Ken Soo’s areas of practice include public school law, employment law and civil litigation. He received his law degree with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1991. During law school, he was a note editor for the North Carolina Law Review. Mr. Soo completed his bachelor’s degree in comparative area studies at Duke University. Mr. Soo’s first career was as a wire service and newspaper reporter in Ohio, North Carolina and Florida, including stints with United Press International and The Charlotte Observer. He joined Tharrington Smith in 1994 and has served as a board member and secretary for the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys. In 2019, Ken became a Professional Registered Parliamentarian through the National Association of Parliamentarians, providing leadership to public school boards whose open meetings are grounded in parliamentary procedure.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law
- Juris Doctor, 1991
- North Carolina Law Review, Editor
Duke University
- B.A., Comparative Area Studies
- Registered Parliamentarian, National Association of Parliamentarians, 2018-2019
- North Carolina State Bar, member
- North Carolina Bar Association, member
- Education Law Section
- Wake County Bar Association, member
- 10th Judicial District Bar, member
- North Carolina Council of School Attorneys, member & speaker
- North Carolina Bar Association, Education Law Section, Editor of Education Law publication
Regular speaker for the:
- North Carolina School Boards Association
- Principals’ Executive Program
- North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
- Everett, et al v. Pitt County Board of Education, US Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit, No. 13-2312, June 2015, published
- Lorrson v. Chapell Hill-Carrboro Board of Education, US Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit, No. 13-2330, December 2014, published
- E.L. ex rel. Lorsson v. Chapel Hill-Carrboro Bd. of Educ., 773 F.3d 509 (2014)
- Justice v. Farley, 470 Fed.Appx. 136 (2012)
- In re Protest of Atchison, 192 N.C.App. 708 (2008)
- Brown v. Chatham County Bd. of Educ., 187 N.C.App. 274 (2007)
- Citizens Addressing Reassignment and Educ., Inc. v. Wake County Bd. of Educ., 182 N.C.App. 241 (2007)
- Nicholson v. Jackson County School Bd., 170 N.C.App. 650 (2005)
- Brown v. Pitt County Schools, Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Case No. 01-1846 (2002)
- Pettiford v. Granville County, 16 Fed.Appx. 112 (2001)
- Edwards v. Board of Elections; 18 CVS 9749, Wake County, Aug. 2018
