North Carolina Lawyers Weekly — Leaders in the Law

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A letter from the publisher

Judges

“ If we do not maintain Justice, Justice will not maintain us.”

Francis Bacon is quoted as having said that during a murder trial while serving as the Attorney General of England in 1615.

Even now, some 400 years later, Americans pledge to uphold ideals that assure “liberty and justice for all.”

At its essence, the role of an attor-ney is to uphold the country’s Consti-tution. Each person who enters the profession chooses to navigate this journey of purpose in various ways—interpretation, adjudication, defense, or prosecution. No matter the path, they all encounter an ever-changing landscape of laws, all of which ulti-mately tie-back to the Constitution.

Those who excel in the legal profession typically possess bright minds, a natural curiosity, a sense of compassion, and true dedication.

These are the lawyers we cele-brate this year with our North Caro-lina Lawyers Weekly 2015 Leaders in the Law honors.

Regardless of which side you sit on

in a courtroom, or the types of clients you rep-resent, there’s no question that a great attorney embodies the best qualities of the profession: the dogged pur-suit of justice through effec-

tive representation, a strong sense of civic duty, along with a belief in mentoring and generosity.

This year, we honor 25 lawyers who embrace all of those traits. The honorees are likely your partners, your colleagues, your mentors, and, hopefully, your friends.

Like in years past, the nomina-tions came in from all across the state… There were many from a wealth of sources. The fact that there were so many nominations is testament to the fact that the dedi-cated men and women who comprise North Carolina lawyers are, by and

large, doing a lot of great work in this state.

The final roster of nominees is chosen by an independent panel of judges who based their decisions on not just expertise, but also on a com-mitment to community.

The honorees highlighted in this special section have been deemed leaders, not followers. They demon-strate through their practice of the profession and their day-to-day lives that service to their communities isn’t a by-product of success; in fact success is a by-product of service.

More importantly, they believe that justice is a right, and not a privilege.

On behalf of our dedicated staff at North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, I extend our congratulations to the 2015 Leaders in the Law. We are proud to be a part of this great rec-ognition, and we wish all the best in future success to the men and wom-en honored this year.

Keven ToddPublisher

Dee Wallis graduated from Duke Law School, with Distinction, in 1982 and has been in private practice in Raleigh ever since. She has served on the Board and numerous Committees of NCAWA off and on since she began practicing, and was president in 2014. Her role as Chair of the Government Action Committee in the eighties, led her to represent NCAWA for five years in a coalition of Women’s Groups that established the Women’s Legislative Agenda Project (she wrote the first Women’s Legislative Agenda), and cul-minated in several terms on the Board of NC Equity (an organization funded by the Reynolds Foundation working for financial advancement of women). Dee has served on Boards of numer-ous church committees and dog orga-nizations, and spends a great deal of time mentoring other lawyers and pro-viding pro bono service. In 2013 Dee was inducted into the NCBA General Practice Hall of Fame. Dee’s ongoing private practice is now primarily wills, estates and elder law.

Edwin “Jack” Walker, Jr. is one of the founding partners of the Durham law firm, Walker Lambe Rhudy, Costley & Gill, PLLC, and has been practicing law for 46 years, serving clients and their families in matters including estate planning, trust and estate administration, tax planning, business succession plan-ning, and representation of non-profit organizations. He is a Board Certified Specialist in Estate Plan-ning and Probate Law. Jack has served as a member of the American Bar Association, as a member of the Section on Taxation, North Carolina Bar Association, Durham County Bar Association, Durham-Orange Estate Planning Council, and Duke University Estate Planning Council.

In addition to his law practice, Jack has also served on the boards of close to 30 non-profit 501(c)(3) charities. He currently serves as a director and vice president of the UNC Law Foundation, a director of the Emily Krzyzewski Family Life Center, a member of The Triangle Community Foundation Leadership Council and is a trustee of three pri-vate foundations. An accomplished musician, Jack has performed with the Chapel Hill Philharmonia, the Durham Symphony, the Triangle Brass Band, and the Durham Com-munity Concert Band.

Jack has been listed as a Super Lawyer in multiple editions of Su-per Lawyer Magazine; selected for inclusion as a “Best Lawyer,” Trusts and Estates, Best Lawyers in Amer-ica, and is a 2014 recipient of the “Leaders in the Law” award.

Wanda Townsend is a partner with Johnston, Allison & Hord, P.A. She leads the firm’s Financial Ser-vices practice group and sits on the firm’s management team. Wanda is known for her work ethic and wide client base (working with financial institutions, lenders, real estate developers and health care enti-ties). She has been recognized by regional publications for being one of the most influential and success-ful women in the Charlotte region, including The Mecklenburg Times 50 Influential Women, the Business Leader Magazine Top 50 Entrepre-neur list, the Business Leader Maga-zine Women Extraordinaire list, and the Charlotte Business Journal Top 25 Women in Business Award. She has been ranked as a Financials Ser-vices attorney in the 2014 and 2015 editions of Chambers USA, an inter-national legal directory that through an extensive interview and research process ranks the best law firms and lawyers throughout the world.

Steve Berlin 4Richard Boyette 4Judge Richard Dietz 6Elizabeth Haddix 6Jennifer Harjo 7Jeffrey Hart 7Sarah Fulton Hutchins 8Joseph Kahn 8Paula Kohut 9

Daniel Lewis 9 Margaret Maloney 10Donald Marcari 10Barbara Meeks 11William Mills 12Karen Nelson 12 Leslie Packer 13Katherine Parker 13Mital Patel 14

John Pinnix 14William Plyler 16Andrew Spainhour 16Jacob Sussman 17Donald Vaughan 17Gerald Walden Jr. 18Robert Zaytoun 18

INDEX 2015 Leaders in the Law Honorees

N O RT H CA RO L I NA L AW Y E R S W E E K LYL E A D E R S I N T H E L AW 3

CONTENT ON THIS PAGE PROVIDED BY ELON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Leslie J. Winner has advocated for the people and future of North Carolina for more than three decades in leadership positions spanning the public, private, nonprofit and higher education sectors.

Ms. Winner is the Executive Director of Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, leading the Foundation’s initiatives to build North Caro-lina’s future as an inclusive, sustainable and vibrant state. As Executive Director of the Foundation since 2008, Winner spearheads public and private sector collaborations and grant-making efforts focused on public educa-tion, social justice and equity, environmental sustainability, community based economic development and strengthening democracy in North Carolina.

Ms. Winner served as vice president and general counsel of The University of North Carolina from 2000 to 2007, where she provid-ed legal advice to UNC’s Board of Governors, president and senior administrators at the 17 affiliate institutions. She served as general counsel to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education from 1998 to 2000, contributing to the strength and effectiveness of education systems vital to North Carolina’s future.

Elected Senator for North Carolina Sen-ate District 40 in 1993, Ms. Winner served with distinction for three terms in the state senate. In the senate, Ms. Winner served as Senate Majority Whip, co-chair of the Educa-tion and Higher Education Committee and Appropriations Committee, vice-chair of the Judiciary and Human Resources Commit-tees, senate chair of the Mental Health Study Commission, and member of the Health Care Oversight Committee and North Carolina Smart Start Board of Directors. As senator, Ms. Winner was a Toll Fellow with The Coun-cil of State Governments, one of the nation’s premier leadership development programs for state government officials.

Ms. Winner practiced law from 1981 to 1992, with Ferguson, Stein, Watt, Wallas, Adkins & Gresham, P.A. in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her practice focused on civil rights litigation, primarily voting rights, and includ-ing school desegregation, free speech, racial and gender discrimination in employment, and due process. She also served as joint bond counsel for the City of Charlotte.

From 1977 to 1981, Ms. Winner was staff and managing attorney at Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, Inc., in Charlotte. Pre-viously, she was law clerk to the Honorable James B. McMillan, United States District

Judge for the Western Dis-trict of North Carolina, from 1976 to 1977.

Ms. Winner is the recipi-ent of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, conferred by the Governor of North Carolina in recognition of her prov-en record of service to the state. She has been recog-nized with the North Caro-lina First Congressional District Award for Pioneer-ing and Leadership in Vot-

ing Rights, the Mecklenburg County Women’s Equality Day Award, and a variety of service, advocacy and lead-ership awards presented by the North Carolina Council of Churches, the North Car-olina School Boards Asso-ciation, the North Carolina Association of Educators, Easter Seals of North Caroli-na, the National Association for the Mentally Ill, North Carolina Emergency Room Physicians, and the North Carolina Mental Health As-sociation. She has been fea-tured as a Tar Heel of the Week by the Raleigh News and Observer.

Licensed to practice law in the State of North Caro-lina, Ms. Winner is admitted to practice law in the United States Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and United States District Court for the Western, East-ern and Middle Districts of North Carolina. She has served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Advisory Committee on Rules and Procedures. She is an emeritus member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference. She is a former fellow of the American Leadership Forum and Wasser-stein Fellow at Harvard Law School. Winner has served as president of the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, for which she received the organization’s Public Interest Advocacy Award. She has served in a variety of leadership positions for the North Carolina Bar Association, the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Mecklenburg Coun-ty Bar. She was director of the Mecklenburg Bar Foundation. She has been a member of the National Association of College and Uni-versity Attorneys and the National Associa-tion of Bond Lawyers.

