MARY HULETT

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P (919) 881-2205
F (919) 783-8991
E mhulett@rl-law.com

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Mary Hulett, Partner, Litigation

Mary Hulett is a partner at the law firm of Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, where her practice encompasses complex, high-profile civil litigation. She has a solid record of accomplishment in a variety of cases involving products liability, business claims, employment issues and environmental and toxic torts. Mary is admitted to practice in California, the District of Columbia, North Carolina, and Virginia, as well as all Federal District Courts in California and North Carolina, and the Fourth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal.

Mary has handled cases involving lead and other environmental contaminations. Her high profile cases have included arguments before the California Supreme Court on a significant water contamination case. She served as lead defense litigation lawyer in the Dupont Hotel fire in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a case with more than 2000 plaintiffs and 200 defendants and was one of the biggest cases ever tried in the United States. The trial lasted 18 months, and Mary was the only defense lawyer present from the first day to the last and she won the case for her client.

Mary’s professional affiliations have included serving on the board of the Southern California Defense Association and serving as counsel to the Consumer Products Safety Commission. She is a member of the Order of the Coif, an honorary scholastic society with the purpose of encouraging excellence in legal education. Mary is the author of: "Privacy and the Freedom of Information Act," published in the Administrative Law Review.

The Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel has recently accepted Mary as a member of their organization. Composed of leaders in the legal community, FDCC members have been judged by their peers to have achieved professional distinction and to be committed to promoting knowledge, fellowship, professionalism and the course of justice. As experienced attorneys who are engaged in the administration and defense of civil litigation throughout the world, FDCC represents the interests of those who need a defense in civil lawsuits.

Human rights are a cause Mary is drawn to espouse. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963 from Stanford University, Mary developed an interest in legal issues when she became involved in the rights of neglected and abused children. She worked with a group in Washington, D.C. to close an ineffective institution used to house neglected children and place them in foster homes. She also worked on the subsidized adoption law for the District of Columbia to help children with needs find adoptive placements. Mary has been a board member of two separate service organizations—one that helped families deal with adolescent drug use and another that provided services to the homeless and poor in northern Virginia.

Mary received her Juris Doctor from George Washington University in 1977 with high honors. She was appointed commissioner on the Human Rights Commission in Fairfax County, V.A., the first such commission in a southern state.

Mary is a member of the Community Church of Chapel Hill, where she serves on the board of directors and is co-chair of the building committee responsible for $1.8 million in new construction and renovation. She resides in Chapel Hill and has three children and four grandchildren.