Sarah Beth Withers

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Sarah Beth Withers

Inner Banks Legal Services, Inc. , Washington, NC

“Sarah Beth… is a committed servant leader who serves her team, her community, and her clients with compassion, professionalism, openness, and grace.”

SARAH BETH is the founder and executive director of Inner Banks Legal Services, a nonprofit law firm organized to bridge the justice gap by providing legal services, including consumer bankruptcy services, on a sliding scale among the elderly, abused, and economically challenged in Eastern North Carolina. Since she started the firm solo in 2017, it has helped more than 500 individuals and families in the region who otherwise do not have the means to hire an attorney. She also has worked to connect attorneys, agencies, churches, and businesses in the community to create and foster critical partnerships and grants for the organization. She previously served as a staff attorney for Richard M. Stearns, Chapter 13 Trustee, then went on to represent creditors in private practice, where she noted opportunities to bridge the justice gap, leading her to open the doors at Inner Banks Legal Services.

Sarah Beth is a co-founder of the North Carolina Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Coalition, which was organized to protect the integrity of the bankruptcy system in North Carolina and preserve the rights of consumer bankruptcy debtors through advocacy, education, and appearances in lawsuits related to issues of interest to consumer debtors. She also has co-authored articles for The NACTT Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education and the Eastern Bankruptcy Institute. In addition, she has been recognized as a “Rising Star” in consumer bankruptcy by Super Lawyers (2019-2021), and she maintains an active pro bono practice, having been inducted into the North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society (2019-2020).

Sarah Beth began her legal career as a receptionist and a paralegal before becoming an attorney. She grew up in a middle-class family that would have struggled to afford legal services if needed. She credits this upbringing for fueling her desire to serve the underprivileged. This desire only grew during her time working for the chapter 13 trustee, where she witnessed pro se cases fail and debtors struggle to make plan payments consisting of legal fees alone. In her community, she has provided bankruptcy education to the Beaufort County Bar Association, through the Pitt County Counsel on Aging, and to domestic violence shelters in Eastern North Carolina.

Education

  • J.D., Florida Coastal School of Law
  • B.A., Summa Cum Laude, Psychology and Criminal Justice, North Carolina Wesleyan College