Currently, Ms. Winner serves as vice-chair of The Well of Mercy Board of Directors and is a member of the Made in Durham Board of Directors and Beth El Synagogue in Durham, North Carolina. Her past civic activities have included: UNC-Asheville Board of Trustees; UNC-Charlotte Foundation Board of Direc-tors; North Carolina New Schools Project, Board of Directors; North Carolina Arbore-

tum, Board of Directors; El Futuro, Board of Directors; Jewish Heritage Society of North Carolina, Board of Directors; NC Center for Voter Education, Board of Directors; Havurah Tikvah (Jewish Reconstructionist congrega-tion), co-president; Forsyth Futures, Board of Directors; Forsyth County & Mecklenburg County Children’s Law Centers, Boards of Directors; NC Public School Forum, Board of Directors; North Carolina Women’s Forum, Board of Directors; and Southern Region Edu-cation Board, Board of Directors.

Ms. Winner served as an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1994 and from 2004 to 2006. A native of North Carolina, Ms. Winner earned a Juris Doctor degree from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts, where she was a Daynard Fellow and received the Alumni Award for Outstanding Public Interest Advocacy. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and is a graduate of Lee H. Edwards High School in Asheville, North Carolina.

In recognition of her leadership and ser-vice to North Carolina and its residents, Elon University School of Law is pleased to pres-ent to Leslie J. Winner the Law School’s high-est professional honor, the Leadership in the Law Award, recognizing those who make out-standing contributions to the profession and to society.

From Our Partner

Leadership in the Law Award

PRESENTED TO

LESLIE J. WINNERExecutive Director, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation


Law is a tool to make a positive difference. It also provides many opportunities to serve.

A s managing partner for the Win-ston-Salem office of Kilpatrick Townsend, Steve Berlin has his

hands full. But somehow, he has found the time to make a tremendous impact on economic growth and the arts in the Triad region.

Berlin played a key role in bringing Caterpillar and Herbalife to the area through his position as chair of Winston-Salem Business Inc., an economic de-velopment marketing agency. He serves as secretary and general counsel of the Whitaker Park Development Authority.

He led a successful campaign to raise more than $2.65 million for The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County and was instrumental in the creation of the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts. He is chair of his firm’s community giving program, a founding board member of the Children’s Museum of Winston-Salem, and a former board member of United Way, Festival Stage of Winston-Salem, the RiverRun Inter-national Film Festival, and the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival.

His extensive experience and deep love

for the arts led to his current appointment by Gov. Pat McCrory to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts Board of Trustees.

Berlin graduated from Wake Forest Uni-versity and Wake For-est University School

of Law. He clerked for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina and is past president of the Forsyth Bar. He has served at Kilpatrick Townsend for almost three decades, spe-cializing in environmental law and act-ing as lead counsel in some of the largest brownfields projects in the Southeastern United States.

What is your favorite aspect of the job?The fascinating, bright, dedicated,

thoughtful people that you work with every day and the problems before you to solve.

Who are your mentors?Professors Charley Rose and Butch

Covington, Judge Hiram Ward, Ralph

Stockton, Bob Elster, Mark Reece, and Lu Leake.

What advice would you give to recent law graduates?

The law is still a great profession with opportunities abounding. Work to dis-cover where it best fits for you.

What is one thing your colleagues don’t know about you that would surprise them?

I am a big Green Bay Packers fan and amateur bird watcher.

If your life were a movie, book, or song, what would it be?

“What a Wonderful World.”

Why did you become a lawyer?Law is a tool to make a positive differ-

ence. It also provides many opportuni-ties to serve.

Can you point to any case that stands out as your favorite?

Many but – McLamb v. Wachovia, as it was my first successful 4th Circuit argument.

Steve BerlinKilpatrick Townsend & Stockton

Look for areas where you can be innovative and provide a service not provided elsewhere.

R ichard Boyette has a long list of accomplishments to his name, but regards being elected president of

the Defense Research Institute (DRI) in 2004 as the greatest.

DRI--The Voice of the Defense Bar is a national organization of defense at-torneys and in-house counsel with more than 22,000 members. He was instru-mental in the establishment of its chari-table foundation, the National Founda-tion for Judicial Excellence (NFJE), of which he is past president and a cur-rent director. The NFJE created the Richard T. Boyette Award in his name to honor outstanding contributions to the organization.

In 2010, he received DRI’s Louis B. Potter Professional Service Award.

He also received the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys’ inaugu-ral Robert J. Elster Award for Profession-al Excellence, in 2004. He served as the organization’s president from 1990-1991.

Boyette is a partner at his firm, special-izing in professional and product litigation and business law. He is also one of the top mediators in the state, resolving over 1,500 disputes in his career and sharing his experience through training other attorney negotiators and participating in presentations and panels on the subject.

He earned both his undergraduate

and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After graduation, he worked as a re-search assistant for the North Carolina Court of Appeals and then as an assistant district at-torney for the 12th Ju-

dicial District Attorney’s Office. He has worked at Cranfill, Sumner & Hartzog (and its predecessor firms) since 1980.

He is active in a wide range of profes-sional and charitable groups. He has served on several boards and committees of the Wake County and North Carolina Bar associations, is a member of the In-ternational Association of Defense Coun-sel, and has held several leadership posi-tions with the YMCA of the Triangle. He served on the William Peace University Visitors and the Trustees boards as well as the Peace University Foundation Board of Directors, serving as its chair in 2008.

He is a deacon and ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church of Raleigh, husband to Beth, and father to Rachel.


Look for nontraditional practices. I

think the practice of law is changing so rapidly that the traditional litigation practices are not going to be available to as many lawyers as they had been in the past. I’d look for areas where you can be innovative and provide a service that may not be provided by traditional law firms.


“Help!” by the Beatles.

Any interesting anecdotes you can share from your legal career?

I had an argument in the 4th Circuit, I guess two or three years ago, and I was the appellee. The senior judge, who ac-tually had done a couple opinions that we relied heavily on, basically made my argument for me and the questioning of the appellant’s counsel was pretty brutal. I actually felt sorry for them. I stood up to argue and got two sentences out and the senior judge said, “Thank you, coun-sel, we have heard about all we need to hear.” That was amazing. ... And I had a legal malpractice case several years ago in which I was able to persuade the judge to strike the plaintiff’s standard-of-care expert’s testimony and it resulted in sum-mary judgment for my client. That was a rewarding experience for me.

Richard BoyetteCranfill Sumner & Hartzog


. . . sometimes funny, sometimes suspenseful, always unpredictable.

Judge Richard Dietz was inspired by books such as “To Kill a Mocking-bird” and the John Grisham novels,

but his motivation was his father. “He doesn’t have a college degree and

began his career as a janitor, but he taught me the two most valuable skills for any law-yer: reasoning and common sense,” he said.

Those skills have been invaluable to Dietz. He was the first in his family to go to college, and he attended both Ship-pensburg University and Wake Forest University School of Law on full scholar-ships. He served as Wake Forest Law Review research editor and graduated first in his class from law school.

He began his career clerking for two federal judges. He then taught himself Japanese during his year as a research fellow in comparative and international law at Kyushu University in Japan. For the next two years, he was employed as an associate at a Washington, D.C., law firm and then joined Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, where he worked for the majority of his career before his appoint-ment to the North Carolina Court of Ap-peals by Gov. Pat McCrory.

Dietz says his favorite aspect of the job

is the challenge. “Every time I pick

up a new case, I find something new and interesting about it. I’d rather be doing this every day than work-ing a routine 9-to-5 job, no matter how stress-ful the work can some-

times be,” he said.He is a member of many professional

organizations and gives back to the com-munity through his volunteer efforts at Crisis Control Ministry in Winston-Salem and his work with Neighbor to Neighbor’s Latino Outreach mentoring program. While in private practice, he spent thou-sands of hours on pro bono work.

He considers mentoring three law stu-dents each year to be his second job.

“The two judges for whom I clerked after law school were amazing mentors and helped shape my legal career. I set aside time each day to work with my law clerks and, I hope, have that same im-pact on them,” he said.

His wife, Kelly, hails from Roanoke, Virginia.

What advice can you give to new lawyers?

Stay on the cutting edge of your practice areas. Check appellate court opinions on release day, bookmark popular legal blogs on your web browser, and follow leading lawyers in your field on Twitter and social media. If you’re one of the first to know when the law changes, you’ll quickly become a go-to lawyer for clients.


Some sort of Alfred Hitchcock movie—sometimes funny, sometimes suspenseful, always unpredictable.


Our state Supreme Court’s 1787 decision in Bayard v. Singleton. Every law student studies the famous U.S. Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison in con law class. But many lawyers don’t know that our Supreme Court established the same principle of judicial review more than a decade before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Judge Richard DietzNorth Carolina Court of Appeals

Music, for me, is a great antidote to the pressures of practicing law.

Were it not for Elizabeth Haddix’s work as lead counsel in Royal Oak Concerned

Citizens et al. v. Brunswick County, the citizens of the historic African American community might have another landfill instead of a new elementary school.

She has dedicated her career to cases which address power imbalances, and says her favorite aspect of the job is fighting for her clients. She admires their “experiences, courage, wisdom and grace while confronting the disparity of power and privilege that is always on the other side of our cases.”

