Steve Rawson is a partner in the firm’s Education Law Section. His practice is evenly divided between local board representation and litigation defense.  He serves as general counsel for three school boards, advising the boards in meetings and administrators on a day-to-day basis.  His litigation defense work for boards of education takes him to dozens of counties all over the state, often in the areas of special education, personnel, personal injury, bond forfeitures, and appeals. Steve is also a frequent presenter at local and statewide conferences and trainings, and an occasional guest lecturer at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and N.C. State University.

Steve earned his undergraduate degree in physics with honors from Duke University in 2005 and began his professional work in research at Bell Laboratories and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He then taught 7th-grade science in Louisville, Kentucky, during which time he also earned a master’s degree in teaching from the University of Louisville. Steve returned to Duke and earned his law degree with honors in 2010. Prior to joining Tharrington Smith in 2013, Steve served for one year as the Dean’s Fellow at Duke University School of Law, and for two years as a law clerk to Justice Robin Hudson on the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Steve lives in Orange County with his wife and two sons, Emerson and Lincoln.  In his spare time, Steve enjoys playing soccer and golf, fishing, and homebrewing.