Pearlynn Houck serves as the ACC’s Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel.
Prior to joining the ACC in 2023, Houck was a litigation partner at Robinson Bradshaw in Charlotte. During her 17-year career at the firm, she practiced in the areas of litigation, government and internal investigations, education, and sports law.
Houck serves as a member of the ACC’s Executive Staff, playing a leadership role in setting the strategic vision of the Conference. She is responsible for Conference legal matters and risk management, while managing all litigation and other claims involving the ACC. Houck provides legal consultation to the ACC Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Conference committees and service groups and is the primary point of contact for the Conference’s institutional General Counsels. She also serves as Secretary to the ACC Board of Directors.
Houck has been widely recognized during her career, including being named to The Best Lawyers in America’s for commercial litigation and as a North Carolina Super Lawyer. In 2015, Houck received a Forty Under 40 award from Charlotte Business Journal and in 2020 was named one of The Mecklenburg Times’ 50 Most Influential Women. In 2021, the Sports Business Journal included her as an Outside Counsel Power Player and in 2025 Houck was honored as a finalist for Outstanding General Counsel by the Charlotte Business Journal.
A longtime contributor to the Charlotte non-profit community, Houck is a member of Charlotte’s Women Executives and the Women's Impact Fund, where she has served in several leadership positions through the years. She also currently serves as Vice Chair of the board of Pat’s Place Child Advocacy Center and as a Trustee for the University of Montana Foundation. A native of Montana, Houck received her undergraduate degree with high honors from the University of Montana and Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School and clerked for the Honorable N. Carlton Tilley Jr. in the Middle District of North Carolina.
Houck and her husband reside in Charlotte with their two children.