Attorney Intel is pleased to announce The Top 25 Attorneys of North Carolina for 2023. Situated in the southeastern U.S., North Carolina is renowned for its barbecue, sweet tea, and passionate basketball culture. Beyond its cultural staples, the state flaunts a robust economy. According to the Commerce Department, North Carolina's GDP recently reached an impressive $560 billion, experiencing a healthy 3.2% growth last year. In 2023 alone, the state celebrated numerous economic triumphs, such as a $130 million investment from Bosch, a $458 million biomanufacturing facility by cellular therapeutics company ProKidney, and Apple's commitment to develop 281 acres of land, with economists estimating potential tax incentives totaling $846 million.
Benefiting from this economic prosperity, the Tar Heel State provides abundant career opportunities across various sectors, including the legal profession. In fact, as per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average annual wage for lawyers in North Carolina surpassed $126,000 in 2021. Working in a wide range of fields, the men and women highlighted this year work across diverse fields, offering legal expertise to some of the most influential law firms and companies in the world.
Among this year's recipients is Jim Hedrick, a Partner at McGuireWoods, a globally renowned law firm. With nearly three decades of experience, Hedrick has provided counsel as the administrative agent and lead arranger in syndicated credit facilities ranging from $50 million to over $1 billion, extended to various companies and institutions.
Another notable awardee is Brandon Asbill, currently serving as the General Counsel at Bandwidth (NASDAQ: BAND). Asbill previously spent 12 years at Red Hat, where he played a pivotal role in IBM's historic $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat, then the largest software acquisition in history. Donna Hargrove, General Counsel of Amwins since 2008, is also recognized for her achievements. Amwins operates globally through over 155 offices and handles premium placements exceeding $33 billion annually.
Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of The Top 25 Attorneys of North Carolina for 2023.
1. Christopher Jackson
Partner, Allen & Overy
Christopher Jackson is a Partner in the securitization practice of the international capital markets group of Allen & Overy, a global law firm that helps the world’s leading businesses to grow, innovate and thrive. For almost a century, the firm has built a reputation for its commitment to think ahead and bring original solutions to their clients’ most complex legal and commercial challenges.
Notably, Jackson has extensive experience advising underwriters, issuers, fund managers and investors in: collateralized loan obligation transactions, debt fund financing facilities, and bespoke debt investment products. Before joining Allen & Overy, Jackson was an associate at Ashurst LLP. Before that, he served as an associate at Mayer Brown LLP. Earlier in his career, Jackson worked with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP as an associate. He graduated from Cornell Law School with a JD in law and from Cornell University with an undergraduate degree in political science and government.
2. Scott Stengel
General Counsel, Ally
Scott Stengel was named General Counsel of Ally Financial in May 2016. Ally is a financial services company that works with the nation's largest all-digital bank; and an industry-leading auto financing business. The firm is driven by a mission to "Do It Right" and be a relentless ally for customers and communities. In his current role, Stengel oversees all of Ally’s legal affairs and is also responsible for Ally’s corporate-secretarial and government-relations functions.
Stengel joined Ally from Kansas City, Mo.-based UMB Financial Corporation, where he served as executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary. Before that, he was a partner at King & Spalding LLP and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in Washington, DC, with a practice focused on banking, capital markets, and government relations. He began his career as a law clerk to the Honorable Douglas O. Tice, Jr. in Richmond, Va. Stengel received a bachelor’s in economics, with highest honors, from the University of Notre Dame and a JD, magna cum laude, from the Notre Dame Law School. In addition, he sits on the board of directors of MadaKids Inc. and actively supports and volunteers with Roof Above in Charlotte, NC.
3. Glenn Kunkes
Partner, Mayer Brown
Glenn Kunkes is a Banking & Finance Partner at Mayer Brown LLP, which is a global services provider comprising associated legal practices that are separate entities. This includes: Mayer Brown LLP (Illinois, USA), Mayer Brown International LLP (England & Wales), Mayer Brown (a Hong Kong partnership) and Tauil & Chequer Advogados (a Brazilian law partnership) and non-legal service providers, which provide consultancy services (collectively, the “Mayer Brown Practices”). Notably, a broad range of financial institutions turn to Kunkes for representation in the structuring and negotiation of an extensive variety of structured finance asset products.
