Shemeka Hankins chose to pursue an education in law at a young age as the foundation for her aspiration to be president of the United States. Along the way, after earning a juris doctorate at Regent University School of Law, her presidential ambition fell away while her love of the law and helping others thrived.
Hankins began her career as an assistant commonwealth
attorney in Norfolk where she cut her teeth in public service, fine-tuning her
trial skills and working with law enforcement.
After seven years there, she currently works at Invictus Law
in Virginia Beach where she is a senior associate attorney and Director of the
firm’s criminal law practice group. She works in state and federal courtrooms
and provides leadership to staff, associates and interns.
Hankins also has a passion for mentoring others in the field, volunteering for
many statewide legal organizations including Virginia Law-Related Education,
which runs the mock trial program for high school students across the state.
She recently spoke as the keynote to current Regent students at the 2022 Black
Law Student Association Awards Banquet on the theme of “Raising the B.A.R.
(Beatitudes, Accountability, and Representation)” in the legal
profession.
Her dedication to these endeavors earned her a spot on Inside Business’ Top 40
Under 40 list in 2021. Honorees are considered outstanding young professionals
who are successful in their careers and involved in actively improving the
Hampton Roads community. She describes her two biggest motivating factors in
her work as “leveling the playing field for people in the criminal justice
system and paving the way for those who will come behind me.”
In looking back at her decision to attend Regent School of Law, she clearly
sees the hand of God. She had planned to study intellectual property law at
another school, and though the deal was all but sealed, she kept Regent on her
list.
Those plans all changed when she received a phone call from a dean at Regent
with whom she had worked at the American Center for Law and Justice. He
encouraged her to tour the campus and meet with some of the professors and she
obliged.
“From that moment on, I felt the care and the interest that Regent had for its
students. I knew that I wouldn’t just be a number,” she recalled. “I was
prayerful about the situation. God knew the decisions that I had to make and it
was like He removed every obstacle that was in the way and every enticement
that other schools had. Then, it was a no-brainer choice. You can definitely
say that it was a spiritually-led decision to go to Regent.”
Hankins said that the educational foundation she received at Regent has served
her well throughout her career, both as a prosecutor and a criminal defense
lawyer.
“The law school’s motto—'Law is more than a profession. It is a calling.’—has
really stayed with me over the years. I think a lot of people could benefit
from thinking about law that way instead of it just being a job,” she said.
“This is something you are called to do with your mind and your body and your
spirit. That's the kind of commitment it requires, especially in the criminal
law realm where you’re dealing people’s lives—victims’ lives, defendants’ lives
and their families, because each one of these families is affected differently
by their role in the case.”
Likewise, she said, the university’s motto—Christian Leadership to Change
the World—guides her in her daily practice of law and reinforces her
commitment to justice for all.
“If you are saying that we are Christian leaders, that we are presenting what
is fair and what is just, we have to ask: Are we looking out for the meek, the
poor and those who we know might have disadvantages in society and how are we
helping them to navigate the legal system? Because it's not just criminal law,”
she said. “It can be evictions or landlord-tenant issues or employers that take
advantage of people. There's always a need for people to look out for those who
are disadvantaged.”
Written by Joy Vann