Lisa has been a civil rights lawyer since 1995. After running her own firm for 16 years, she joined Disability Rights North Carolina, a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of people with disabilities.
At Disability Rights, she litigates cases to enforce the rights of people with disabilities to live and work free from discrimination. She has represented people facing employment discrimination, voting rights violations, disability discrimination by public agencies, denial of access to public accommodations, and constitutional rights violations.
Lisa has lived in Wake County since 1990. She has an adult son who attends Wake Tech. She is a slow runner but somehow completed the City of Oaks Marathon twice.
Selected Civic Engagement
North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys
President, 2000 – 2001
Board of Directors, 1998 – 2002
Chair, Judicial Endorsements Committee, 2004
North Carolina Justice Center
Board of Directors, 2012 – 2019
Board Co-chair, 2015 – 2016
Suzanne Reynolds for NC Supreme Court, Campaign Manager, 2008
Committee to Keep Judge Linda Stephens, Campaign Manager, 2008
Robin Hudson for NC Supreme Court, Campaign Manager, 2006
North Carolina Advocates for Justice, 1995 – present
Civil Rights Section Executive Committee, 2016 – 2018
Continuing Legal Education Executive Committee, Co-chair, 2007 – 2009
North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Attorneys, Board of Directors, ~ 2000
Professional Experience
Disability Rights North Carolina, 2011 – present
North Carolina State Personnel Commission, 2010 – 2013
Law Office of Lisa Grafstein, PLLC (formerly Grafstein & Walczyk, PLLC), 1995 – 2011
Professional Honors
Champion of Justice Award, The Barbara McDowell and Gerald Hartman Foundation, 2023
Gwyneth B. Davis Award, North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, 2012
Legal Elite, Business North Carolina Magazine, 2007-present
Legal Elite Hall of Fame, 2011
North Carolina Super Lawyers magazine inclusions:
Top 50 Women Lawyers, 2011
Employment Law, 2009-present
Best Lawyers in America, 2007-present