Legal Affairs Staff

Laura Bernstein Luger

Vice President and General Counsel

919-843-5844

 

Ms. Luger is the senior legal officer for the University and has overall responsibility for the office of Legal Affairs.  She represents all members of the President's team, as well as the Board of Governors. She assists all campuses, as needed, and provides leadership and training opportunities for campus legal counsel throughout the system.  Her office is chiefly responsible for maintaining and overseeing changes to University policies.  She works closely with governmental affairs during legislative sessions.  Ms. Luger spent 27 years in private practice in North Carolina before joining the University in 2008.  Her legal background included complex business litigation in state and federal court, and a transactional/contracts practice in construction-related and risk management matters.  She is a certified mediator and a member of the American Arbitration Association Panel of Neutrals.

David Lombard Harrison

Associate Vice President for Legal Affairs

919-962-0330

 

Mr. Harrison is Associate Vice President for Legal Affairs for the sixteen-campus University of North Carolina. His primary duties are to provide legal advice and assistance concerning intellectual property, information technology, research regulations, technology transfer, purchasing, and finance related issues. He also serves as counsel for the North Carolina Arboretum, the University of North Carolina Press, and the Umstead Panel.

T. Brooks Skinner

Associate Vice President for Legal Affairs

919-549-7806

 

Mr. Skinner serves as in-house counsel for the North Carolina Center for Public Television (UNC-TV).  His primary duties are to provide comprehensive legal and policy advice to UNC-TV’s management team in all aspects of operations including production and programming, human resources, development, administration, engineering, information technology, and communications and marketing.  He also counsels management on matters concerning intellectual property and media law issues including copyright and trademark protection, defamation, fair use, political broadcasting, and programming content.

 

J. Charles Waldrup

Associate Vice President for Legal Affairs

919-962-4551

 

An Asheville native, Mr. Waldrup's work focuses on a wide range of employment and benefits law, both at General Administration and with the campuses.  He counsels the Board of Governor's Committee on Personnel and Tenure.  He also is involved in policy development. 

Margaret Wheeler

Assistant University Counsel

919-962-0444

 

Ms. Wheeler practices solely in the area of immigration law for employing foreign nations She provides immigration advice and assistance to sixteen of our seventeen constituent UNC institutions regarding the sponsorship of nonimmigrant and immigrant cases on behalf of foreign faculty members. She also provides ongoing immigration law trainings and workshops for the constituent institutions, as well as updates and alerts regarding changes in federal immigration law. In addition, she assists the constituent institutions with the development of immigration policies regarding sponsorship of foreign faculty members.

 

Karin Szypszak

Legal Assistant to the Vice President and General Counsel

919-962-4587

 

Ruth A. Brill

Administrative Assistant to the Vice President and General Counsel

919-962-4588

 

Pratibha Sirdeshmukh

Office Assistant

919-843-6997