UNC Board of Governors Hires Legal Counsel, Asks Attorney General to Pay For It

With the ongoing legal battles over North Carolina’s controversial House Bill 2, the UNC System has hired outside legal counsel.

UNC leadership announced on Friday that the system had hired two Washington D.C.-based law firms to represent the system and the Board of Governors concerning the lawsuits over HB2; the law, which was passed in late March, requires transgender individuals to use the bathroom and shower facility that matches their birth certificate rather than their gender identity.

Left to right: Lou Bissette, Margaret Spelling and Thomas Shanahan speak to reporters. Photo via Blake Hodge.

The system is locked in a legal fight with the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of North Carolina and Lambda Legal, which are representing a group of plaintiffs including a transgender UNC – Chapel Hill employee – and a lawsuit from the United States Department of Justice.

Board chair Lou Bissette said after the board meeting on Friday that there were no assumptions over how much these services would cost the UNC System.

“If we, somehow, find a way out of these lawsuits early on, the cost would be less,” Bissette said. “If we’re in there for a long time – you know what legal fees are today – so the sky would be the limit.”

UNC general counsel Thomas Shanahan said that the two firms – Jones Day and WilmerHale – were chosen because of their expertise in the areas where UNC will require guidance.

The board has hired the outside legal services after the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office has refused to represent the state in any legal proceedings involving HB2.

Bissette sent a letter to Attorney General Roy Cooper on Friday asking that his office “begin setting aside funds sufficient to pay the attorney’s fees and expenses that the University will incur in defending these matters and work with us to ensure that the expenses are paid in full.”

“I’m not picking on him,” Bissette said of the request. “It’s a serious matter for us. It’s a lot of money.

“When you’re involved in lawsuits with the US Justice Department, you have to have adequate representation. And we intend to have adequate representation, but it’s not inexpensive.”

The board also passed a motion asking for the AG’s office to respond to the letter within 60 days. At that point, the board would ask the General Assembly to direct Cooper’s office to refund the legal fees.

A spokesperson with Cooper’s office issued a statement to WCHL after receiving the letter from Bissette saying, “The Attorney General would encourage the UNC Board of Governors to help fight HB2 by urging the governor and legislature to repeal the law which would quickly solve the problem.”

Margaret Spellings. Photo via Blake Hodge.

UNC System President Margaret Spellings reiterated what she has said before regarding HB2, saying that the 17 campuses are stuck between complying with state and federal law. Spellings added that there has been no change in policy at the UNC System and, therefore, they have not violated federal law, as the lawsuits claim they have.

“It is our position, as we’ve said repeatedly, that our policies that commit to a free and open atmosphere of nondiscrimination certainly stand,” Spellings said. “We are not in violation of Title IX or Title VII and do not believe that we have committed any acts against Title IX or Title VIII or any of the federal laws.

“There’s really no issue.”

A motion was filed on behalf of the UNC System in federal court on Friday asking for a stay of the proceedings on the grounds that there is no enforcement policy in HB2 and that the University System has no plans to enforce the law.

UNC Board of Governors Hires Legal Counsel, Asks Attorney General to Pay For It

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