NCCU law school dean to step down

DURHAM -- Raymond Pierce, dean of N.C. Central University's law school, will step down next year and return to private practice.

Pierce will leave NCCU next summer after seven years at the helm. In July, he will join Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough, a firm of 420 lawyers in 12 locations across six states and the District of Columbia. Pierce will stay in North Carolina, where he will specialize in business and government relations.

During Pierce's tenure, NCCU's law school tripled applications and boosted alumni donations. In 2008, Pierce led an effort that achieved for NCCU equalized state funding with UNC's law school, the other public law school in North Carolina. The law school also gained visibility with visits by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

"It's been a lot of fun," Pierce said Wednesday, but added that it's time for him to get back to practicing law.

A former deputy assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education under President Bill Clinton, Pierce will also work with Nelson Mullins' Washington office on education and federal policy.

Previously in private practice, Pierce represented clients in the steel, energy, banking and private-equity businesses.

"I'm a business lawyer," he said. "I grow businesses."