Curriculum Vitae

E. Carol Spruill

Office Address:

Duke Law School
Box 90362, Durham NC 27708-0362
Tel: (919) 613-7130
Fax: (919) 613-9001
spruill@law.duke.edu

Home Address:

2501 Kenmore Drive
Raleigh, NC 27608
Tel: (919) 781-9534

Education:

J.D., 1975, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Book Award for Remedies
Summer Study at Oxford University
B.A., 1971, American Studies, with honors, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Second major in political science
Inducted into the Valkyries Society and the Order of the Old Well

Professional Experience:

1991 to present - Duke Law School
Current Title: Associate Dean for Public Interest and Pro Bono, since 2001, and Senior Lecturing Fellow, since 1991
Previous Duke Law School Titles:

2000 to 2001 - Associate Dean for Public Interest, Pro Bono and Special Projects
1998 to 2000 - Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
1996 to 1998 - Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs
1993 to the present - Instructor, Poverty Law
1993 to 1999 - Director of Public Interest & Pro Bono
1991-1993 - Pro Bono Coordinator - Established Duke Law School's Pro Bono Project

Prior Employment:

1991-1996 Consultant for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation Sabbatical Program
1991-1993 - Consultant to Legal Services programs in North Carolina, New Jersey, and Ohio; management trainer for the Southeast Training Center based in Arkansas; and instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy
1984-1991- Deputy Director of Legal Services of North Carolina (LSNC)
Raleigh, NC
LSNC (now called Legal Aid of North Carolina) is a statewide Legal Services program which at that time was composed of 15 field programs; special client programs for migrants, prisoners and people with mental disabilities; a state resource center; and a central administrative office. Duties included assisting the director in all aspects of program development and management; serving on a management team formulating strategic and long-range planning for the organization; intervening in problem areas; writing grant applications and reports; developing policies for local compliance with federal regulations; evaluating field programs; promoting the organization with lawyers, bar associations, the client community and the public; addressing complaints from the public; co-editing bi-weekly community education columns, a weekly newsletter and other publications; training attorneys and staff; public speaking for the organization; and managing a statewide case/client database.
1978-1984 - Staff Attorney, East Central Community Legal Services
Raleigh, NC
Represented low-income clients in a generalized poverty law practice, specializing at various times in Bankruptcy and Consumer Law, and Public Benefits Law; did reform litigation and advocacy in the areas of child support enforcement, domestic violence prevention, consumer judgment collections and child day care standards.
1976-1978 - Staff Attorney, The Legal Aid Society of Northwest North Carolina
Winston-Salem, NC
1976-1978 - Recipient of Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellowship
1975-1976 - Law Clerk to the Superior Court Judges of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, MA
Summer, 1973 - Coordinator, Institute of Government's State Government Summer Intern Program, Raleigh, NC
1971-1972 - Research Director, North Carolina Gubernatorial Campaign of Hargrove "Skipper" Bowles

Awards and Recognitions:

Duke University’s Blue Ribbon Diversity Award, presented November 1, 2006
Recipient, Women of Wisdom Award from the NC Association of Women Attorneys, Asheville, NC, October 14, 2006
Outstanding Service Award from the Mordecai Society, Duke Law School (1995)
Public Service Award of the NC Association of Women Attorneys (now known as the Gwyneth B. Davis Award) (1984)
Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellowship (1976)
Certificates of Appreciation, Honors, or Merit from:
- the NC Center for Nonprofits (as founding Board Chair, 1993)
- the North Carolina Bar Association (for service as Vice-President, 1998-1999; as Co-Chair of the Law School Liaison Committee, 1999-2002; and for ten years of service as a legal aid attorney, 1986)
- the Wake County Bar Association and 10th Judicial District Bar (for service on the judicial district board of directors, 1988-1989)
- Project Directors of Legal Services of North Carolina (for service as Deputy Director of Legal Service of NC, 1984-1991)
- Southeast (Legal Services) Project Directors Award of Merit (1991)
- Commonwealth of Massachusetts (for service as a law clerk, 1975-1976).
College Honorary Organizations – Order of the Old Well (1970) and Valkyries (1971)

Current Civic and Bar Activities:

National Advisory Committee of Equal Justice Works (formerly the National Association for Public Interest Law)
North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission; Appointed by North Carolina Chief Justice Sarah Parker; January, 2006; Chair of its Education Working Group
North Carolina Women’s Forum
North Carolina Bar Association: Member of the Law School Liaison Committee, since 1999, and the Public Service Advisory Committee
Bar Memberships: the North Carolina State Bar; the Tenth Judicial District Bar Association; the American Bar Association; the North Carolina Bar Association; the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys

Past Civic and Bar Activities:

North Carolina Bar Association, previous positions:

Vice President, Board of Governors, 1998-1999
Co-Chair, Law School Liaison Committee
Task Force on Legal Education to respond to the American Bar Association's "MacCrate Report," North Carolina Bar Association, 1991-1993
Member of the Lawyer Referral Service and Communications Committees

