The N.C. Industrial Commission has tapped area attorney Lori W. Gaines to be one of seven new deputy commissioners, according to a recent news release. 

The commission oversees the administration of state laws governing workplace injury, wrongful death, wrongful conviction and similar provisions. Deputy commissioners serve as the Industrial Commission’s trial-level judges for state tort claims and contested workers’ compensation cases, the release stated.
 
Gaines is in private practice at the Lea Schultz Law Firm in Wilmington.
 
She has more than 15 years of legal experience, including criminal and family law matters as well as workers’ compensation cases. She was previously the president of the New Hanover County Bar Association and was appointed to the Commission on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Gaines holds degrees from both the University of North Carolina Wilmington and Campbell University School of Law.
 
Commission chairman Andrew Heath said he was pleased with his appointments.

“Their past experiences and legal qualifications will prove beneficial to the Industrial Commission as well as to the state’s workers and businesses," he said in the release.