Ragsdale Liggett Attorney Melissa Brumback Elected President of the Board of Universal Design Institute

RALEIGH, NC, May 29, 2011 (Press-News.org) Melissa Brumback, partner at the law firm of Ragsdale Liggett, has been elected President of the Board of Directors of the Universal Design Institute in Chapel Hill, NC. In this role, Ms. Brumback will guide the Institute's mission of promoting the concept and practice of accessible and universal design. As a construction law attorney, Melissa became involved in the Institute in 2008 serving on the board for the non-profit organization. "I have seen significant accomplishments of the Institute over the past four years and we certainly plan and expect the UDI to continue to educate and make valuable contributions in the housing and community building markets," says Melissa Brumback. "I am very excited to represent an organization whose approach is so comprehensive in this unique field."

Related links: http://www.udinstitute.org; http://www.rl-law.com

About Universal Design Institute:
The Institute was founded in 1997 as a non-profit organization, Housing Works, in Chapel Hill, NC to promote accessible and context-based community housing for people with disabilities. Ten years later, the name was changed to The Ronald L. Mace Universal Design Institute to reflect an expanded mission that now includes a focus on the built environment in its entirety, and most particularly, to include universal design as its primary guiding principle. The Institute's work manifests the belief that all environments and products, to the greatest extent possible, should and can be useable by everyone regardless of age, ability or circumstance. It has a history of collaborative, multi-disciplinary work: Research, plan review, development of new plans, survey instruments, photo documentaries, product designs, state agency policies, demonstration houses, educational programs and contributing to federal and state legislation. The Institute's principals, Richard Duncan and Leslie Young, each have a long career in the design of accessible and universal environments with a wealth of expertise emphasizing human function, architecture and planning.

About Melissa Brumback:
Ms. Brumback is partner in the law firm of Ragsdale Liggett PLLC in Raleigh whose practice areas include construction law and civil litigation. She blogs on construction issues at http://www.constructionlawNC.com. She received a B.A. degree with honors and highest distinction and a Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ms. Brumback is admitted to the practice of law in North Carolina; the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of North Carolina; the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals; and the U. S. Supreme Court. Ms. Brumback is a member of the Wake County, North Carolina and American Bar Associations; the North Carolina State Bar; the Defense Research Institute; and the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys. Melissa serves as Vice Chair on the 10th Judicial District Grievance Committee.

She also maintains membership in the Construction Law and Litigation sections of the NCBA and the ABA and is a member of the NCBA Design Professionals Liaison Committee. In 2006 Ms. Brumback was named one of the Triangle Business Journal's "40 Under 40" and in 2008, she was named a "Triangle Impact Law Leader" by Business Leader magazine. In 2010, she received an AV Preeminent Peer Review rating, the highest rating of Lexis-Nexis Martindale-Hubbell. In 2011 Melissa was named Rising Star by Thomson Reuters, Legal which publishes Super Lawyers magazine.

About Ragsdale Liggett PLLC:
The law firm of Ragsdale Liggett PLLC is comprised of lawyers with extensive legal expertise across a broad range of practice areas. Ragsdale Liggett is equipped to handle all of a business' legal needs, including formation, day-to-day business counseling, acquisition, disposition, merger and dissolution of companies, regardless of size. The diverse real estate group handles a wide variety of transactions, from residential purchases and sales to all aspects of commercial real estate development, including entity formation, final project completion, complex public and private bond financing transactions, and the privatization of university student housing. Since its formation in 1972, the firm has maintained an extraordinary reputation in civil litigation and appellate practice, enjoying significant courtroom successes ranging from local state courts to the United States Supreme Court. In addition to practicing in such areas of insurance/reinsurance coverage disputes, shareholder derivative actions, ERISA disputes, professional negligence defense, accountants' liability actions, catastrophic personal injury defense and complex construction disputes, Ragsdale Liggett also maintains a well respected lobbying government relations and mediation groups.

For further contact:
Melissa Brumback, 919-787-5200, mbrumback@rl-law,com