Power List 2023: Law

Kerry Abrams
Stacy Ackermann
Sherrod Banks
Catherine Barnes
Steve Berlin
Ashley Brathwaite
Dan Cahill
Lois Colbert
Nathan Duggins

Bradley Evans
Todd Eveson
Kimberly Bullock Gatling
Stuart Goldstein
Clark Goodman
Thomas N. Griffin III
Denise Gunter
Robert Harrington
Terry Hutchens

Beth Tyner Jones
Byron Kirkland
Paul Lawrence
Valecia McDowell
Tom Mitchell
Jared Mobley
Clayton Morgan
Reid Phillips
Allen Robertson

Perry Safran
Jason Solomon
Wyatt Stevens
Marshall Wall
Mona Lisa Wallace
Kevin Williams
Devon Williams*
James Wyatt III

KERRY ABRAMS

dean | Duke University School of Law
Durham 

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has cited Abrams’ work in her rulings. The  English major at Swarthmore College received a law degree from Stanford University. She was vice provost and a professor at the University of Virginia before joining Duke  in 2018. The school enrolled 225 first-year students last year and 285 during the previous year. 

STACY ACKERMANN

partner | K&L Gates
Charlotte

Ackermann is the finance practice leader at the national law firm, representing investors, lenders, servicers and other market participants. She is a frequent lecturer on commercial real-estate financing. The Furman University graduate earned her law degree at the University of South Carolina. She joined the firm in 2012. 

SHERROD BANKS

founder | Banks Law Group
Durham

The UNC Chapel Hill grad practices law in commercial and real estate, business litigation, partnerships and private placement stock options. He previously chaired the Governing Committee of the American Bar Association Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, He is an adjunct law professor at UNC Chapel Hill, where he earned bachelor’s and law degrees.

CATHERINE BARNES

managing partner | James, McElroy & Diehl
Charlotte

Barnes works with clients involved in business continuation planning, mergers and acquisitions, and other issues ranging from real estate negotiations with lenders, commercial leases, zoning issues and non-compete agreements. She has a law degree from UNC Chapel Hill. Her most famous partner, Bill Diehl, died at age 78 in December.

STEVE BERLIN

partner | Kilpatrick Townsend 
Winston-Salem

Berlin’s 35-plus years at his firm includes service in various areas of environmental law. The Wake Forest University graduate serves on the UNC School of the Arts board of trustees and chairs the Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Arts Council board
of trustees. 

Favorite family tradition: Lovefeast during the Christmas season.

Favorite place to visit in North Carolina: North Carolina Zoo or Blue Ridge Parkway.

What do you listen to on your commute: Audiobooks, podcast, and ESPN radio.

Major inspiration: People who collaboratively, mobilize to get things done.

Favorite hobby: Anything outside, gardening and hiking.

Best advice for industry newcomers: Get
involved and stay involved in your community.

ASHLEY BRATHWAITE

president | North Carolina Association
of Defense Attorneys | Ellis & Winters
Raleigh 

Brathwaite leads the trade group representing defense attorneys, reflecting her experience representing clients in the insurance, health care, real estate and manufacturing sectors. The Furman University graduate worked in marketing and public affairs for a large South Carolina hospital before attending Campbell University School
of Law. 

DAN CAHILL

managing partner | Poyner Spruill
Raleigh

The lifelong Raleigh resident, who chairs the Greater Raleigh Area Chamber, represents banks, companies, and local governments in commercial disputes in state and federal courts and alternative dispute resolution. He is a Wake Forest University School of Law graduate and has an undergraduate degree from
UNC Chapel Hill.

LOIS COLBERT 

partner | Kilpatrick Townsend and Stockton
Charlotte

The University of Michigan law graduate is  leader of the national law firm’s employee benefits practice group.  She has been recognized by Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America and other professional journals and has been singled out as one of Charlotte’s most influential women.

NATHAN DUGGINS

managing partner | Tuggle Duggins
Greensboro

The Wake Forest University law graduate leads the law firm formed by his father, Jim, and Richard Tuggle in 1974. He represents clients in construction, real estate and complex business disputes. He’s on the board of the Guilford Merchants Association, Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and Wake Forest School of Law.

BRADLEY EVANS

co-managing director | Ward and Smith 
Greenville

Evans grew up in Ahoskie and earned bachelor’s and law degrees at Wake Forest University. He litigates cases and advises clients involving intellectual property disputes and commercial, business, estate and professional licensing issues. He is a certified Superior Court mediator who says there’s no place better to live than eastern North Carolina.

Favorite N.C. place to visit: Warm months  — Emerald Isle; Cool months — our cabin in Bertie County.

What do you listen to on your commute: A combination of public radio news and the Grateful Dead channel on Sirius XM.

Major inspiration: Our firm has about 250 employees that are my daily inspiration.  Every day I am driven to work hard to help provide professional satisfaction and security for them and for their families.

