Originally from Michigan, Carolyn Murchison moved to North Carolina after obtaining her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She received her law degree with honors from the University of North Carolina, where she was an editor of North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation, a Daniel H. Pollitt Fellow and a member of the James E. and Carolyn B. Davis Society.  Prior to joining Tharrington Smith in 2000, Ms. Murchison was a policy analyst for the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research, where she examined the history of the University of North Carolina system. 

Over the past two decades, Ms. Murchison has cultivated a practice focused on special education.  She has represented over 50 school districts scattered from the mountains to the coast on special education matters, is a popular and frequent speaker on all matters related to students and students with disabilities, and has continued to oversee the expansion of Tharrington Smith’s distinguished special education practice.  Ms. Murchison is a long-standing member of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys and previously served on its executive committee.  She is a member of the National Council of School Attorneys, the Education, Labor and Employment, and Constitutional Rights and Responsibilities sections of the North Carolina Bar Association, and is admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in North Carolina as well as the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.  She is the current Board attorney for the Lenoir and Hoke County Boards of Education, a die-hard fan of the University of California, Berkeley, and a proud parent of three amazing young adults, all products of the North Carolina public schools.