She is a graduate of Duke University and UNC Law School. She was awarded a fellowship from the National Association for Public Interest Law, which she used to represent low-income workers as staff attorney with the North Carolina Justice Center. She then went to work at Edelstein & Payne, an employment and civil rights firm, while also representing workers as a support attorney to the N.C. Public Service Workers Union. She started a solo practice in 2005 and has served as adjunct law professor and senior staff

attorney for the UNC Center for Civil Rights for the past five years.

Haddix says she became a lawyer to further social justice causes. She has taken on many of these cases in her career, advocating

on behalf of victims such as those sterilized by the state Eugenics Board and co-writing amicus briefs in such cases as the Fisher v. University of Texas affirmative action appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. She has represented civil rights activists, workers seeking collective bargaining rights, and low-income and non-English speaking workers in cases involving unemployment, workers’ compensation, wrongful termination, harassment, and discrimination.

She is a member of the NAACP and North Carolina Advocates for Justice, and former national vice president of the National Lawyers Guild. She speaks Spanish at an interpreter level and is a volunteer with Chatham County

Schools, the Family Violence and Rape Crisis Center, the Chatham County Literacy Council, the Chatham Outreach Alliance Inc. and St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church food and housing programs. She is the mother of two sons, which she considers her most significant personal achievement.


Follow your bliss, and a livelihood will follow.

What is something your colleagues might not know about you?

While in law school, maybe to balance out the cerebral effort, I taught myself how to play guitar. A year after my second son was born, at the ripe old age of 37, I agreed to play rhythm guitar and electric bass in a friend’s band, and in a few years began writing songs and playing them with a collection of very talented local musicians. Now, in all my spare time, I’m working on recording some of my tunes. Music, for me, is a great antidote to the pressures of practicing law.

Elizabeth HaddixUNC Center for Civil Rights


Do something you enjoy and don’t worry about the money.

Jennifer Harjo was introduced to the law when she was just a child. Her father, a Creek Indian, filed and

won a lawsuit on behalf of the Creek Nation. Lawyers often visited the home to speak with her father about the case, but she was more interested in hearing stories about their criminal defendants.

Her passion sparked, she earned her bachelor’s and juris doctor degrees from the University of Tulsa, working in the Tulsa County Public Defender’s Office dur-ing her last year of law school. She moved to Massachusetts and served as assistant district attorney in Suffolk County for seven years. With her husband, she made the move down South and became manag-ing partner of Smith, Smith, & Harjo, a small law practice in Wilmington.

In 2008, she was appointed New Ha-nover County’s first chief public defender. She was tasked with starting the office from scratch with a budget of $1.3 million. Today, the office consists of 14 attorneys, seven legal assistants, and two investiga-tors with a caseload of 6,000 annually.

Harjo is past president of the North Carolina Association of Public Defenders and has held several board positions both on a local and statewide level. She cur-rently serves on the board of the Cape Fear Literacy Council as well as the Re-Entry

Systems of Effective Treatment program, which helps women in need of drug addiction and mental health treat-ment who are returning to the community from prison. In addition, she volunteers with Lawyers 4 Literacy and helps de-

liver aid to the poor through her church.She says the most fulfilling aspect of her

work is “keeping good people out of jail so they can have a second chance at life.”


While I think they know I am a little crazy with my activities and hobbies, I am not sure they are aware of just how many interests I have. I enjoy golfing, surfing, sewing, gardening, pottery, making jewelry, painting, woodworking . . . I can’t buy anything without first considering whether or not I can make it better and less expensive unless it’s food, because I do not cook, ever.


Do something you enjoy and don’t worry about the money. This was the

advice I was given in 1994 when I moved to North Carolina. Although my pas-sion was criminal defense, I questioned whether or not I would be able to sup-port myself in that area of the law. A real estate attorney set me straight and he could not have been more accurate. Had I not followed my heart, I would not likely have become the first public de-fender in New Hanover County.


This summer I represented a client charged with the first-degree murder of his own father. The client suffered from schizophrenia; however the disease was in its early stages and proof of the client’s insanity at the time of the crime was contested. I became extremely close with the entire family and childhood friends of the client. Everyone, including the pa-ternal family, supported a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. Despite the fact that the state experts outnumbered the defense expert by two to one, the court ruled in our favor. My client is now in a mental health hospital receiving the treatment he should have received prior to the homicide. Such cases are extremely sad and emotional and demonstrate ne-glect by society of the mentally ill.

Jennifer HarjoNew Hanover County Public Defender

I like to identify issues, design solutions and draft contracts.

Jeffrey Hart originally wanted to be a historian. But the job market was tight for history professors, so he

went to law school instead. In retrospect, he says that was the right decision.

“The practice of law, however, involves many of the same activities that attract-ed me to academia. Both professors and lawyers read, research, analyze, write and teach,” he said.

Hart relocated his family to open Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson’s Triangle office in 2008. The office opened with one lawyer and subleased space but has grown considerably since then, which he considers to be his greatest professional accomplishment so far.

He is an alumnus of Davidson College and Duke University School of Law and specializes in private fund formation, private investment transactions, and joint ventures.

He is a former business coach with UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s “Launching the Venture” and “Soft-Launch” programs and the author of several publications. He has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Arts and Science Coun-

cil in Charlotte, the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology, and Innovation, and Triangle Community Foundation’s “Send a Kid to Camp.”

He is the founder of Triangle Funds, a peer networking and profes-

sional development organization for fund professionals in the Research Triangle.

What is your favorite aspect of the job?To put it simply, I like to identify is-

sues, design solutions and draft con-tracts. I also enjoy the opportunity to be creative when working on complex business transactions. My favorite days are when I’m able to block off an extended period of time to immerse myself in drafting a complicated agree-ment, such as a private fund’s limited partnership agreement or a joint ven-ture’s operating agreement.

Who are your mentors?I have been influenced most heavily

by my partners, Haynes Lea and David

Dabbs, with whom I worked extensively as a younger lawyer. I admire their pro-fessionalism, attention to detail, practi-cal guidance and good judgment.

How has the legal profession changed since you began your career?

Unfortunately, I believe the mar-ketplace increasingly treats legal ser-vices as a commodity and lawyers as interchangeable, which undervalues a lawyer’s quality of service, experience, expertise and judgment.


Notwithstanding the emphasis placed on specialization, I would seek opportu-nities to work on a variety of matters in-volving different industries and areas of the law. For example, if a lawyer wants to specialize in mergers and acquisi-tions, it would be prudent to have some experience with credit transactions, joint ventures and company formations. This experience will make the person a better M&A lawyer, in addition to more versa-tile and adaptable as clients and mar-kets change.

Jeffrey HartRobinson, Bradshaw & Hinson


I am so thankful for all of the people in my life that have helped me.

Sarah Hutchins loves serving as mentor for new lawyers at Parker Poe, paying forward the assistance

she received along her career path. She recalls mentoring a young associate working on a pro bono case who recently made a successful argument to the North Carolina Supreme Court.

“His continued development, and this recent triumph, stands out to me as a very proud moment in my mentorship relationship,” she said.

Hutchins graduated from Vander-bilt University in 2004 and William & Mary Law School in 2008, where she received the George Wythe Award for distinguished leadership. After serving as a summer intern, Hutchins returned to Parker Poe to begin her career. She specializes in white-collar crime investi-gation and defense and manages large-scale electronic discovery matters.

Since 2012, Hutchins has served on the board of directors for Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina and has helped guide it through a difficult year of staff shakeups and other issues. She travels the state as an ambassador for the organization and has helped increase annual giving from

almost zero to over $40,000 per year.

Hutchins is the 2014 recipient of the Meck-lenburg County Bar As-sociation’s Young Law-yer of the Year Award and is a graduate of the Bar Leadership Institute. She is a 2015

graduate of Charlotte’s Arts and Science Council’s Cultural Leadership Training Program and a founding member of the Charlotte Women’s White Collar Defense Association and a legal volunteer for the local Humane Society.

She is an avid reader and athlete, and loves exploring the state with her hus-band, Mark, and two rescue dogs.

What is your favorite aspect of the job?The people I work with, both col-

leagues and clients, are hands-down the best part of the job. I work with smart, intellectually challenging people that are always willing to help and offer tons of support. I have been lucky to collabo-rate with clients and advise on complex, interesting issues.

Who are your mentors?Who aren’t? I am so thankful for all

of the people in my life that have helped me. My parents and in-laws provide great examples and my husband and sis-ter are both hard workers and good mod-els to follow. At work, my practice group is full of supportive people that look for ways to lift me up. In particular, Brian Cromwell and Eric Welsh have inspired me and helped me to improve. Addition-ally Eric Cottrell, Jamie Lesnett, Debbie Edney, Alice Richey, Rick Glaser, and William Rikard have provided me with a wealth of knowledge and a lot of guid-ance in my time at Parker Poe.


I began my career right before the economic crash. I believe that this was a good wake-up call for the legal industry. We learned to adapt, work better with clients, be more efficient, and at the same time continue to focus on core principles and providing exemplary service. Within that test I am glad that so many things stayed the same—Parker Poe continued to focus on community and clients.

Sarah Fulton HutchinsParker Poe

As I got the first words out of my mouth, half of the courtroom erupted in “boos” . . .

High school success in speech and debate tournaments prompted Joe Kahn to consider a career in the law.

“I have always been very curious, and the idea of pursuing a profession predi-cated on learning about new issues and topics was very appealing to me,” he said.

