and enjoyable. I appreciate that he brings real life lessons from the legal field into our lessons and really respects us as students. He is an incredibly kind person, and I am so thankful I had him during my first semester."

Another student wrote, "Professor Chriscoe made the material engaging and truly cares about his students. That speaks volumes about a teacher and the dedication to the subject they teach."

And another student stated, "Professor Chriscoe adds a memorable and humorous flair to what could be a rather dry course. His approach is unique and allowed me to have a laser focus on the material. Concepts that seemed complex were detangled in a matter of minutes. He's clearly an expert in this area of the law and cares so deeply about his students."

Chriscoe is the founder of Campbell Advantage, the law school's unique first-year law student success program. He directed and regularly updated the program, and had an important role in developing third-year bar success programs. More recently, Chriscoe created the law school's program for educating law students in professional identity formation through the 1L Professionalism Series.

"Campbell Law is fortunate to have such an exceptional professor, colleague and friend who has been committed to the lives and careers of its students," Leonard added. "Campbell Law is grateful for the decades of hard work and dedication Professor Chriscoe has given to the law school. We wish him the best of luck on his retirement and future ahead."

One of Chriscoe's longtime colleagues, Associate Professor Lisa Lukasik added, "Professor Chriscoe is not only a perennial student favorite, but he is also a professor's professor. He matches his classroom brilliance with deep generosity of spirit and steady mentorship in support of his colleagues and our beloved law school. He has a gift for making the complex feel navigable through his characteristic quick wit, strategic soundness and incisive insight. And time and again, he has been the first to lend a hand or to patiently talk through a thorny issue, offering clarity without ego and wisdom without pretense. Our students admire him; our profession respects him; and those of us fortunate enough to work alongside him are deeply grateful for his steady counsel, collegial warmth and unwavering commitment to excellence."

ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW SCHOOL

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 5,000 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2026, Campbell Law is celebrating 50 years of graduating legal leaders and 17 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina's Capital City.

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