Richard A. Schwartz
Richard A. Schwartz received his B.A. from Duke University in 1975, and his J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1978. He became a member of the North Carolina Bar in 1978. In 1979, after spending time as Vice President and General Counsel for a jazz record company in New York, Mr. Schwartz returned to North Carolina and joined Tharrington, Smith & Hargrove, where he quickly became a partner in 1982. In 1991, Mr. Schwartz opened his own law firm, devoted exclusively to the practice of education law.
Mr. Schwartz has served several terms on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys, in addition to being past President. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the National Council of School Attorneys. Mr. Schwartz currently serves as Vice Chairman of the North Carolina Council on the Holocaust and on the Board of Directors of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, and the Will and Deni McIntyre Foundation. He is a member of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys, the National Council of School Attorneys, and the Education Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. In addition, he is the long-time President of the Foundation Board for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT). Mr. Schwartz is a frequent speaker at the district, state, and national levels on many different topics dealing with education law.