Favorite hobby: Offshore fishing. There is no better escape from daily life than trolling the Atlantic Ocean well out of cellphone range.

Best advice for industry newcomers: Look for meaning in your life’s work that energizes and motivates you. The practice of law is a profession, not simply a job. We have opportunities to help people during some
of the most challenging times in their lives. Finding
the reward in those opportunities for service makes the challenge worthwhile.

TODD EVESON

managing partner |
Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP
Raleigh

The Duke University graduate earned his law degree at UNC Chapel Hill. His work centers on securities law, mergers and acquisitions, corporate law and banking law. Eveson, 47, also chairs the firm’s executive committee. He joined Wyrick Robbins after it bought his former firm, Gaeta and Eveson, in 2013.  

Favorite family tradition: There are several, and they are all food related. 

Favorite N.C. place to visit: Being back home in Charlotte will always be my favorite.

What do you listen to on your commute: I’d love to say it’s Bloomberg or NPR, but the truth is that it’s usually classic rock. 

Major inspiration: My parents are two of the hardest-working, most grounded people I ever encountered.

Career highlight: At Wyrick Robbins, we’re working on significant matters for vibrant clients on a daily basis. It’s more like a team highlight reel.

Best advice for industry newcomers: Find yourself a good mentor and make yourself indispensable.

KIMBERLY BULLOCK GATLING 

partner, chief diversity and
inclusion officer | Fox Rothschild
Greensboro

The George Washington University law graduate focuses on protecting clients’ ideas in intellectual property and data security issues. She’s the firm’s chief diversity and inclusion officer. Gatling has an electrical engineering degree from N.C. A&T State University. She is a director
at Cone Health and Truliant Federal Credit Union.

STUART GOLDSTEIN

managing partner | Cadwalader
Charlotte

Goldstein’s practice focuses on structured finance. A graduate of the University of California-Berkeley law school, he co-chairs the firm’s capital markets practice and is a management committee member. He received the 2019 Alzheimer’s Association Award of Excellence for his continuous support of the organization’s Western Carolina chapter. 

CLARK GOODMAN

managing partner | Latitude Legal
Charlotte

A Harvard Law School graduate, Goodman left a top post at the giant Womble Bond Dickinson firm to join the national company that supplies lawyers to many Fortune 500 companies and others. He also teaches law at Wake Forest University.

Favorite N.C. place to visit: Topsail Island

Major inspiration: I’m inspired by individuals who have chosen to protect, defend, and save human lives and liberty, such as first responders, medical professionals, law enforcement, and those who serve in the military.

Favorite hobby after work: Anything with my family. My hobbies are golf and guitar.

Best advice for industry newcomers: Take time to understand, as much as possible, the full scope of the profession so that you can find the right place in the profession for you.

Key industry change in next five years: The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence tools will force the industry to find the proper balance between tasks that can be completed more efficiently through the use of technology/AI and tasks that require human judgment, nuance, and creativity.

THOMAS GRIFFIN III

managing partner | Parker Poe
Charlotte

A University of Virginia law school grad, Griffin says in environmental law, results count more than venue. Early in his career, he was an attorney with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since then, he has handled water, endangered species, wetlands and similar issues in the last 30 years, often collaborating with federal agencies.

DENISE GUNTER 

managing partner | Nelson Mullins
Winston-Salem

The George Washington School of Law grad handles a variety of cases involving antitrust matters, government investigations, and mergers and acquisitions. Nelson Mullins has more than 1,000 lawyers at 30-plus offices. She’s the former board chair of The Fellowship Home of Winston-Salem, which provides transitional housing for men with substance use disorders.

ROBERT HARRINGTON

partner | Robinson Bradshaw
Charlotte

The Duke University law school grad is a past Mecklenburg County Bar president who was named Lawyer of the Year by N.C. Lawyers Weekly in 2017. He represents corporate clients in trade, contract and various business disputes. Harrington co-chairs the firm’s litigation department.

Favorite family tradition: Summer vacation at Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

Favorite N.C. place to visit: Duke University’s campus 

What do you listen to on your commute: Jazz

Major inspiration: My two granddaughters because they represent the future. 

Key industry change in next five years: Further application of artificial intelligence to law practice
and greater need to differentiate between AI and
human services. 

TERRY HUTCHENS

managing partner | Hutchens Law Firm
Fayetteville 

Hutchens graduated from N.C. State University and has law and MBA degrees from Wake Forest University. His firm employs about 250 people in about
10 offices. Hutchens focuses on business law, often representing banks and mortgage firms. He’s a member of the UNC Board of Governors.

Favorite family tradition: Rosalind and I have four children and nine grandchildren. It’s a real crowd when we all get together for holidays. The grandchildren are amazing and hilarious. I don’t think I am ever happier.