Kahn graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and the Univer-sity of South Carolina School of Law. After school, he began his career as an associate at Nexsen Pruet and was made partner in 2008. His focus is on health care law, an in-demand skill set in a frequently changing field.

He is past president of the board of the N.C. Society of Healthcare Attor-neys, vice chair of publications for the American Health Lawyers Association Fraud and Abuse Practice Group, chair of the Health Law Section of the N.C. Bar Association, and a board member of Schoolhouse of Wonder, a local children’s nonprofit. He is a frequent speaker and the author of several publications.

Who are your mentors?

I have been very fortunate to have had a number of mentors over the years. My fa-ther was my first mentor, teaching me the value of integrity and hard work. When I first started with the firm, I had the op-

portunity to work with Mr. Harold Jacobs, one of the original named partners of the firm. Mr. Jacobs helped me under-stand the responsibility associated with being an attorney - what it means to be a professional, the importance and value of

listening, and how critical it is to do what you say you will do.


I have performed on the stage of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (albeit, as a fifth grader...).


Explore and expose yourself to the various areas of law, and find an area that is in sync with that about which you are passionate. Once you have iden-tified a particular area of law in which you want to practice, challenge yourself to become an expert in a particular sub-set of that area. As the law becomes in-creasingly more specialized, it is incum-bent that attorneys maintain a breadth of knowledge, as well as depth in at

least one or more specific topic areas.


As a young associate, I was assisting one of my mentors, Mr. Jacobs, in a con-tentious case related to a rural community hospital. We showed up to court for one particular hearing, and the courtroom was packed with hundreds of people from the community. Passions in the community were running high related to this case, and the courtroom was fairly evenly di-vided with people both for and against our client’s position. I had helped research the motion Mr. Jacobs was going to argue, as well as prepare the brief. Just before the hearing started, Mr. Jacobs leaned over and said, “I am going to let you argue this one.” And as the judge walked into the courtroom, he shifted over to the “second chair.” It all happened so quickly that I did not have time to even process what was happening. Before I knew it, I was stand-ing up to give one of my first oral argu-ments in court. As I got the first words out of my mouth, half of the courtroom erupted in “boos” and other heckling. The judge banged his gavel, demanding order. I stood there stunned. Beside me, Mr. Ja-cobs just chuckled loudly with a large grin on his face. I will never forget that smile.

Joseph KahnNexsen Pruet


The legal profession is one of the helping professions.

A s a teenager, Paula Kohut al-ready knew she wanted to be-come a lawyer. She got experi-

ence early on, successfully and eagerly handling her own traffic citations.

She is a graduate of the University of California at Irvine and Wake Forest University School of Law. She is a highly regarded trusts and estates attorney and was admitted as a fellow in the Ameri-can College of Trust and Estate Counsel. She is a frequent speaker on trust issues and estate planning and is former chair of the N.C. Bar Association Estate Plan-ning and Fiduciary Law Section.

After practicing law for 27 years in Charlotte as Paul Kohut, she transi-tioned to Paula in 2011 and started a new practice in Wilmington as a trans-gender woman. She has recently con-tributed to the essay collection “Out and About: The LGBT Experience in the Legal Profession,” published in June.

She is a frequent writer and local and national speaker. Currently, she is a mem-ber of the boards of the North Carolina ACLU, St. Jude’s Wilmington Foundation, North Carolina Association of Women At-torneys, and Equality North Carolina.

What is your favorite aspect of the job? By far the biggest satisfaction I get

from practicing law is helping people. While it is thrilling to be in-volved in the sale of a large business or the es-tate of a high-net-worth family, the smallest matters often give me the most satisfaction.

(I had) a terminally ill client who had a transgender daugh-ter. Her previous lawyer had told the mother that she did not need to change the name of her daughter in her will from John to Jennifer because the daughter could provide the name change order to the clerk of court when the will was probated. I learned that her daughter was her sole caregiver and that she and her daughter were very close and relied upon one another. During the client’s last hospital stay, she signed a new will using her daughter’s legal name. As her daugh-ter left the room, she squeezed my arm and with tears in her eyes told me she wanted her daughter to know she loved her unconditionally. I assured her that her daughter knew. A week later I visited her in hospice a day before she died in peace.

It was a treat to assist the mother in leaving her daughter a legacy of love, not

hate. I like to think that my personal in-sight into diversity and ability to recognize a client’s anger towards her child as part of her grieving process—the losing of a son, not the lack of love for her child—allowed me to be part of a healing process. Such ex-periences make me love the practice of law.


Although financial needs may warrant some compromises early in your career, take notice of and look for the opportuni-ties to learn from good lawyers in your community. The legal profession is one of the helping professions. If you build your career based upon professional service to your clients and the community, it will be difficult to avoid a rewarding career.


I wish you would have asked me and I could have answered this question before July 1, 2011, when I transitioned from Paul to Paula! Now that I live an open and authentic life, this question is more difficult. Nevertheless, while my MS will most likely inhibit my ability, I would like to climb Mount Vinson in Antarctica. I may settle for a National Geographic cruise to the Antarctic.

Paula KohutSolo practitioner

Get experience. . . Also, network and seek out a mentor.

Dan Lewis followed his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps to a law de-gree. He says he grew up hearing

stories about helping others and upholding the Constitution, but he is blazing his own path in the field of family law.

He graduated from Union College and received his law degree from The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law in 2002. He held several jobs before joining the Hatcher Law Group in 2011.

He focuses his practice on family law and has become an expert in collaborative law, an alternative to divorce litigation wherein parties work to resolve their is-sues outside the courtroom. He joined the nonprofit professional group Mecklenburg County Collaborative Family Law Practice Group, which provides training and pro-gramming for its members on the collab-orative law process. He served as program co-chair from 2012-2013 and has been a member of the executive committee since 2013; since his involvement, the group’s membership has increased by 100 percent.

In his personal time, he represents pro bono clients who are victims of domestic violence and has served as a volunteer attorney with Safe Alliance’s Legal

Representation Project since 2012. He is a fre-quent presenter at the Mecklenburg County Women’s Commission’s Family Law Clinic, where he answers fam-ily law questions for women, many facing domestic abuse.

He was selected as a 2014 STANDOUT honoree for the Charlotte Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, for which he raised more than $3,000. He gradu-ated from the Arts and Science Council’s Cultural Leadership Program and was in-vited to serve on the board of Clayworks, a ceramics education nonprofit.

“Seeing the progress my former clients make following divorce and starting over in many ways,” he said, makes his ef-forts worthwhile.


Get experience. You will never know if you want to practice in a particular field until you’ve experienced the practice. Also, network and seek out a mentor.


At my first deposition working at my law school’s family law clinic, I was deposing the opposing party and he took a swing at me when I asked about his anger management issues. After we settled down, I stated on the record that the deponent just tried to punch me and then asked him if he thought his anger management was improving.

What is your greatest professional accomplishment?

I have had the opportunity to volun-teer my time using my legal skills to help women and children in the community have better and safer lives. Since becom-ing a member of the North Carolina Bar, I have focused on establishing myself in the legal community and purposefully commit-ted my time outside of work to volunteer in my field by assisting victims of domestic violence, and educating the community on alternatives to litigation through the collaborative law process. In the former, I have obtained civil domestic violence protective orders for women who have had the strength to confront their aggressors.

Daniel LewisHatcher Law Group


I am proudest to work for people who stand up and do the right thing.

Over the course of her legal career, Meg Maloney has challenged the status quo and effected real

change. She wrote the first law firm policy used in North Carolina regarding parental leave and part-time work. She convinced an employer to focus more on diversity in recruitment efforts, and, as in-house counsel, convinced an employer to adopt a policy requiring its lawyers participate in pro bono work.

She says her best moment as a mentor was giving a presentation to 150 women lawyers called “In Her Shoes,” which fa-cilitated a discussion of ways to respond to sexism in the workplace.

After many years spent working as in-house counsel and at several big firms, she struck out on her own, opening Maloney Law & Associates in 2009. She said the move was risky, but it has paid off; she now has the freedom to take on the cases and clients she wants.

“I am interested in cases that allow me to help solve a problem for one individual in a manner that benefits more than a single individual. I am also interested in helping to effectuate legislative changes in a wide variety in areas of the law,” she said.

A graduate of Interlochen Arts Acad-emy, Northwestern University, and Duke University School of Law, she has

amassed a long list of speaking engagements and pro bono and vol-unteer work. She cur-rently serves on the board of the Charlotte Women Attorneys and is an active member of the employment law section of the North

Carolina Advocates for Justice, the Em-ployment Law Section of the North Caro-lina State Bar, and the Mecklenburg County Bar’s Bench, Bar & Community Committee for diversity and outreach.

To balance out the demands of her le-gal career, she said, she must have art in her life including painting, pottery, and especially dance photography. She makes jewelry, knits, and keeps chickens to re-mind her of her childhood in rural Ohio.

Her greatest accomplishment is rais-ing two strong daughters who, after facing significant obstacles, are loyal, fearless, and kind.

Who are your mentors?Marion Cowell (former general counsel

at First Union), Ed Hinson (partner at James McElroy Diehl), Geraldine Sum-ter (civil rights attorney at Ferguson, Chambers & Sumter).


I’m a female employment lawyer who came to the South to practice law when there were not young single female lawyers, much less young female law-yers from the North. I have more stories about my career and my cases than you have time for.