With billions of dollars of structured finance experience, Kunkes regularly counsels asset managers in broadly syndicated collateral loan obligation (CLO) transactions; as well as domestic and international banks in “bank-funded” CLOs and other related middle market lending facilities serviced by market-leading asset managers. He also advises underwriters, sponsors, insurance companies and other finance companies in warehouses and securitizations involving consumer loans; buy now, pay later loans; student loans (both FFELP and private); and solar loans. Kunkes received his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law and his AB in Psychology, summa cum laude, from Washington University in St. Louis, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
4. Donna Hargrove
General Counsel, Amwins Group
Since 2008, Donna Hargrove has served as General Counsel of Amwins and is responsible for identifying and managing all legal risks of the company. Amwins is among the largest independent wholesale distributors of specialty insurance products in the U.S. dedicated to serving retail insurance agents by providing property and casualty products, specialty group benefit products, and administrative services. Based in Charlotte, the company operates through more than 155 offices globally and handles premium placements in excess of $33 billion annually. Hargrove advises executive leadership and the Board of Directors on a range of business issues, including corporate governance, risk management and regulatory compliance.
Prior to joining Amwins, Hargrove served as corporate in-house counsel for BB&T Insurance Services, Inc. Earlier in her career, she served in private practice with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC, concentrating in mergers & acquisitions and general corporate matters. A noted expert in her field, Hargrove has been recognized as an “Outstanding Woman in Re/Insurance” by Intelligent Insurer magazine, named an "Elite Woman in Insurance" by Insurance Business America magazine, and received a First Chair Award in 2018 for her contributions to the legal community. She holds a BSN from the University of Tennessee and her JD from the University of South Carolina.
5. Alan Stevens
Partner, Winston & Strawn
Alan Stevens began his professional career 16 years ago. Today, he is a Partner at Winston & Strawn, an international law firm with more than 975 attorneys in key financial centers around the world. They bring an understanding of the global and industry-specific legal and business issues their clients face in transactions, disputes, and regulatory/enforcement-related matters. Stevens concentrates his practice on white collar criminal defense, financial services litigation, government investigations, and general commercial litigation. Having practiced in New York at the outset of his career, Stevens is now based in Winston’s Charlotte, N.C. office.
Notably, Stevens has represented national and international clients in civil and criminal matters across numerous industries (financial services, media, consumer products, professional services, medical devices, and manufacturing) and subject matters (consumer protection, securities, labor/employment, fraud, contracts, and tax). Stevens first got his start in 2007 as an associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, his most recent position prior to joining Winston & Strawn. He graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School with a JD and from Davidson College with an undergraduate degree in religious studies.
6. Jim Hedrick
Partner, McGuireWoods
Jim Hedrick is a Partner at McGuireWoods, one of the world’s leading law firms. Notably, Hedrick has 29 years of experience, having began his career in 1994. He focuses his practice on structuring, negotiating, and documenting secured and unsecured domestic and international syndicated credit facilities. He has extensive experience in representing financial institutions in complex syndicated credit financings, including multi-currency and cross-border financings, first lien and second lien financings, and acquisition financings by private equity groups.
During his lengthy career, Hedrick has served as counsel to the administrative agent and lead arranger in syndicated credit facilities ranging in size from $50 million to more than $1 billion extended to companies and institutions in the healthcare, insurance, restaurant, technology, industrial, and other sectors. Before joining McGuireWoods, he was a partner at Winston & Strawn LLP. Earlier in his career, he worked with Kennedy Covington as a partner. Hedrick graduated from Duke University School of Law with a JD and from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an undergraduate degree in political science and government.
7. Angelia Duncan
Managing Partner, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Angelia Duncan is a Managing Partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner’s Charlotte office. Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has over 1,275 lawyers in 30 offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It's a fully integrated global law firm that provides clients with connected legal advice, wherever and whenever they need it. Duncan is a commercial litigator whose practice focuses on a wide range of business and real estate disputes, and the advising of membership organizations. She also represents and advises on matters involving servicers and special servicers. In addition, she regularly litigates claims arising out of business and servicing relationships before state and federal courts across the country.
Duncan has also handled a vast array of property and construction-related disputes throughout Georgia and North Carolina, representing lenders, investors, property owners, and contractors in loan default, eminent domain, foreclosure, and issues related to nonpayment, defective construction and defective design for contractors, design-builders, subcontractors nationwide. She serves as outside counsel to an international membership-based organization with over 80,000 members and advises on a variety of pre-litigation and active litigation matters in that capacity. Duncan graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law with a JD and from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an undergraduate degree in political science and international studies.
8. Bashir Ali
Partner, Barnes & Thornburg
Bashir Ali is a Partner at Barnes & Thornburg. With more than 800 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. Ali provides comprehensive legal counsel on virtually all phases of the patent development process, including analyzing invention disclosures, preparing and filing patent applications, and shepherding the application through the process to approval. In addition to his work in the U.S. patent system, Ali regularly partners with foreign affiliates to prosecute patents throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Notably, Ali has managed patent portfolios for small- to large-sized pharmaceutical and chemical companies involving up to 50 families of cases in more than 20 countries.
