Every community deserves a great team

RaShawnda Murphy Williams is a skilled litigation and general advice attorney, who provides advice to school boards and school leadership as to legal issues in both K-12 and the higher education setting. She also defends employers, ranging from the owners of mom-and-pop shops to large companies with a national presence, in litigation and administrative agency claims. 

RaShawnda advises and litigates on behalf of schools at every level across the primary school to postsecondary school gamut. She counsels educational entities in navigating a variety of legal issues that arise in the educational context, including governance, student disciplinary matters, student affairs, personnel issues, contractual agreements, and laws governing public entities. She also advocates for schools and school officials in the litigation context, representing schools in lawsuits and cases brought before administrative agencies, as well as state and federal courts.

RaShawnda regularly advises and defends employers, ranging from national companies, locally owned businesses, nonprofit organizations, and family-owned businesses in claims involving personnel disputes. She is a tireless advocate for employers as they navigate claims from the beginning, including pre-litigation demands and administrative agency cases, until the resolution of a lawsuit. She also represents employers in claims involving wage disputes, claims for employment security, employment discrimination charges, labor rights disputes, and contractual claims. 

RaShawnda is regularly invited by clients and organizations to present on various legal topics, including continuing education to educators, lawyers, human resource professionals, and claims adjusters. She has presented on an array of topics including:

• Title IX regulations and requirements
• Equal access to education and the workplace under the Americans with Disabilities Act
• Navigating school personnel issues
• Conducting internal investigations
• Compliance with federal employment regulations
• Charter school
•  board governance 

Before RaShawnda began her education practice, she served the state of North Carolina as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Chief Justice Cheri L. Beasley at the North Carolina Supreme Court. RaShawnda graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina Central University School of Law in 2019. During her time in law school, she worked as a summer clerk for Supervisory Administrative Judge Regina Stephens of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. RaShawnda also worked as an extern of the North Carolina Central University Office of Legal Affairs and served as Articles Editor of the Science and Intellectual Property Law Review. RaShawnda earned a B.A. in Psychology and a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

• J.D., North Carolina Central University School of Law
• B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

North Carolina

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina 
• U.S. District Court, Middle District of North Carolina 
• U.S. District Court, Western District of North Carolina

• North Carolina Bar Association, Education Law Section
• North Carolina Bar Association Young Lawyers Division
• Capital City Lawyer’s Association, Parliamentarian

• Junior League of Raleigh

• What to Expect When They’re Expecting: Compliance and Best Practices in the Workplace Under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, Mecklenburg Bar Association Corporate Counsel CLE (2025)
• Balancing Acts: Mastering FMLA and ADA in the Modern Workplace, NCBA Annual Education Section CLE (2025)
• Reverse Discrimination in a Post-SFFA v. Harvard Legal Landscape (2024)
• Employment Law: Significant Issues and Implications for Educational Institutions, NCBA Annual Education Section CLE (2024)
• New Regulations and Bills and Laws, Oh My!: A Look at the Latest Education Law Updates (2024)
• Significant Issues and Implications for Educational Institutions, NC Association of School Administrators (2024)
• “I clerked, Now what?”, NCBA Young Lawyers Division Clerkship Series (2023)

• NCBA Appellate Section Scholarship Recipient (2021)
• Schools and Education Rising Star, North Carolina Super Lawyers (2024, 2025)
• Young Gun, Business North Carolina Legal Elite (2024)