Graduation Speaker 2013

Raymond Pierce is a partner with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in Raleigh.  With a background in business, law and government along with a career of leadership in higher education, Mr. Pierce provides service to clients in a variety of areas of business, government and education.

Previous Professional Experience

• Dean of the North Carolina Central University (NCCU) School of Law (2005 – 2012)
• Strengthened the financial structure of the law school while leading that institution to national recognition and top rankings in several areas including clinical legal education, public interest law, and bar passage rate
• Former partner in the national law firm of Baker Hostetler LLP
• Member of that Firm’s Business Group in the Cleveland, Ohio office where he represented clients in steel, energy, construction, private equity and banking businesses
• Appointed by the Ohio Attorney General to serve as Special Counsel for investment activity of a state employee retirement fund
• Selected as lead consultant to a state higher education commission to address issues related to one of the state’s campuses
• Member of Baker Hostetler’s Federal Policy Group, based in Washington, D.C., where he assisted clients with federal government-related issues
• Served in the administration of President Bill Clinton as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education (1993 – 2000)
• Managed the enforcement of federal civil rights laws in education and the development of federal civil rights education policy
• Directed resolution of the Department of Education’s national higher education desegregation docket and negotiated settlement agreements with six states
• Served on a White House Domestic Policy Council committee that developed the Enterprise Zone/Empowerment Zone federal urban and rural economic development initiative
• Former in house counsel in the corporate law department of the LTV Corporation, a former Fortune 50 Aerospace/Defense, Energy, and Steel conglomerate
• Handled transportation matters in rail, trucking, barge and sea vessels and also handled matters involving bankruptcy, construction, and commercial transactions

Professional Associations and Memberships

• North Carolina Banking Commission, Council on Legal Education, American Bar Association
• Former Dean, School of Law at North Carolina Central University
• Tenured Professor of First Amendment Law and Religion
• Former Member, Board of Governors, North Carolina Bar Association
• Former Member, North Carolina Maritime Strategic Planning Council
• Former Member, Executive Board, Duke University’s Center on Law, Ethics, and National Security

 Publications

• “The First Amendment ‘Under God’: Reviewing The Coercion Test in Establishment of Religion Claims” published in the Hamline Law Journal (2012)

Education

• Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Juris Doctor (1983)Recipient, Distinguished