Prior to the law, Ali worked as a scientist for a fuel-cell technology start-up and for one of the world’s largest Fortune 500 household products companies. As a result, Ali is able to translate complicated information into straightforward and comprehensive patent applications. Moreover, working in-house gave Ali a multidimensional understanding of the pressures business professionals face on a daily basis when it comes to R&D and budgetary restrictions. Ali graduated from Georgia State University College of Law with a JD, from Georgetown University with a Ph.D. in chemistry and from Somali National University with an undergraduate degree in industrial chemistry.
9. Hayden Harrell
Partner, Katten Muchin Rosenman
Hayden Harrell is a Partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman, a full-service law firm with nearly 700 attorneys in locations across the United States, London and Shanghai. They strive to be a firm of first choice for clients seeking sophisticated, high-value legal services nationally and globally. With "a great knowledge of real estate and lending" and more than 30 years' experience closing real estate deals, Harrell "brings a logical and practical business perspective to the transactions."
Harrell represents lenders, investors and developers in construction, permanent, mezzanine and syndicated loan transactions. He also provides experienced advice in joint venture agreements for both the equity providers and the sponsors. Harrell graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law with a JD and from Wake Forest University with an undergraduate degree.
10. Brandon Asbill
General Counsel, Bandwidth
Brandon Asbill is the General Counsel at Bandwidth (NASDAQ: BAND), a leading global enterprise cloud communications company. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Zoom, Uber and RingCentral use Bandwidth's APIs to easily embed voice, messaging and emergency services into software and applications. Asbill brings more than 20 years of broad legal experience to Bandwidth, including corporate governance, securities matters, complex negotiations, data privacy and security, compliance and intellectual property portfolio management. Most recently, he spent 12 years with Red Hat, where he served as Vice President & Assistant General Counsel.
During Asbill's time at Red Hat, he led teams that completed over 20 acquisitions with an aggregate value of more than $1.5 billion and led key aspects of IBM's $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat, then the largest software acquisition in history. Asbill also oversaw the global implementation of Red Hat's GDPR compliance efforts, which spanned almost 20 business functions across the company. Before his tenure at Red Hat, Asbill spent seven years with GE Energy advising senior leaders on acquisitions, divestitures and other strategic corporate transactions. Asbill obtained his undergraduate degree in history from Princeton University and his JD from the University of Georgia School of Law.
11. David Klass
Partner, Fisher Phillips
David Klass is a Partner in the Fisher Phillips’ Charlotte office. Klass' practice encompasses representing employers in a variety of employment matters in state and federal courts – as well as matters prosecuted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Notably, Klass has been quoted in SHRM, EHS Today, Bloomberg, and other national publications regarding topics ranging from wage and hour issues to workplace safety.
Client service and responsiveness are Klass’ top priorities. He knows that when a client calls for legal advice, the matter is serious and often urgent. Klass prides himself on knowing his clients’ businesses and providing efficient and timely responses to their legal needs. He graduated from Washington and Lee University School of Law with a JD in law and from Cornell University with an undergraduate degree in government.
12. Emily Chiarizia
General Counsel, Armstrong Transport Group
Emily Chiarizia has been with Armstrong since 2018. As General Counsel, Chiarizia is responsible for litigation management, internal policy development, compliance, risk management, contract negotiation, and the resolution of commercial cargo matters for Armstrong's 130+ agency offices. Armstrong Transport Group provides logistics solutions for an evolving marketplace. With a multi-modal carrier network, logistics experts, and reliable customer service, Armstrong is your one-stop-shop for logistics, regardless of location or capacity.
Previously, Chiarizia was an attorney at Franklin & Prokopik, PC. Before that, she served as an attorney at The Steve Peroutka Law Group. Earlier in her career, she worked with Altmark, Rotter, Saff & Trock, LLP as a law clerk. Chiarizia earned a JD in law from the University of Baltimore School of Law and an undergraduate degree in public and community health and organic chemistry from the University of Maryland.
13. James Forrest
Managing Partner, Michael Best & Friedrich
James Forrest is a Managing Partner at Michael Best & Friedrich, a leading law firm that provides a full range of legal services to clients on a global, regional, and local basis. The firm has more than 400 legal professionals, including nearly 300 attorneys, serving clients in 17 offices across the U.S. in Colorado; Illinois; North Carolina; Texas; Utah; Washington, D.C.; and Wisconsin. Forrest is a trusted M&A advisor and corporate counsel to companies, entrepreneurs, C-level executives, faith-based organizations, and non-profits around the country. He routinely works with executives to manage annual legal budgets, develop risk management strategies, and proactively implement legal initiatives.
