Lisa M. Gilford

As one of the go-to lawyers for high-stakes litigation, Gilford is no stranger to complex legal issues.

Handling tough cases has made her well-suited to adapt to a changing legal landscape.

“It used to be that if you had a product liability case it was focused on a plaintiff or a group of plaintiffs suing over injuries they alleged were caused by a product,” Gilford said. “Now when that happens you tend to have consumer class actions focus on the product. You have government regulators who scrutinize a product and may bring a civil enforcement action.”

“Sometimes the Senate gets involved and you have congressional hearings,” she added.

The University of North Carolina has relied on Gilford’s counsel in many high-profile matters.

Students for Fair Admissions Inc., a nonprofit membership group, filed a lawsuit alleging the university’s affirmative action programs are unconstitutional.

Separately, the university retained her for counsel in a series of class actions and legal challenges arising from an academic scandal that involved student athletes taking “paper classes” in order to maintain grade eligibility to play in the NCAA. She argued that the school couldn’t be sued for these claims because it was protected by sovereign immunity under the 11th Amendment. U.S. District Judge Loretta C. Biggs agreed and dismissed the claims in April 2017. McAdoo v. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1:14-cv-00935-LCB-JLW (M.D. N.C. 2017).

Matters involving scientific or technical disputes is one area where Gilford has expertise.

Legal challenges are becoming more multi-faceted in her practice, Gilford said.

“Instead of a one-faceted problem, instead of a products liability case or docket, companies now are faced with a whole host of issues arising out of whatever the alleged technical issue is with the product,” she said. “It’s much more complex and complicated.”

In addition to a robust legal practice, she often lectures on consumer protection and unfair competition claims, successful defense of class actions, best practices for outside counsel, and professional development for women lawyers and other diversity issues.

— Carter Stoddard