Once a partner came to me and said I could not attend a client meeting be-cause the client had informed him that he did not want any women working on his matter. I asked the partner if the client hired him because he trusted his judgment. The partner said yes. I told the partner to call the client back and remind the client of that fact, and tell him that the partner had chosen the best person to work on the case and it was me. I attended the meeting and wore a pink dress to make sure there was no doubt there was a woman in the room. I enjoyed working on the case and devel-oped a great relationship with the client.


I don’t have favorite cases but I do have favorite people – lots of them. I am proudest to work for people who stand up and do the right thing.

Margaret MaloneyMaloney Law & Associates

Remember to have some balance in your life, take care of your health and don’t neglect your family.

Don Marcari is no stranger to the spotlight. He represented a client in a capital murder case that got

nationwide attention, was lead counsel in cases that became the bases for the movie “A Few Good Men” and a book called, “The Mother of All Hooks: The Story of the U.S. Navy’s Tailhook Scan-dal.” He has also appeared as an expert on shows including “Unsolved Myster-ies,” “A Current Affair,” and “The Montel Williams Show.”

He has also just finished writing his first novel.

Marcari’s professional story begins at Appalachian State University, where he received both his bachelor’s degree in po-litical science and his master’s degree in public administration. He worked in city administration before earning his juris doctor at Campbell Law School.

After law school, he went to work for the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps, then worked in several firms be-fore forming Marcari, Russotto, Spencer & Balaban in 2000.

He has tried more than 200 jury trials over his career against corporations such as Jeep, Firestone, and Honda. He repre-

sents seriously injured people, focusing on civil litigation and personal injury law.

His favorite aspect of the job is getting to help his clients put the pieces of their lives back together.

He has taught law at the high school and university levels and is active with many civic, non-profit, and professional organizations.

His most important achievements, however, are his daughters.

“I am extremely proud to have helped raise three intelligent, ambitious and kind-hearted children who are in gradu-ate school, finishing or just starting col-lege. They are great,” he said.

Who are your mentors?My father and mother were my greatest

examples of hard work and honesty. The first attorney I worked for was Jimmy Epps in South Carolina. My first partner after I got out of the Navy was Lou Kershner; both were solo practitioners who taught me the true meaning of being a lawyer.


I have been practicing law for 30 years; so much has changed since I first began my law career. The competition is great. The clients are much more informed and can be demanding; they want instant gratification. With technology you can work 24 hours a day if you choose.


The legal profession can be a tough task to master. Remember to have some balance in your life, take care of your health and don’t neglect your family.


The Navy charged a young sailor with capital murder due to a girl he had met over the Internet who said someone had raped her – which ended up not being true. The sailor killed an innocent man he thought was involved. I kept him from the death penalty but he is serving life imprisonment, which I don’t know is much better.

Donald MarcariMarcari, Russotto, Spencer & Balaban


I think that small acts can have a significant collective impact if we all collaborate together.

Early in her career, Barbara Meeks was asked to leave a meeting by a client because she was a woman,

and a young one at that. She kept calm and convinced him that he needed her help, and they went on to have a great client relationship.

Since then, Meeks has become pas-sionate about helping women develop in their careers. She is president of the 19,000-member Wells Fargo Women’s Team Member Network, which is the most fulfilling part of her work.

“I have had the opportunity to meet and work with outstanding women at our company, and it has been especial-ly gratifying to support the personal and professional development of wom-en at Wells Fargo and in our communi-ties,” she said.

She is a member of Commercial Real Estate Women in Charlotte and Women Influence Power and the Law, sponsored by Inside Counsel, which is focused on de-veloping women for leadership roles in the legal community. She recently spoke on a panel sponsored by Alston & Bird address-

ing women negotiating in the workplace.

She received both her undergraduate and law degrees from Wake Forest University, then worked for what is now K&L Gates for several years. She is currently assistant general coun-

sel with Wells Fargo, where she has worked since 1999.

She is a board member and serves on the Development Committee for the Blu-menthal Performing Arts Center, has assisted with fundraising for United Way and the Arts and Science Council, and supports the Davidson-Cornelius Child Development Center. She is a member of Wells Fargo CIC Toastmasters Club and St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Davidson.

What is your favorite aspect of the job? My favorite aspect of my job is negoti-

ating successful transactions and re-solving legal matters for our customers, especially when I can facilitate creative,

practical solutions to complex issues. It is also exciting to see my colleagues and peers become senior leaders in the com-pany and our community.


I would probably pick the movie “Pay it Forward.” I have been very fortunate in my life and career, and I believe pay-ing it forward and helping others to suc-ceed is important. I also think that small acts can have a significant collective impact if we all collaborate together.


In the past few years, I led a commit-tee for our law department efficiency project that saved millions of dollars. In addition, I have always been proud of how my colleagues and senior leaders in our company conducted themselves through the financial crisis, and that we collaborated to successfully merge Wachovia and Wells Fargo into the vital financial institution it is today.

Barbara MeeksWells Fargo & Company

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Give your peers every professional courtesy you would want yourself.

W illiam Mills has been a teacher and a mentor to hundreds of young lawyers over the years,

both in and out of the classroom. He has presented at many continuing

legal education programs and has been an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina and Duke University law schools for more than 20 years. Some-times, he goes head-to-head with his former students in the courtroom.

Once, while trying a case against one of his past students, the judge called them into his chambers “for the purpose of telling us how much he was enjoying the extreme professionalism we displayed during the trial. My student smiled and said, ‘Well, there’s a good reason for that…’ and proceeded to tell the judge what a great teacher I had been,” he said.

Mills is an alumnus of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and the UNC School of Law. He has practiced law for 36 years in Durham, primar-ily handling personal injury, wrongful death, and medical negligence cases.

He has served as president of the 14th Judicial District Bar, the North Carolina

Advocates for Justice, and the Eastern N.C. Chapter of the Ameri-can Board of Trial Ad-vocates. He is currently a 14th Judicial District Councilor.

His most important personal achievements are raising four chil-

dren with his wife, Janice, and cultivat-ing “some very dear friendships.”

“And a hole in one while playing golf with retired Judge Eddie Greene, Don Strickland and Greg Overbeck – very thrilling,” he added.

What is your favorite aspect of the job? Helping my clients get through a diffi-

cult and often overwhelming experience. I will litigate any case that I find interesting but my concentration has been in repre-senting injured people or families of people killed by the negligence of others. I have a file within reach of my desk that contains all of the notes of appreciation received over the years and I will occasionally pull out a few as a reminder of why I do this.


Give your peers every professional courtesy you would want yourself. Fight over only those issues that matter. Re-turn your phone calls! Make family and friends a priority.


I represented a woman that suf-fered severe injuries when struck by a deputy sheriff driving at a high rate of speed, responding to a call for back-up. We tried the case in Marion, N.C. Both testifying physicians said that she was permanently disabled and would never be able to work again. She was the last of 17 witnesses (all in about three days) and when she was asked on direct ex-amination, “How are you doing?” She looked at the jury and said, “I’m doing great. I know what the doctors are saying but I am going to prove them wrong and return to work.” She was on the stand maybe 10 minutes and the jury awarded exactly what we asked for –$2,500,000.

William MillsGlen, Mills, Fisher & Mahoney

I strive to lead by example in my commitment to work-life flexibility. . .

Karen Nelson says that, as a work-ing mother, she experienced firsthand how a shortage of fe-

male role models in the profession can discourage many women from pursuing a law career. She has made an effort to be encouraging to fellow women.

She is co-head of Katten’s Women’s Leadership Forum in Charlotte, where she leads an effort to help women grow pro-fessionally and learn from one another’s experiences. She also invests much of her personal time to serving on the Leadership Committee of Commercial Real Estate Women in Charlotte, which promotes women leaders in the real estate industry.

Nelson serves as a role model for suc-cess, having closed over half a billion dollars in real estate finance loans in the last year alone.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1999 and her law degree from Northwestern University in 2003. After graduation, she practiced real estate law at Mayer Brown, K&L Gates, and since 2012, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. She was named a LEED Accredited Professional in 2010.

She is committed to working pro bono for the Council for Children’s Rights’ Truancy Project, working with children identified as truant, their families, and the school sys-tem to get the best outcome possible.

Why did you choose your practice area?

Shortly after law school, I discovered my passion for real estate when I began to see first-hand the tangible, positive impact the law can have on real estate properties within a

community. The unique impact the law has on where properties are ultimately located and their effect on the community has driven me to pursue a vast cross-section of real estate law, which currently includes office, retail, hotels, multifamily and industrial, among others.

Who are your mentors?I’ve often said that my most valued men-

tor is my husband, Alex. He has constantly championed for me and my career develop-ment every step of the way since we were in law school together. He is my calm and steady hand during personal and profession-al transitions and the inevitable stress that accompanies a legal career. Additionally, Katten’s family-friendly policies and career development initiatives for women were a big factor in my decision to join the firm.

Working together, the support I receive from both my family and Katten has enabled me to live my dream of having a successful law career and a happy family.

What do you consider your most significant professional achievement?

As a real estate finance and lending attorney, my goal has been to build a national practice of real estate clients while remaining a strong advocate for Charlotte as a business destination. I realized early on in my career the daily exposure I have with influential people in the marketplace nationwide gave me a platform in which I could pres-ent North Carolina in a positive light to industry leaders and dealmakers across the country. Today, the national reach of my practice has also provided me with a unique perspective of best-in-class commercial real estate finance practices which helped me close more than a half billion dollars in loans in 2014. As a re-sult of my efforts, revenues increased in my individual law practice by 40 percent in the last year; I worked on large-scale multi property portfolios with properties located across the country.

