2015 Legal Elite
That’s my specialty
Top Tar Heel lawyers share what drove them to their field of practice.
The leading vote-getters in the 14th class of Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite chose their areas of practice for reasons as varied as escaping physical labor on the family farm and helping fellow immigrants navigate the complex process of moving to the United States. We asked each of the lawyers who received the most votes in their respective categories how they wound up in their specialty. The selection process started by contacting 22,000 active members of the North Carolina State Bar, seeking their votes online at BusinessNC.com. Lawyers were not allowed to vote for themselves and could only vote for an associate or partner if they also chose an active lawyer from outside their firm in the same category. Previous top winners are ineligible, and more weight was given to votes from peers at other law firms. Though a record number of ballots were submitted, fewer than 3% of the state’s lawyers – 641 – made this year’s list.
Photos by Steve Exum