Brooks Pierce partner Elizabeth Spainhour was recently appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper to the Umstead Act Unfair Competition Panel. Spainhour will serve on the panel through June 30, 2022.
The Umstead Review Panel is a body established by the board of governors of the University of North Carolina as required by the Umstead Act, N.C.G.S. § 66-58. The Umstead Act generally prohibits state government agencies, including schools within the UNC System, from selling goods or providing services to the public that are ordinarily sold or provided by private businesses. There are a number of statutory exceptions to this general prohibition. The panel reviews and determines whether particular ongoing or proposed activities of the UNC System institutions constitute unfair or unauthorized competition with private enterprise, as provided in the Umstead Act.
Spainhour provides strategic regulatory and corporate counsel to media and technology businesses with a focus on communications and privacy law. Her principal areas of practice are mergers and acquisitions and regulatory matters involving broadcasters and digital businesses.