What do you consider your most significant personal achievement?

As a mother of two young children, I strive to lead by example in my com-mitment to work-life flexibility and ca-reer development. Simply put, managing and expanding my practice while mak-ing sure that I have time for my growing family is my number one priority.

Karen NelsonKatten Muchin Rosenman


It has been a thrill to be a part of this fine group of attorneys.

Leslie Packer has completed the New York, Virginia Beach, and Chicago marathons, which may

help explain where she gets all her energy. Aside from her busy career as a partner at Ellis & Winters, specializing in civil litigation, she devotes countless hours to the Special Olympics and vari-ous legal associations.

She serves as Secretary on the Board of the Special Olympics of North Carolina and is president of the UNC Law Alumni Association. She is past president of the Raleigh Professional Women’s Forum and past secretary of the 1999 Special Olym-pics World Summer Games.

Packer is equally busy within the legal community.

She is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers and American Board of Trial Advocates, the past presi-dent of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, serves on the board for the Federation of Defense and Cor-porate Counsel, and has held leadership roles within the National Foundation for Judicial Excellence. She is a member of several other professional associations

and has many presen-tations and panel dis-cussions under her belt.

She is an alumna of Brown University and the University of North Carolina School of Law, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif, a Morehead Law Fellow

and research editor of the North Carolina Law Review. After graduation, she joined Smith Helms Mulliss & Moore, where she worked until joining Ellis & Winters as a founding partner in 2000.

Above all, she believes her finest achievement is raising her two children.

“They are both warm, bright, loyal, considerate people with many talents. It has been a privilege to be able to provide guidance and support along the way, and I could not be more proud of how they have developed and matured. As any parent knows, raising children is a humbling experience. I feel that I have learned as much from Liam and Caitlin as they have from me,” she said.

What do you consider your most significant professional achievement?

I consider being one of the founders of Ellis & Winters LLP, and subsequently being named as the firm’s managing partner in 2013, as my most significant professional achievement. A group of us who had practiced for years together at a larger firm had a vision of creating a smaller, boutique-style firm where we could practice with our friends, provide efficient client service, and have greater autonomy than is practical in a larger firm. We were quite nervous and uncer-tain how it would turn out, but gathered the courage to give it a try. We were thrilled that our clients followed, and that we have continued to attract great clients, as well as top legal talent, in the 13 years since our formation. I have en-joyed being part of the leadership of the firm as we have evolved into a firm with an excellent reputation, both within and outside the state, in complex litigation as well as commercial real estate. It has been a thrill to be part of this fine group of attorneys.

Leslie PackerEllis & Winters

I love being able to learn more about it (the U.S. Constitution) every day in my practice. . .

K aty Parker says she has been an advocate for others since she was small, standing up for friends

accused of misconduct—whether they were wrongfully accused or not. After college at the University of Georgia, she decided the best way to continue to advocate for others was to go back and get her law degree.

She received that degree from UGA School of Law in 1999 and clerked for the U.S. District Judge John F. Nangle for the next two years. Next, she went to work with Holland & Knight as a media and litigation associate before landing her dream job as legal director with the ACLU of North Carolina.

While at the ACLU, she litigated many important cases including Joyner v. Forsyth County Board of Commission-ers, in which she that argued the prac-tice of opening meetings with a sectarian prayer violated the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amend-ment, and State v. Elabanjo, in which she successfully argued a profanity stat-ute was unconstitutional under the free speech clause of the First Amendment.

In 2012, after six years with the ACLU, her husband, a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, received orders to go back to Camp Lejeune, so the fam-ily moved to the Wilmington area. She feels fortunate to have been offered

the chance to become partner at Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, where she works on civil rights issues “in the trenches” as her prac-tice focuses on employ-ment discrimination, criminal defense, and police misconduct work.

Parker is the 2013 recipient of the Norman B. Smith Award of the ACLU of North Carolina for her volunteer efforts and the 2012 recipient of the Ebbie Award by North Carolina Advo-cates for Justice.

She is currently a commissioner for the North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services, a member of the Legal Committee of the ACLU of North Caro-lina, and has held office with many other civic groups.

She is also wife to Lt. Col. Worth Parker, USMC, and mother to a beauti-ful 4-year-old daughter.

Who are your mentors?N.C. Bar members Luke Largess, Jon

Sasser, Ellen Gerber; the late U.S. Dis-trict Judge John F. Nangle.


Try to live beneath your means, fi-

nancially. It will enable you to be more flexible in what you choose to do with your law degree, which will bring more happiness in your career and your life. Also, I also suggest that new law gradu-ates go work for a public defender’s office or a district attorney’s office, even if only for a short period of time. There is no better way to get trial experience early in your career.

What aspect of the work is most fulfilling? I love the U.S. Constitution. I love be-

ing able to learn more about it every day in my practice and I continue to learn how to use it to protect people’s rights.


While I was legal director at ACLU-NC, I had occasion to speak at city coun-cil and county commission meetings on various constitutional issues. After one meeting, at which I was speaking on an issue related to prayer at city council meetings, a man came up to me after the meeting. I thought he was going to yell at me and tell me that I was go-ing to hell (that happened from time to time). I asked him if I could help him, and he told me that he wanted to meet me because he had “never met a real-live ACLU person before.” As if I were a circus act! It was very funny!

Katherine ParkerTin Fulton Walker & Owen


High fives and hugs can change the world!

F or Mital Patel, the chance to help others is the best part of being a lawyer.

A client, Manoj, was working hard in the United States to earn enough money to bring his son over from India. Manoj did not speak the best English yet but was trusting and had a big heart. To help a friend in dire financial straits, he had agreed to purchase a business and its real estate from him.

In reviewing the documents, Patel realized they were for a lease, not a purchase; however, his client had al-ready lost a large deposit in the deal. His client’s “friend” fell further into financial difficulty and Patel helped Manoj pur-chase the property he had previously been tricked into leasing.

Manoj was later able to reunite with his family.

“He serves as a reminder for why I want-ed to practice law in the first place- to help folks in need of a good attorney achieve their dreams through business,” Patel said.

Patel is an alumnus of North Caro-lina State University and Elon Univer-sity School of Law. After graduating law school in 2009, he opened Triangle Business Law, specializing in corporate, startup, venture capital, mergers and ac-quisitions, and intellectual property. He

joined Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton in 2014 and continues to serve entrepreneurial clients.

He is a founding member of the Long-leaf Collective, a giving collective to which all members pledge 0.5 percent of their annual

salaries. He is also a founding trustee of the Awesome Foundation, which funds “awesome” projects through micro-grants.

Among other things, he is a lead orga-nizer with Triangle Startup Weekend, founding organizer with N.C. Datapaloo-za and serves as an advisory board mem-ber with both Elon University’s Doherty Center of Entrepreneurial Leadership and the Raleigh Public Record.

His philosophy is simple: “I believe in the power of positive think-

ing and that there is good in all people. My favorite food is a Krispy Kreme doughnut and my favorite way to exercise is the Krispy Kreme Challenge. High fives and hugs can change the world,” he said.

Who are your mentors?My father, Noel Allen, Erik Mazzone,

Chris Lynch, Scott Moody, and I find that I learn a lot from most of my clients as

well. One of the things my father told me that I will never forget is that there is something to learn from everyone in the world if you are open to the possibility.


Don’t forget why you become a lawyer. Surround yourself with people that have done or are doing what you want to do. Find a way to have fun. The practice of law is serious work, but if you do not enjoy what you do, you probably should be doing something else.


I’ve run the Krispy Kreme Challenge three separate times. That’s 4,800 calo-ries and 15 miles. I didn’t eat the dough-nuts the last time.

Why did you become a lawyer?Lawyers have the potential to help

people do great things and solve mean-ingful problems. A good lawyer can help their client understand complicated situ-ations and help them make good deci-sions. Informally, I found myself in those kinds of roles often and enjoyed it, so I decided to become a lawyer.

Mital PatelWyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton

. . . treat pro bono activities as both a professional responsibility and privilege.

Jack Pinnix confesses that high school Spanish was difficult for him. “A supreme irony given my practice

area,” he said.Pinnix is an immigration lawyer, help-

ing his clients navigate the changing landscape of U.S. immigration law. He loves that his practice has introduced him to people from every corner of the world.

He was the first president of the 14,000-member American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), installed after 9/11, and served twice as the organi-zation’s chair of the Carolinas Chapter.

He has taught immigration law class-es at Duke, Elon, and N.C. Central Uni-versity law schools. He is author of many publications and editor-in-chief of “Eth-ics in a Brave New World: Professional Responsibility, Personal Accountability, and Risk Management for Immigration Practitioners,” the most widely distrib-uted book in AILA’s 67 year history.

He received his bachelor’s and mas-ter’s degrees from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and his ju-ris doctor from Wake Forest University School of Law. He is a founding partner with Allen, Pinnix, & Nichols.

His favorite case was that of “‘Charlie

Two-Shoes.’” In South China in 1945, a group of young Marines took an impoverished 11-year-old under their collective wing. They fed and clothed him, taught him English, and promised to take him with them when

they returned to America. Unfortunate-ly, they had to leave him behind, where he was jailed as a political prisoner for 17 years for his loyalty to the Americans.