Favorite N.C. place to visit: Lake Waccamaw

Major inspiration: Showing that I can when I am told I can’t.

Favorite hobby after work: Drink old single malt and even older Bordeaux’s.

Best advice to industry newcomer: Always be prepared. Be civil and trustworthy in your interactions with other lawyers. Engage in your community. Don’t worry about how much money you are or aren’t making. Instead, concentrate on doing a good job for your clients and the money will come.

Career highlight: In my law practice, I represented a fellow in an age-discrimination case against the state forestry department. My client was poor, had little formal education and worked on farms until he got his state job. He looked much older than his 57 years.

During the government’s direct examination of my
client’s supervisor, the witness testified that my client didn’t have enough sense to run a lawn mower. A juror on the front row leaned over the railing and in a loud voice said “bull@#$.” Very few people in the courtroom could stop laughing.

The judge took a recess and back in his chambers said, “Well Terry, I think you have juror No. 7.” It got worse for the defendants from there.

At the end of the trial, the jury returned after a relatively short time. They awarded my client every dime and benefit that could legally be recovered. At the bottom of the jury sheet, the foreman wrote, “More on back.”
It was a list of additional damages sought by the jury, including raises, bonuses, money and benefits beyond what I had requested, an apology and the dismissal of
my client’s supervisor.

BETH TYNER JONES

managing partner | Womble Bond Dickinson 
Raleigh

Jones’ former role as a human-resources executive for a large pharmaceutical company and as a college faculty member was a good prep for leading Womble Bond Dickinson’s education, school-law and employment and pensions service teams. She has bachelor’s and law degrees from Campbell University.

Favorite N.C. place to visit: Mountains 

What do you listen to on your commute: Making calls to family members to catch up or NPR. 

Major inspiration: My clients are predominantly colleges and universities. They do transformative work. It’s a privilege to play a small role in support of that critically important work.  

Favorite hobby after work: Cycling and shooting hoops.

Best advice for industry newcomers: Focus on understanding, deeply, the law from several
excellent attorneys.

BYRON KIRKLAND

managing partner | Smith Anderson
Raleigh

Kirkland’s 35 years in practice includes handling mergers and acquisitions, private- equity transactions, and general securities and corporate law matters. He’s been managing partner since 2020. The UNC Chapel Hill law and MBA grad is a director of the NC TECH trade association. 

Favorite family tradition: Family gatherings at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Favorite N.C. place to visit: Mountains

What do you listen to on your commute: Radio 

Major inspiration: I find inspiration every day and everywhere whether it be from co-workers, family, books I am reading or life experiences.

Career highlight: Being asked to lead Smith Anderson. 

Favorite hobby after work: I really love going home and spending time with my wife, Ginny. My favorite hobby is cooking.

Best advice for industry newcomers: Invest your time and energy in developing and enjoying relationships.

PAUL LAWRENCE 

managing partner | Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo
Charlotte

Lawrence is known for handling workers’ compensation, civil litigation, professional negligence and premises liability and employment-law cases. Included in the Best Lawyers in America listings since 2016, the Villanova law school grad is a former assistant district attorney. He joined Hedrick Gardner in 1994.

VALECIA MCDOWELL

partner | Moore & Van Allen 
Charlotte

The Duke University School of Law graduate serves as co-director of the firm’s white collar, regulatory defense and investigations practice, often leading sensitive reviews for major institutions. She also heads the firm’s civil rights and racial equity assessment work. She is a recipient of the Mecklenburg County Bar’s Julius Chambers Diversity Champion Award.

JARED MOBLEY

managing partner | K&L Gates
Charlotte

Mobley advises clients on federal, state and local tax matters, as well as private equity, mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. He holds degrees from both the University of South Carolina School of Law and New York University School of Law. He joined a K&L Gates predecessor in 1999.

CLAYTON MORGAN

associate general counsel | Duke Energy
Raleigh 

This year’s president of the N.C. Bar Association, Morgan joined the utility in 1996 and began his role as associate general counsel in 2004. He has a law degree and MBA from Wake Forest University and an undergraduate degree in radiologic science from UNC Chapel Hill. Duke Energy’s chief legal officer is Kodwo Ghartey-Tagoe.

REID PHILLIPS

managing partner | Brooks Pierce 
Greensboro

Phillips works on antitrust, copyright and other cases as a litigation lawyer, while leading the law firm that has 109 lawyers with offices in Greensboro, Raleigh and Wilmington. He has a bachelor’s degree from UNC Chapel Hill and a law degree from the University of Texas.

Favorite family tradition: Seeing extended family at the Hancock County Fair in Findlay, Ohio, where we enjoy watching livestock shows.

Favorite N.C. place to visit: No better place for a summer vacation than Cashiers.  

