Legal Elite – Environmental 2013

GRADY L. SHIELDS, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh

Freshman year at Duke was something of a shock. By the time I’d left, though, I’d acquired the discipline and work ethic to master graduate-level courses and research and write an honors thesis. These developed traits served me well through law school and into practice. I was fortunate enough to have professors who challenged me to look beyond my assumptions and think more critically — a great primer for first-year law school and for practice.

Vita: Born Oct. 6, 1960, in Greensboro; bachelor’s from Duke University and law degree from UNC Chapel Hill; wife, two children and two stepchildren.
Why he chose to specialize in this field: Environmental law enables me to use my science background and gives me a wide-ranging practice. I rarely do the same thing from day to day.
Memorable case: The first case that I worked on, Nantahala Power & Light v. Thornburg, went to the U.S. Supreme Court. I also argued Wilson v. McLeod Oil Company, one of the early significant cases under the N.C. Oil Pollution and Hazardous Substances Control Act, to the N.C. Supreme Court.
Passions: Travel and nature and wildlife photography.
Favorite place: Anywhere in the Himalayas or Hawaii, where my wife and I were recently married.
Hero: My mother. She raised two children on her own and was one of the first woman executives in the tobacco industry.

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ENVIRONMENTAL

Grady L. Shields, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh;
Stanford D. Baird, K&L Gates LLP, Raleigh;
Stephen R. Berlin, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLLLP, Winston-Salem;
Jeffrey S. Bolster, Bolster Rogers & McKeown, Charlotte;
F. Bryan Brice Jr., The Law Offices of F. Bryan Brice, Raleigh;
Craig A. Bromby, Hunton & Williams LLLLP, Raleigh;
Charles S. Carter, Nexsen Pruet LLLLC, Raleigh;
James L. Conner II, Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, Raleigh;
Thomas A. Farnen, Moore & Van Allen PLLC, Charlotte;
John M. Flynn, Carruthers & Roth PA, Greensboro;
Sarah W. Fox, Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh;
David A. Franchina, K&L Gates LLP, Charlotte;
D.J. Gerken, Southern Environmental Law Center, Asheville;
Stanley B. Green, Strauch Fitzgerald & Green PC, Winston-Salem;
Thomas N. Griffin III, Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Charlotte;
Matthew F. Hanchey, Hunton & Williams LLP, Raleigh;
Lori Privette Hinnant, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC, Winston-Salem;
Keith H. Johnson, Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh;
T. Richard Kane, Poyner Spruill LLP, Charlotte;
Robert King III, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro;
William F. Lane, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Raleigh;
Steven J. Levitas, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Raleigh;
Peter J. McGrath Jr., Moore & Van Allen PLLC, Charlotte;
Daniel F. McLawhorn, N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Raleigh;
Richard E. Morton, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC, Winston-Salem;
Donald M. Nielsen, Bell, Davis & Pitt PA, Winston-Salem;
Lawrence L. Ostema, Horack, Talley, Pharr & Lowndes PA, Charlotte;
Stephen T. Parascandola, Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan LLP, Raleigh;
Garry Rice, Duke Energy Corp., Charlotte;
Frank H. Sheffield Jr., Ward and Smith PA, New Bern;
Sean M. Sullivan, Williams Mullen, Raleigh;
Timothy P. Sullivan, Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh;
William W. Toole, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson PA, Charlotte;
Carol J. Van Buren, Van Buren Law PLLC, Charlotte;
Steven D. Weber, Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Charlotte;
S. Kyle Woosley, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Greensboro;
I. Clark Wright Jr., Davis Hartman Wright PLLC, New Bern.