Pearlynn Houck serves as the ACC’s Chief Legal Officer and 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 litigation, government and internal investigations, education, and sports law.
A member of the ACC Executive Staff, Houck helps shape the Conference’s strategic vision and oversees its legal affairs and risk management. She manages litigation and other claims involving the ACC; advises the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Conference committees and service groups; serves as the primary liaison to institutional general counsels; and is Secretary to the ACC Board of Directors.
Houck has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for commercial litigation and as a North Carolina Super Lawyer. Her honors also include the Charlotte Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 and Outstanding General Counsel finalist recognition, The Mecklenburg Times’ 50 Most Influential Women, and Sports Business Journal’s Outside Counsel Power Player distinction.
An active member of the Charlotte non-profit community, Houck is a member of Charlotte’s Women Executives and the Women’s Impact Fund, where she has held several leadership roles. She serves as chair of the board of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Charlotte and as a trustee of the University of Montana Foundation.
A Montana native, Houck earned her undergraduate degree with high honors from the University of Montana and her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. She also clerked for the Honorable N. Carlton Tilley Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.
Houck and her husband, Aaron, reside in Charlotte with their two children.