What do you listen to on your commute: NPR

Major inspiration: My mother instilled great values in me, including the joys of hard work and service to others. “Anything worth doing is worth doing well,”
she said.

Career highlight: Successful trial of complicated business case. The trial lasted nine weeks but took two years of preparation.  

Favorite hobby after work: Reading on
the terrace behind our house. Favorite book last year was one everyone in North Carolina should read — “Wastelands” by Corbin Addison.

Best advice for industry newcomers: Never think of anything as merely a task to be completed. Think of it as the start of finding new ways to help the client in all the ways you can. Always relate the task to the bigger picture. That mindset makes work assignments interesting and of greater value to the client.   

Key industry change in next five years: With preferences for remote working, opportunities for collaboration and interaction are reduced. How will
we compensate so that young lawyers are trained
the right way?

ALLEN ROBERTSON

managing partner | Robinson Bradshaw
Charlotte

A UNC Chapel Hill Morehead Scholar and Harvard Law School graduate, he is one of only two North Carolina lawyers to serve as president of the National Association of Bond Lawyers. His public finance clients include financial institutions and health care systems.

PERRY SAFRAN

principal | Safran Law Offices
Raleigh

Safran has practiced law for more than 40 years, focusing on construction law. He has lectured on construction topics as an adjunct professor at Campbell School of Law and N.C. State University. He is a trustee at N.C. State University, a Centennial Authority director and a former Raleigh City Council member N.C. Turnpike Authority director. 

Favorite family tradition: Dinner with our family. 

Favorite N.C. place to visit: The coast

What do you listen to on your commute: News

Major inspiration: Working with our great universities — my very own N.C. State.  

Career highlight: Starting my own business/firm and keeping it going for 40-plus years.

Favorite hobby after work: Long walks with my wife, Susan, to clear my mind. 

Best advice for industry newcomers: Make a plan. The business does not just come to you.

Key industry change in the next five years: Continuing virtual connecting, more conversation and adjusting to the client’s needs, not just how all was done in the past.

JASON SOLOMON

partner-in-charge | Alston & Bird
Charlotte

Solomon has a bachelor’s degree from UNC Chapel Hill and a law degree from Washington and Lee University. He practiced corporate law in Delaware before moving to Charlotte. He represented the trustee and agents
in a $1.3 billion debt offering for a telecommunications giant. Alston & Bird has more than 800
lawyers globally. 

WYATT STEVENS

partner | Roberts & Stevens
Asheville

The Asheville native and UNC Chapel Hill graduate has more than 25 years of experience in personal injury and commercial litigation. The firm was formed in 1986 by a merger led by his father, Jack Stevens. He is a member of the Association of Ski Defense Attorneys. 

Favorite family tradition: Dinner with our family.  

Favorite N.C. place to visit: Big Yellow Mountain in the Roan Highlands. 

What do you listen to on your commute: Blue Ridge Public Radio. 

Major inspiration: My parents lived their lives with integrity and goodness.

Career highlight: Making shareholder status at Roberts & Stevens. 

Favorite hobby: Run or walk with friends.  

Best advice for industry newcomers: Try your best and do the right thing every time.

Key industry change in the next five years: Massive growth and competition. 

MARSHALL WALL

managing partner | Cranfill Sumner
Raleigh

The Raleigh native was part of the first class to be certified by North Carolina State Bar as a specialist in privacy and information security. He is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill and Campbell University School of Law. The firm has more than 75 lawyers with offices in Charlotte, Raleigh and Wilmington. 

Favorite N.C. place to visit: Ocean Isle Beach

What do you listen to on your commute: Podcasts, mostly nerdy ones about things like economics.

Favorite hobby after work: Running

Best advice for industry newcomers:
You don’t know much yet. Take any opportunity to learn and listen. 

MONA LISA WALLACE

founding partner | Wallace & Graham
Salisbury

The Rowan County native and Wake Forest School of Law graduate is a nationally known personal injury lawyer who says she has a “relentless quest for justice.”  Her work on behalf of neighbors of Smithfield Foods’ Bladen County plant was featured in the book “Wastelands.” She has specialized in representing victims of occupational-related cancers.

KEVIN WILLIAMS 

president | Bell Davis Pitt
Winston-Salem 

A Wake Forest University law graduate who grew up in Elizabeth City, Williams has practiced at the firm since 1998, representing corporations and individuals in contract disputes, professional negligence, product liability and trademark infringement. The firm has more than 30 lawyers in Winston-Salem and Charlotte.

JAMES WYATT III

managing partner and founder | Wyatt & Blake
Charlotte

Wyatt, a graduate of Vanderbilt University and
Duke University School of Law, specializes in whistleblower, class-action and white collar defense litigation. Early in his career, he worked with Bobby Lee Cook Sr., the Summerville, Georgia, lawyer who was the inspiration for the “Matlock” television series featuring Andy Griffith.