Charlie came to America in 1983 and these same Marines hired Pinnix in an effort to honor their long-ago promise. He called in reinforcements and, with a bipartisan effort and a successful “private immigration” bill, Charlie was finally able to bring his family to America. Pinnix is a father of two and married to Sally, a vol-unteer for the National Inclusion Project.

What advice would you give to recent graduates? Travel whenever you can. If you

haven’t already done so, lower your monetary expectations and learn to live within your means. Don’t specialize until you have the opportunity to explore a

variety of practice areas. Get involved in your community and treat pro bono ac-tivities as both a professional responsi-bility and privilege. Never stop reading. If you aren’t happy, do something else.


I confess I’ve always been a bit paranoid as an attorney and I expect the resulting adrenalin has at least partially compensat-ed for my lack of natural brilliance. Think-ing back I remember my first year out of law school when I returned home to Rock-ingham County. Against the wishes of my firm, I accepted a court-appointed criminal matter. As was the custom, one fall day the entire county bar took a visiting superior court judge out to lunch. Over the meal, Judge Julius Rousseau leaned over and whispered into my ear, “Jack, your problem is that you think I’m going to throw you into jail rather than your client.” Since I was in the middle of the criminal trial I had two messages to take away.


The greatest of all films, “Casablanca”, does happen to be an immigration movie.

John PinnixAllen, Pinnix, & Nichols

The Mecklenburg Times will host its second annual “Future Charlotte” breakfast forum on October 14, 2015. This year’s

panel will focus on the transportation options the Charlotte region will have in the future. Of particular interest will be

issues related to how transportation plays in to residential and commercial development, and what plans exist to handle the

population increase expected in the next few decades. In addition, the program will examine what the state will do to keep

up and build new highways now that revenues for both national and state agencies are decreasing for transportation projects.

Panelists include

RepResenTaTIve WIllIaM “BIll” BRaWleyNC House District 103, Mecklenburg County

sTaTe senaTOR JOel FORd NC Senate District 38, Mecklenburg County

ned CuRRan President & CEO, Bissell, & Chair of the North Carolina Board of Transportation

MayOR JIll sWaIn Mayor of Huntersville, NC

Visit our events page at mecktimes.com/events to register & learn more.

Register by October 1st to qualify for the $40 early bird registration rates. Seating rates will increase after October 1st to $50 for individuals & $475 for tables of 10.

For more information, contact Lauren Marr at 704-247-2908 or [email protected]

We thank our gold sPonsor:

Breakfast forumWednesday, oct. 14,

7:30 – 9:30 a.m.

carolina’s aviation museum

4672 first flight drivecharlotte, nc 28208

Featured events


I try not to take anything for granted, and I give thanks everyday.

It’s difficult to top William Plyler’s first week as an assistant district attorney. Days into the job, he made the front

page of The Raleigh Times for pursuing and tackling an escaping defendant.

“Nothing that exciting has happened since,” he jokes. “I guess I peaked early.”

Though he may not make headlines every day, Plyler has spent the major-ity of his more than three decade career making sure another type of defendant is held accountable. As a plaintiff’s attor-ney, he believes the most rewarding part of his job is helping his clients through hardships brought on by the careless-ness of others.

He was inspired to become a lawyer by his uncle, North Carolina Supreme Court Justice John Webb, who was encouraged by his uncle, North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice William Devin. A brief post-college stint paving drainage ditches cemented his decision, so he took the LSATs and enrolled in law school.

Plyler is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill and UNC School of Law. He has served as president of the Wake Coun-ty Bar Association and president of the Tenth Judicial District Bar. He is an inaugural member of the Susie Sharp

Inn of Court, a mem-ber of the American Board of Trial Advo-cates, and a member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference. He currently serves on the Bar’s Board of Directors, the Profes-sionalism Award Com-

mittee, the Bylaws Committee, and the Athletics Committee.

He considers his greatest professional accomplishment to be “getting to prac-tice law with some of the best lawyers in the state.”

What is your favorite case so far?My favorite case was a case I brought

against Extreme Championship Wres-tling and Rob Van Dam. Van Dam, who is an amazing athlete and the most fearless man I have ever encountered, missed his mark on his signature stunt. The stunt required him to stand on the top rope, near the corner of the ring, and jump out of the ring while doing a flip in the air. The stunt was supposed to end with Van Dam being caught by his adversaries, the Dudley Boyz, two

men weighing 300 pounds each. On this evening, Van Dam flew over the Dudley Boyz and hit my client. Taking the depo-sitions was the part that makes this my favorite case.


It might surprise some of my col-leagues to know that the Allman Broth-ers were the only band to come to Wal-nut Creek Amphitheater every year for the first 20 years WC was open, and that I attended all 20 shows. Mayor Meeker gave Greg Allman the key to the city of Raleigh at the 20th show, which was pretty funny, but also pretty cool.

What is your greatest personal achievement?

Having a family that I love and enjoy. My wife, Sally, and I were in the same first-grade class, dated through high school and college, and have been mar-ried 35 years. We have three grown chil-dren, a son-in-law, and two grandsons, all of whom are in Raleigh. I consider myself to be one the luckiest people in the world. I try not to take anything for granted, and I give thanks every day.

William PlylerEdwards & Kirby

Be as respectful of others as you can possibly be.

For Andrew Spainhour, an interest in a legal career was sparked by a civil liberties class in college. That

spark was fanned to a flame after gradu-ation, when he worked in the office of a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. His father recognized and encouraged this passion for the law, so he went back to school to earn his law degree.

He is an alumnus of Davidson Col-lege and the University of North Caro-lina School of Law. After graduation in 1998, he joined Replacements Ltd. and has worked there ever since. He handles legal, staff, and community affairs issues for the company. He has represented the company since his first day of orien-tation, when he had to help terminate an employee who had falsified informa-tion. He also served as a frequent media contact during the company’s public opposition to North Carolina’s Defense of Marriage Act, which sought to outlaw same-sex marriage.

He currently serves as a board direc-tor for Equality North Carolina and the

Greensboro Public Li-brary Foundation and on the Audit Commit-tee of the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro. His prior involvement in the community is consider-able, including work with Triad Stage, the

Guilford Green Foundation, the Coali-tion to Protect North Carolina Families and Legal Aid of North Carolina.

He loves his job and considers being a good son, brother and friend to be his most significant personal accomplishment.

Who are your mentors? My parents, UNC Law’s Jack Boger,

Replacements’ founder Bob Page, and Greensboro lawyer Jim Phillips.


While much work remains to be done

in our profession and in many others, I think there is now a greater sense of the value of diversity and inclusion and the importance of being able to understand and work with people who are different.


Be as respectful of others as you can possibly be.


I’d really like to hike the Appalachian Trail.

What aspect of the work is most fulfilling?

I enjoy working with other people to do our very best to achieve shared goals, to avoid pitfalls and problems, or, when that’s not possible, to resolve problems effectively and appropriately. Working through challenges can be very meaning-ful and satisfying, and I’m grateful that’s possible in my work.

Andrew SpainhourReplacements Ltd.


Always read (and re-read) the rule or statute.

Jake Sussman will always remember October 10, 2014, as one of his fa-vorite days. It was the day his legal

team, of which he was co-lead counsel, prevailed in their marriage equality lawsuit in the successful challenge to Amendment One, General Synod of the United Church of Christ v. Reisinger. He put forth that the law violated a minis-ter’s right to marry persons according to the theological beliefs of the church—an argument that was ultimately successful.

He received his law degree in 2002 from New York University School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden-Kern Public Interest Scholar. After gradu-ation, he clerked for the U.S. District Judge Ellen B. Burns. He then practiced with Ferguson Stein Chambers Gresham & Sumter before joining Tin Fulton Walker & Owen in 2011.

He has represented clients in a number of interesting cases, including this years’ United States v. Petraeus and successful pro bono representation for Occupy Char-lotte participants who had been arrested on “anti-camping” charges in 2012.

He is a current member of the national and Mecklenburg County associations of

criminal defense law-yers, the North Caro-lina Office of Indigent Defense Services, and is a member of the board and several com-mittees of North Caro-lina Advocates for Jus-tice. He has given more than a dozen presenta-

tions on issues such as law enforcement misconduct, First Amendment issues, and capital defense.

He is also a volunteer soccer coach for Charlotte Junior Soccer and a member of the 2014 Mecklenburg County Bar Law-yers’ Basketball League champions. His greatest personal achievement is being married to his best friend, who he has known since high school, and with whom he has two very kind and funny daughters.

Who are your mentors?Henderson Hill and James Ferguson are

the two who come mostly quickly to mind.


Always read (and re-read) the rule or

statute. And find a more experienced lawyer to make friends with and ask him or her lots of questions.


Always find a more experienced law-yer to make friends with and ask him or her lots of questions.

Why did you become a lawyer?After working as an investigator on capi-

tal cases for about three years, I decided it made sense to go to law school so that I could be the lawyer on these kinds of cases.

What aspect of the work is most fulfilling?Helping a client get through what is

often a terribly difficult situation.


Being a member of the defense team for Brian Nichols in the Fulton County, Georgia, courthouse shooting case. After three years and a trial that lasted nearly six months, we secured a life sentence in a case where everyone ex-pected a death sentence.

