Susan Yanagi

Susan J. Yanagi received her law degree from Michigan State College of Law in 2018 and graduated from Canisius University of Buffalo in 2015 magna cum laude. Susan’s passion for family law began when she participated as a clinician with MSU’s Chance at Childhood Clinic and went on to obtain a certificate in Family and Child Advocacy. Susan is a trained child forensic interviewer, and her focus area has primarily been centered on assisting survivors of domestic violence in high-conflict custody cases and protective order matters.

Prior to joining Epperson Law Group, Susan acted as an assistant prosecuting attorney with the Charlevoix Prosecutor’s Office in Michigan, where she litigated criminal domestic violence cases, DWI and traffic offenses, and abuse, neglect, and dependency matters. She moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2019, and acted as the Mecklenburg County Court SelfServe Center Coordinator. In this role, Susan taught community education classes to pro se litigants filing for absolute divorce and child custody, and successfully planned and executed the first virtual Expunction Clinic for Mecklenburg County residents during the Covid shutdowns.

Susan went on to assist domestic violence survivors as an advocate at Safe Alliance and Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc., where she represented clients in protection order matters, child custody disputes, absolute divorces, equitable distribution complaint drafting, and expunction matters. She was recently interviewed about her pro bono representation of a victim of domestic violence in a complex custody case.

Susan is admitted to practice in the North Carolina Eastern and Middle District Courts and has tried multiple international child abduction cases that fall under the parameters of the Hague Convention.

In her spare time, you can find her spending quality time with her husband, daughter, three cats, and their German Shepherd, Zuko. She is an avid reader. You can always find her nose in a book or wandering local indie bookstores on the weekends.