Board Member, Carolina Legal Assistance, a legal organization for people with mental disabilities, 1996 to __; Vice-Chair, 1997-1999
North Carolina Child Day Care Commission, appointed by Lt. Gov. Robert Jordan, 1985-1989; Vice-Chair of Commission, 1988-1989
North Carolina Day Care Licensing Commission, appointed by Gov. James Hunt, 1982-1985
Incorporator and founding Board Chair of the North Carolina Center for Nonprofit Organizations, 1991-1992
Member of the Steering Committee which incorporated the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, 1977-1978; Member, Education Committee, 1996-1997 and in early 1980's
Advisory Board member of the North Carolina Fellows Program, an undergraduate leadership program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1985-1991, Board Chair in 1990-91
Steering Committee and Faculty Course Participant for the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's "Women's Leadership and Grassroots Activism" Grant to Duke University, 1995-1996
Member, Foundations and the Poor Council of the North Carolina Poverty Project
Advisory Board member of North Carolina Equity's Women's Legal Project
Board Member of the Tenth Judicial District Board of Governors; Co-chair of its Endowment Committee
Member of the National Board of Directors of the Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellowship Program, early 1980's
Member of the Steering Committee and founding member of the Board of Directors to create a domestic violence prevention program in Wake County; Member of the Steering Committee to create a domestic violence prevention program in Forsyth County
Wake County Commission on Women, 1995-96, Secretary
Choir Member, Christ Episcopal Church, 1985 to 2002
Member, Wake County Women's Political Caucus, late 1970's

Selected Recent Presentations:

Keynote Speaker, "Celebrating Gains & Recognizing Challenges: Advances in Laws Affecting Women Over the Last Thirty Years,"NC Women's Forum 30th Anniversary Convention, Winston-Salem, NC, November10, 2006
Presenter, "The Poverty IQ Test," North Carolina Pro Bono Institute, NC Bar Association, Cary, NC, November 2, 2006
Presenter, "The Oprah Carol Show:Sexual Harassment Among Attorneys," NC Association of Women Attorneys Annual Convention, Asheville, NC,October 13, 2006
Presenter, "The Law School's Role in Equal Access to Justice," Initial Meeting,Equal Access to Justice Commission, North Carolina Bar Center, Cary, NC, April 27, 2006
Presenter, "The Effect of FY 2007 ProposedBudget Cuts on Legal Services Clients,"2006 Legal Services Statewide Conference, Legal Aid of North Carolina, Durham, NC, March 15, 2006
Presenter, "The Sally Jesse Oprah Carol Show: Two Generations of Female Attorneys Tell Their Stories," North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys Conference, Wrightsville Beach, NC, September 30, 2005
Presenterfor Opening Plenary Session, "Law School Pro Bono Today" at the American Bar Association/NLADA Equal Justice Conference on Celebrating the Pro Bono and Legal Services Partnership, Pre-Conference "Celebrating Law School Pro Bono – Insights from the Journey and Visions for the Future,"May 4, 2005, Austin, Texas
Presenter, "Hiring and Keeping Great Attorneys without an HR Department" at the American Bar Association/NLADA Equal Justice Conference on Celebrating the Pro Bono and Legal Services Partnership, May 5, 2005, Austin, Texas
Presenter at the first meeting of the Equal Access to Justice Roundtable – an assembly of people assembled by Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake to address the problems of access to the civil justice system in North Carolina.North Carolina Bar Association Annual Convention, June 24, 2005, Asheville, NC
Speaker, "The Poverty IQ Test: A Study of Poverty and Government Programs in the United States," Training for WUNC Radio Reporters, Chapel Hill, NC, November 17, 2004
Panelist, "Law School Pro Bono Resources," NC Pro Bono Coordinators Institute, Cary, N.C., November 3, 2004
Guest Lecturer, "The Poverty IQ Test: A Study of Poverty and Government Programs in the United States," Presentation to Peace College students, Raleigh, N.C., October 6, 2004
Speaker, "The Poverty IQ Test: A Study of Poverty and Government Programs in the United States," 2004 NC Legal Services Statewide Conference, April 24, 2004
Presenter, “The Poverty IQ Test: A Study of Poverty and Government Programs in the United States,” annual conference of the NC Association of Women Attorneys, Wrightsville Beach, NC, October 2003
Panelist, NALP Legends Share Their Best Ideas, joint meeting of PSLawNet and the National Association of Law Placements’ Public Service Committee, Washington, D.C., October 2003

Publications:

Poverty Lawyers, in Encyclopedia of World Poverty (Mehmet Odekon ed., Sage Publications 2006)
Co-author with William Finger, “A Guide to Small Claims Court in North Carolina,” Legal Services of North Carolina, Inc., May 1990
Co-editor of bi-weekly community education column sent to editors across North Carolina and published by Legal Services of North Carolina as “The Law and You,” 1991
Co-author with Richard Taylor, “Management Objectives for Conducting Program Evaluations, “Management Information Exchange, July, 1989

Family:

Married to Jack Nichols, an attorney practicing in Raleigh, NC; two sons, Jackson Nichols, a 2006 Duke Law alumnus, and Charles Nichols, a 2005 Colorado College alumnus