Release date:
1/18/2017
(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today announced members of his senior leadership team. Biographical information about each staff member is below.
“Pulling this team together has been one of my most important early tasks as Attorney General,” said AG Stein. “I am excited by their talent, energy and commitment to serving the people of North Carolina.”
Grayson Kelley, Chief Deputy Attorney General,
A 38-year veteran of the North Carolina Department of Justice, Kelley will continue to oversee the Department’s Legal Services as he has done for the past 13 years. Prior to being named Chief Deputy in 2003, he served as Senior Deputy Attorney General over the Special Litigation/Education Division, as Section Head of the Transportation Section and as an Assistant Attorney General and Special Deputy Attorney General representing the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Grayson also was a partner at Marshall, Safran & Kelley, where he worked in construction contract litigation. Grayson, a Raleigh native, is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Georgetown University Law Center.
Matt Sawchak, Solicitor General,
was a partner at Ellis & Winters focusing on appeals, business litigation and antitrust. Business North Carolina has twice profiled Matt as the top antitrust lawyer in North Carolina. Matt also is the former chair of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Appellate Rules Committee. Prior to entering private practice in 1990, Matt clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Before his judicial clerkship, he clerked in the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States. Matt is a graduate of Harvard University and Duke University School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review.
Swain Wood, General Counsel,
was most recently partner at Morningstar Law Group, where he practiced commercial and intellectual property litigation. Prior to joining Morningstar, he co-founded Wood Jackson PLLC and practiced with Kilpatrick Stockton in Atlanta and Raleigh. From 1999-2000, he served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Georgia. Throughout his two decade legal career, Swain has dedicated considerable time to pro bono legal efforts and public interest causes and has been recognized by the North Carolina Bar Association for this work. Swain is a native of Winston-Salem, and a graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Law School.
Seth Dearmin, Chief of Staff,
managed Stein’s successful campaign for Attorney General. Prior to that, he led various initiatives for political, corporate and non-profit clients of Nexus Strategies, a public affairs consulting firm. Dearmin formerly worked on the Attorney General’s staff of now-Gov. Roy Cooper and for University of North Carolina General Administration under then-President Erskine Bowles. Seth is a native of Pinnacle and served as Student Body President of his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
David Elliott, Deputy Chief of Staff and Special Deputy Attorney General,
has served in the North Carolina Department of Justice since 1997. Elliott spent 10 years as a litigator in the Consumer Protection Division. Since 2007, David has been the Director of the Victims and Citizens Services section of the North Carolina Department of Justice, where he has advocated against domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. David is a native of Chapel Hill and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University School of Law.
Laura Brewer, Communications Director,
worked for the last six years at Capstrat, a communications agency, where she conducted work on behalf of clients in the public and private sectors. Prior to that, Laura served as Press Secretary to Sen. Richard Shelby (R – Ala.) and worked in the press office of Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R – N.C.). Laura is a graduate of Mary Washington College and Johns Hopkins University.
Candy Finley, Executive Assistant to the Attorney General,
served as Stein’s Legislative Assistant throughout his four terms as State Senator. Prior to her time working in the General Assembly, Finley worked for AT&T, serving as a liaison between the company and the North Carolina Utilities Commission. A native of Raleigh, Candy is a graduate of Enloe High School and Hardbarger College of Business.
Contact:
Laura Brewer (919) 716-6484
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