Kristopher L. CaudleAttorney

Kris has devoted his entire career to supporting public education. He has experience representing K-12 boards of education in a wide-variety of legal matters, including personnel investigations, employment disputes, bond forfeiture issues, special education litigation and appeals to state and federal courts.

During the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years Kris served as the Higher Education Legal Fellow at UNC-Charlotte. As a Legal Fellow, Kris worked directly with UNC-Charlotte’s Office of Legal Affairs advising University clients in contract and risk management issues, Title IX compliance, and Title VII litigation. During his fellowship Kris also served as an adjunct professor in Conflict Resolution and Mediation.

Kris graduated from The University of North Carolina at Wilmington, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.  Prior to law school, Kris was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow and served as a high school social studies teacher in Wake County Schools.  He received his Juris Doctor from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a member of the Client Counseling team, an extern for the Education Section of the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office and Executive Editor of the First Amendment Law Review. 

Kris grew up in Rowan County and when he is not helping clients, he enjoys spending time with his wife, running the hills of Western North Carolina, public speaking and creative writing.

Professional Associations

• 28th Judicial District Bar
• North Carolina State Bar
• North Carolina Bar Association, Education Section, (Chair, 2021-2022) (Vice Chair, 2020-2021) (Secretary, 2019-2020)
• North Carolina Council of School Attorneys
• North Carolina and National School Boards Association
• North Carolina Association of Community College Trustees (Vice-President, 2019-2020)

Presentations

• The Top Special Education Legal Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them), NBI Special Education Seminar (November 1, 2019)
• Coverage Denied! Reporting Notice of a Claim to the College’s Insurance Carrier, NCACCT Conference (August 22, 2019)
• Barking up the Right Tree: Navigating Accommodation Requests for Animals on College Campuses, UNC-Charlotte Legal Symposium (October 16, 2018)
• Education Law and the Courts, Guest Lecture, Introduction to Courts, UNC-Charlotte (September 2018)
• A Legal Lens on Cameras (and other Police Records), Co-Presenter, Staff Training at UNC Charlotte (April 2018)
• Crisis Management and Communication: A Balancing Act, Co-Presenter, Staff Training at UNC-Charlotte (April 2018)
• Understanding the North Carolina Public Record Act, UNC-Charlotte New Employee Orientation (Spring 2018)
• FERPA Basics: Student Education Records at UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Charlotte New Employee Orientation (Spring 2018)
• Federal Regulations and Institutional Policy Governing Conflicts of Interest, Guest Lecture, Responsible Conduct in Research (March 2018)
• The Anatomy of a Research Misconduct Case, Guest Lecture, Responsible Conduct in Research (February 2018)
• Remote Learning & the Digital Schoolhouse Gate: Student Speech in the Age of COVID-19, LIFT Seminar (December 12, 2020)
• Reconciling IDEA and COVID-19: Current Legal Issues Impacting Remote Instruction & School Re-opening, Co-Presenter, WRESA and Northwest WRESA Webinar (June 18, 2020)
• Legal Liability — When You Might Have to Talk to a Lawyer, Law Institute for Teachers, North Carolina Bar Association (April 29, 2022)
• Moderator, How I Became an Education Lawyer, Webinar, NC Bar Association (March 23, 2022)
• Co-Presenter, The Intersection of IDEA and Mental Health, NCCASE Fall Conference, Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina (October 4, 2021)
• Remote Learning & The Digital Schoolhouse Gate: Student Speech in the Age of COVID-19, Law Institute for Teachers, North Carolina Bar Association (December 12, 2020) 

Publications 

• Jeffrey J. Nolan, Samantha Sears, and Kristopher L. Caudle, Emotional Support Animals in Higher Education: Challenging Scenarios and Proposed Solutions, NACUA Note, (2019)
• Unpacking the Every Student Succeeds Act: 10 Things Every Education Lawyer Should Know, North Carolina Bar Association, Education Section Newsletter (2016).
• True Choice or a “Hobson’s Choice?:” Re-thinking Zelman v. Simmons-Harris in the North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship Program, 13 First Amendment Law Review 101 (2015).
• Unanswered Prayers: Lund v. Rowan County and the Permissiveness of Sectarian Prayer in Municipalities, 12 First Amendment Law Review 625 (2014).
• “Play[ing] In the Joints” of the First Amendment: Application of Montana Constitution’s “No Aid” Provision Violates Free Exercise Clause, First Amendment Law Review Blog (October 23, 2020)
• The CARES Act Carousel: States and LEAs Sue to Enjoin Implementation of Interim Final Rule Governing Distribution of COVID-19 Funds, Education Section NC Bar Blog (July 27, 2020)
• On Campus or Off-Campus? – That is Still the Question: Mahoney Sch. Dist. v. B.L. and the Supreme Court’s New Digital Frontier, 44 Campbell L. Rev. 163 (2022)