of Appeals, Tyson worked at Tyson & Associates, where he practiced landlord-tenant, land use, and real property law, civil litigation and criminal defense. Judge Tyson is a Board Certified Specialist by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization for real property law, business, commercial, and industrial transactions, the only North Carolina judge so certified. Tyson practiced law in Fayetteville from 1993 until 1996 and from 1996 until his election to the court, with a brief tenure as the senior vice president of development for Blockbuster Entertainment Group in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1996. He worked as a real estate director and counsel for Revco Drug Stores, Inc., from 1982 to 1993 and in similar capacities for Family Dollar Stores, Inc., from 1980 to 1982. He served as a North Carolina probation and parole officer for the North Carolina Department of Correction, from 1975 to 1976. He has also been a public school teacher and deputy sheriff in Cumberland County. Tyson has had at least 30 years of experience in the private practice of law, senior level corporate real estate development and counsel positions, and at least 25 years as a professor of law and author. Tyson is a member of the North Carolina and Virginia State Bars and a certified mediator and arbitrator. He is a past member of the North Carolina Property Tax Commission and past elected chairman of the Cumberland County Joint Planning Board and the Cumberland Soil and Water Conservation District. Judge Tyson is a frequent CLE presenter and author, and holds an AV-Pre-eminent peer-reviewed rating from Martindale Hubbell. Bar admissions North Carolina State Bar, 1980 (applies to all North Carolina courts) Virginia State Bar, 1981 United States Supreme Court Bar, 1983 United States Court of Appeals Bar (4th Circuit), 1980 United States District Court Bar (for WDNC in 1980) & (for EDNC in 1997) Professional organizations North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, 1979–1980. American Bar Association, 1980–1992; Cumberland County Bar Association, 1980–present; North Carolina Bar Association, 1980–present; American Arbitration Association, member of Panel of Arbitrators, 1991–present; Certified as mediator by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts and the Dispute Resolution Commission for North Carolina Superior Court Mediation, 1992–present; Certified United States District Court Mediator (E.D.N.C.), 1993–present; Technology Advisory Committee, 2001–2003; Wake County Bar Association, 2001–2008; North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, 2002–2008; Certified Appellate Mediator, North Carolina Court of Appeals, 2003–present; Women