Lori A. Gaines was appointed as a Deputy Commissioner in 2015, and she was reappointed to serve a second term effective August 1, 2021. Gaines serves in the Commission’s Wilmington regional office.
Prior to her first term as a Deputy Commissioner, Gaines had over fifteen years of legal experience in workers' compensation, criminal defense, and family law matters. She is a past president of the New Hanover County Bar Association, and she served on the Commission on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Gaines earned her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and her law degree from the Campbell University School of Law.