Jacob SussmanTin Fulton Walker & Owen

My best moment is when students write excellent papers through my guidance.

Don Vaughan, a 2012 Leader in the Law honoree, has done much to recommend him since his last

recognition.In addition to his full-time private

practice, he has served as adjunct pro-fessor of state and local government at both Wake Forest University and Elon University law schools.

He was selected to be the first speaker at the 2015 North Carolina Bar Criminal Law Section annual meeting, and travels statewide to speak on Susie’s Law. The 2010 law allows judges to sentence those convicted of animal abuse to a maximum of 10 months in jail, where previously they would have served no time.

He also travels widely to present on a bill he authored called the Founding Principles Act, which requires knowledge of the U.S. Constitution in order to gradu-ate from high school. Other states have used the bill, signed into law in 2011, as a model for their own legislation.

Vaughan has a record of public ser-vice, serving seven terms on the Greens-boro City Council from 1991-2005, in-cluding a term as mayor pro tem from 1996-2000. He was elected to the North Carolina Senate in 2008, from which he retired in 2012. He has been an attorney

in Greensboro since 1982 and is licensed to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court.

He is an alumnus of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, received a master’s de-gree in public adminis-tration from American

University, and graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review.

Vaughan belongs to many professional and community organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, North Carolina Advocates for Justice, the board of the Greensboro Housing Coali-tion and the Greensboro Rotary Club. He is on the board of Family and Children’s Services, the Boy Scouts of America, among other groups, and is a Sunday school teacher at his local church.

He is married to Nancy, the mayor of Greensboro, with whom he has two step-sons and a daughter.

What is your most significant professional achievement?

I am very pleased that other states have enacted a number of bills I au-

thored in the North Carolina Gen-eral Assembly. A similar version of the Founding Principles Act was recently enacted in the state of Georgia and is now pending in South Carolina. The bill provides that every student should have a knowledge of the founding principles of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Federalist Pa-pers. It is my hope that all 50 states enact the bill in the coming years. It is important for the rule of law that future generations have an understanding of the principles upon which our country was founded.

What is your most significant personal achievement?

Raising a wonderful 14-year-old daughter.

What is your best moment as a mentor?At Wake Forest and Elon University

law schools, I administer the third year writing requirements to all of my stu-dents. We have very high quality papers and students. My best moment is when students write excellent papers through my guidance. An extra special moment is when they call me a few months later and have published their work.

Donald VaughanDonald R. Vaughan & Associates


As attorneys, we must prove our worth more than ever by showing the value we add. . .

Gerald Walden Jr. works at the intersection of his two passions, law and business. Unhappy as

an engineer, he enrolled in law school because friends and family thought he should put his analytical thinking and debate skills to good use.

He graduated in 1996 from N.C. Agri-cultural and Technical State University with a degree in mechanical engineering and in 2001 from the N.C. Central Uni-versity School of Law. He added an MBA from Elon University in 2014—while simultaneously working full time as counsel with The Fresh Market, chairing two boards, and teaching as an adjunct professor at his law school alma mater.

He says those two years of graduate school were the most demanding of his life, but he was able to excel. In fact, he achieved promotion to the position of assistant general counsel at The Fresh Market shortly after earning his degree.

Walden was selected as a Citizen Law-yer by the N.C. Bar Association in 2013 for his service to the community and he continues to give back.

He serves as chairperson for the N.C. Bar Association’s Minorities in the Profes-sion Committee and is an active member of the Guilford County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, the Triad Health Project, the Guilford College Board of

Visitors, and the NCCU School of Law Board of Visitors. He is a mentor for law school students from Elon, NCCU, and UNC-Chapel Hill.

How has the legal pro-fession changed since you began your career?

The accessibility to legal information via the internet over the last 15 years has changed the way clients view legal services provided by attorneys. There are obvious pros and cons to this change, with one of the biggest cons being the number of people who now believe they may not need a lawyer to handle certain important matters for them. Thus, as attorneys, we must prove our worth more than ever by showing the value we add through our knowledge and interpreta-tion of the law, as well as our ability to provide counseling in matters that may or may not be entirely legal in nature.

What advice would you give to recent law school graduates?

Recent law school graduates need to master “soft” skills. Knowing and apply-ing the law is the expectation, but is not enough. New lawyers must also be able to effectively and properly communicate with

colleagues and clients orally or in writing, wear appropriate attire befitting a lawyer, understand the importance of network-ing, etc. When skills such as these are mastered, coupled with legal know-how, a young lawyer is better able to stand out in a field saturated with new lawyers.


Upon finishing law school, I clerked for the N.C. Court of Appeals in the hopes of using that opportunity to se-cure a great law firm position in the D.C. metro area that would eventually prepare me for an in-house counsel posi-tion. However, shortly after starting my clerkship, the tragic events of September 11, 2001, occurred and the job market froze. Despite applying for nearly 100 jobs over the next two years in the D.C. metro area, I was unsuccessful. Finally deciding to seek employment in N.C., I applied for The Fresh Market staff attor-ney position I had seen posted for sever-al weeks. Three days later I was offered the position during my interview—the only job I actually applied for in N.C.! Thus, after applying for numerous posi-tions in the D.C. metro area that were not even of real interest to me, I found the job I actually wanted in three days that was only a few counties away.

Gerald Walden Jr.The Fresh Market

I have approached being a lawyer with passion to make a difference in the lives of my clients.

Robert Zaytoun’s guidance levels the playing field for his clients, helping steer them through the le-

gal complexities of catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and other claims of negligence.

“I have approached being a lawyer with passion to make a difference in the lives of my clients,” he said. And he has made quite a difference. He has uncov-ered multiple insurance benefits and re-covered multi-million dollar settlements for his clients, allowing them to regain some measure of their life after tragedy.

He believes that part of his obligation is to serve his community. To that end, he is a member of many civic and non-profit organizations. He was appointed by Gov-ernor Mike Easley (and re-appointed) to the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission, which was cre-ated to distribute North Carolina’s share of the National Tobacco Settlement. He has also been appointed by governors to the Board of Trustees of the North Caro-

lina Symphony and the Judicial Nominating Commission.

He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Farm Pilot Proj-ect Coordination, which seeks the development of ground water pro-tection against animal

waste, and currently a board member of New Vision Renewable Energy; in this capacity, he recently traveled to the Do-minican Republic to oversee the distribu-tion of solar light kits to the needy.

Zaytoun is a graduate of the Univer-sity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and UNC School of Law. In his limited spare time, spends time outdoors as a cyclist, hiker, and backpacker. He is trustee with the North Carolina Symphony, founder of the artist-in-residence pro-gram at Artspace, active on the North Carolina Film council and produced his own feature-length film in 2007.

He owns and shows the blue-ribbon winner Grizzly, a Tennessee Walker horse.

What do you consider to be your most significant professional achievement?

Being in private practice since 1982 and becoming skilled as a litigator rep-resenting plaintiffs primarily who have been injured through negligence and medical negligence. Currently, mentor-ing two young lawyers in my firm.

Describe your best moment as a mentor.Watching as Matt Ballew, my associ-

ate, delivered a powerful opening state-ment in a serious medical negligence trial in Pitt County in 2014 which resulted in a $13 million settlement during trial.

What do you consider your most significant personal achievement?

Being a father of six fabulous children who each have sought purposeful lives in fields for which they have a passion to help others.

Robert ZaytounZaytoun Law Firm

nclawyersweekly.com/leaders-in-the-law

North Carolina Lawyers Weekly will host the sixth annual Leaders in the Law awards event in September 2016, honoring attorneys licensed and practicing law in the state of North Carolina, who go above and beyond in their profession and their community. The honorees will represent the most influential individuals within our state’s legal community.

Winners of 2015 and 2014 Leaders in the Law awards will not be considered as nominees. Previous winners are eligible to be honored again in the third year after they received their award.

NomiNate today! The nomination deadline is Wednesday, June 1, 2016

For more information about this event, please contact Lauren Marr at 704-247-2908 or [email protected]

Learn more: law.elon.edu

First in the nation to provide all students:

Groundbreaking new model of legal education

Launching lawyer leaders:

AT ELON LAW- Judicial Extern, N.C. Court

of Appeals- Legal Intern, Of� ce of the U.S.

Attorney, Western District of N.C.

NOW - Assistant District Attorney

Mecklenburg County, N.C.

Lila Riley ’10 AT ELON LAW

- Judicial Extern, N.C. Business Court Chief Judge James L. Gale

- Leadership Fellow- Member, Moot Court Board

NOW- Partner, Rountree Losee LLP

Wilmington, N.C.

Andrew R. Jones ’13

AT ELON LAW- Judicial Clerk, N.C. Supreme

Court Justice Robert H. Edmunds, Jr.- Summer Associate, Duke Energy

Of� ce of the General Counsel; Parker Poe; Wyrick Robbins

NOW- Third-year law student

Leadership FellowMember, Moot Court Board

Joshua Bonney ’16

AT ELON LAW- Judicial Extern, N.C. Business Court Chief Judge James L. Gale

- Editor-in-Chief, Elon Law Review NOW

- Judicial Law Clerk,U.S. Tax CourtWashington, D.C.

Madeline Obler-Grill ’14

� Full-time, course-connectedresidencies-in-practice

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� One of the few U.S. law schools thatis home to a working court – theN.C. Business Court

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