Bobbie joined the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) in 2012 as an assistant general counsel. She has over 20 years of legal experience providing advice and representation in the higher education, K-12, and government sectors. With this combination of legal expertise, she is able to serve as a strategic thought partner with university leadership and administrators on unique and challenging issues impacting the current higher education landscape. Bobbie’s current portfolio focuses on policy development and interpretation; research misconduct investigations; first amendment and free speech issues; faculty, staff, and student matters; business entities; representation of the university before external administrative agencies; and campus and board governance. Bobbie also serves on several cross-campus leadership committees on behalf of OGC.
Before joining UMBC, Bobbie served as an assistant attorney general with the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General representing the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). In that capacity, she worked in the labor and employment division and was responsible for a full range of cases defending termination and reduction-in-force appeals; discrimination, harassment, and retaliation complaints; and union grievances.
Bobbie also has significant experience serving as an investigator for a wide range of issues and she is a trained and skilled mediator. She is a proud first-generation college graduate and attorney, and is committed to volunteer pro bono work with the Women’s Law Center of Maryland and serves as a mentor to aspiring law students and early career lawyers.
Bobbie earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in business and communications rhetoric from the University of Pittsburgh and her Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She is admitted to practice law in Maryland, Georgia, and the District of Columbia and is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and Corporate Counsel Women of Color.