Craig Schauer helps clients identify and solve a wide variety of legal problems, ranging from small legal questions to large constitutional lawsuits. He assists clients in resolving issues with contractual disputes, government regulations, business torts, and unfair competition. Craig also works with clients on questions concerning permissible political activity, election laws, and First Amendment rights.
Craig has represented businesses of all sizes—from small partnerships to Fortune 100 corporations—in state and federal courts, arbitration proceedings, and various regulatory agencies with disputes regarding contractual relationships, constitutional rights, class actions, unfair competition claims, government regulations, defamation, and other commercial issues. He has worked with clients in a variety of sectors, including healthcare, construction, professional sports, nonprofit, franchises, energy, financial services, public utilities, and local and state government.
Craig’s regulatory experience includes issues concerning public utilities. He has represented parties in substantial matters before state regulatory commissions, including rate proceedings, resource planning proceedings, and other regulatory matters. Before pursuing a legal career, Craig was an investment banker who advised companies on mergers and acquisitions, which has given him a deep understanding of the numerous financial aspects of the regulation of utilities, including rate of return, capital structure, and cost of service.
Craig helps clients confidently express their political voice by ensuring that their political conduct complies with the law. He advises corporations on how to form entities that will be politically active, either directly or indirectly, and helps craft company policies on political activity and lobbying practices. He represents clients before the Board of Elections and the Ethics Commission in regulatory proceedings and confidential investigations. He also assists local and state governments in ensuring compliance with federal and state elections law, including the Voting Rights Act and other constitutional requirements.
Craig not only assists clients with political activity, but also helps them navigate other free speech and First Amendment issues within the public sphere.
Selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America©(link is external) in Commercial Litigation (2021)
Selected for Benchmark Litigation's "Under 40 Hot List" (2020)
Selected by his peers for inclusion in Business North Carolina's "Legal Elite" in the Young Guns category (2019)
Recognized by North Carolina Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters) as a "Rising Star" in Civil Rights Law (2018); Business Litigation (2019-2020)
Member, State Judicial Council (2021-present)
Board of Directors, North Raleigh Young Life Committee (2019-present)
Ruling Elder, Midtown Community Church (2015-2019)
Board of Directors, Greater-Raleigh Young Life Committee (2011-2019)
Co-presenter (with Eric Fletcher), "Entering the Political Fray: Corporate Participation in the 2020 Election," Association of Corporate Counsel Continuing Legal Education, June 24, 2020
I believe that relationships matter — we were not created to live in isolation. I invest in the relationships in my life, and I prioritize my family and local community. But I also believe that relationships matter to my clients: Businesses, just like people, do not exist in a vacuum — they depend on relationships. Unfortunately, all relationships, whether personal or business, are prone to breaking down. In my personal life, I seek to foster and restore relationships as a ruling elder in our church and by being involved in local ministries. In my professional life, I use the law and the courts to help my clients build and defend their most important relationships.
