Candidate Biography (submitted by campaign):

Mount Olive resident, Dean R. Poirier, a graduate of the UNC School of Law, is an Appeals Referee with the North Carolina Employment Security Commission and an Adjunct Instructor of Law at Mount Olive College, North Carolina Wesleyan College, Kaplan University and Liberty University.
 
As an Appeals Referee, Dean has conducted over 10,000 contested case hearings and rendered as many legal decisions. Admitted to practice law in North Carolina in 1993, Dean has mainly practiced in the areas of real estate law, wills, trusts and estates, and business and corporate law. He also has experience in Immigration Law, Criminal Law and General Civil Litigation. In addition, Dean has trained attorneys throughout the state in computerized legal research as a former training consultant for Lawyers Cooperative Publishing/West Publishing. Dean is also certified in International Humanitarian Law by the American Red Cross.
 
Dean has taught college courses including Business Law, Business Policy and Strategy, Business Ethics, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Real Estate Law, Wills, Trusts and Estates, Legal Ethics, Advanced Legal Research and Writing, Intelligence Analysis and Terrorism.
 
In addition to his law degree, Dean has a Master's Degree in International Studies from Fairleigh-Dickson University. While attending there, he worked as a research assistant at the United Nations, specializing in the Impact of Multinational Corporations on Developing Nations. Dean also has a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Bridgewater State College, where he was named the top student in the discipline.
 
Proud husband to DeAnn Gray Poirier, formerly of Charlotte, and father to 4 beautiful girls, Heather Lee, Jessica Grace, Elizabeth Hope and Charlotte Faith, Dean is also an active member and Adult Sunday School Teacher at Adamsville Baptist Church in Goldsboro, NC.

I intend to honor the promise I made some 10 years ago when I first entered public service, to protect and defend the rights and principles enshrined in both the United States and North Carolina Constitutions.

I believe that the essential role of a judge is to render a just and impartial decision, based on the facts and the law. However, in addition, I understand a judge must be ever mindful of the fact that his decisions are not mere academic exercises, but that they seriously affect the lives of real people. A judge must therefore demonstrate sincere respect and compassion for all those parties who come before him and for all those people whose rights and welfare will be impacted by his decisions.
 
I believe in "Judicial Humility" as opposed to "Judicial Arrogance", "Judicial Restraint" as opposed to "Judicial Activism". I believe that judges have no popular mandate to act as policy makers; rather, judges should defer to the elected branches of the federal and state governments with respect to policy so long as they stay within the confines of their powers as defined by the U.S. and state constitutions.
 
I believe that our laws should be a reflection of our highest ideals and not our basest instincts. I also believe that our courts should be used as instruments to uphold the rule of law instead of devices to circumvent it.
 
I welcome North Carolina voters to learn more about my background and experience, my judicial philosophy, and about what I hope to accomplish as a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, by visiting my website at www.Poirier4justice.com