An associate professor of public law and government in the School of Government at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He specializes in mental health law and provides training, consulting, and publications for mental health professionals, consumers of services and their family members, employees and administrators of public mental health agencies, judicial officials, law enforcement officers, county commissioners, mental health authority board members, and other public and private officials and employees responsible for the management and delivery of mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse services in North Carolina. Subjects within his expertise include civil commitment, confidentiality, client rights, psychotherapist liability, as well as the governance, finance, and administration of public mental health services. At the request of legislators and other public officials, Mr. Botts has drafted legislation amending North Carolina state law governing the confidentiality of mental health records, involuntary commitment, advance directives for mental health treatment, and the organization, administration, and governance of public mental health authorities. Prior to joining UNC in 1992, Mr. Botts was a judicial law clerk for the United States District Court in the Western District of Michigan and for the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He received his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1990.