Prior to joining Michael Best in 2022, Forrest worked for two leading corporate firms before founding Forrest Firm in 2011. Under Forrest’s leadership, Forrest Firm grew to seven offices across North Carolina, 50+ team members, and served thousands of clients. In 2022, Forrest Firm combined with Michael Best in order to meet the needs of the firm's growing client base. Forrest has received numerous awards, including being named North Carolina’s Legal Elite by Business North Carolina Magazine, as well as a Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers Magazine. Forrest graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a JD and an undergraduate degree.
14. Scott Lewis
Partner, Butler Snow
Scott Lewis is a Partner at Butler Snow, a team of talented legal professionals who share a commitment to serve clients – from Fortune 1000 firms to emerging-technology start-ups. Surveys by respected national consultants consistently rank Butler Snow among the best nationwide in client service – in anticipating needs, in a commitment to help, in providing value, and in client satisfaction. Notably, Lewis is an active trial lawyer, with over 100 cases tried to verdict in both state and federal courts. He is also a member of his firm's Commercial Litigation Practice Group, focusing on Insurance Bad Faith, Professional Liability, Municipal & School Liability and Construction Litigation.
Lewis has extensive experience managing and serving as trial counsel for a broad range of complex civil litigation, including extra-contractual litigation, business and commercial litigation, construction litigation, products liability, long term care and skilled nursing facility, professional malpractice, maritime and admiralty, community association law, and trucking and transportation cases. Lewis graduated from Wake Forest University with a JD and from the University of North Carolina with an undergraduate degree.
15. Miranda Zolot
General Counsel, Oyster®
With over 20 years of experience as an in-house legal counsel, Miranda Zolot is a seasoned leader and a legal creative who loves helping people and businesses succeed. As the General Counsel at Oyster, Zolot is an International Legal Design Expert, certified by Legal Creatives, and a charter member of TechGC, a peer community for General Counsels. Oyster's mission is to create a more equal world by making it possible for companies everywhere to hire people anywhere. They believe it should be easy for any company to hire any person, no matter where they are located in the world.
Zolot is building a legal framework for making cross-border employment easier, supporting global expansion for businesses, and helping to bring remote work to talented people everywhere. She leverages her expertise in employment law, litigation, information risk management, and legal operations to deliver forward-thinking, business-minded solutions that produce sustainable results. Zolot is a strategic business partner and adviser to the senior management team, and a hands-on leader of a diverse and collaborative legal team. Zolot graduated from Duke University School of Law with a JD and from Boston University with an undergraduate degree in international relations.
16. Aaron Lang
Partner, Brown Rudnick
Aaron Lang is a Partner in the Brown Rudnick’s Litigation & Arbitration Practice Group and practice group leader of the Crisis Management Litigation & Government Response Practice Group. Lang’s sweet spot is civil litigation: he has handled multibillion-dollar and high-profile securities, M&A, and corporate governance litigation; consumer-protection class actions; RICO litigation; competition cases; and other complex commercial disputes. Prior to joining Brown Rudnick, Lang was a special counsel at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. Lang graduated from Duke University School of Law with a JD and from Harvard University with an undergraduate degree.
Notably, Brown Rudnick is an international law firm that serves clients around the world from offices in key financial centers in the United States and the United Kingdom. They combine ingenuity with experience to achieve great outcomes for their clients in high-stakes litigation and complex business transactions. They deliver partner-driven service; they incentivize their lawyers to collaborate in the client’s best interest; and they put excellence before scale, focusing on industry-driven, client-facing practices where they are recognized leaders.
17. Katie Zimmerman
Partner, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice
Katie Zimmerman is a Partner at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, a transatlantic law firm with more than 1,000 lawyers based in 32 UK and US office locations. The firm provides core legal services including Commercial, Corporate, Employment, Pensions, Dispute Resolution, Litigation, Finance, Banking, Restructuring, Insolvency, IP, Technology and Data, Private Wealth, Projects, Construction and Infrastructure, Real Estate, and Regulatory Law. Zimmerman is a litigation attorney who focuses on product liability cases.
She defends clients in a diverse range of state and federal individual and multi-district lawsuits. Zimmerman has represented clients in the tobacco, heating and cooling, chemical, and medical industries. Her experience covers all aspects of discovery and trial preparation, including discovery, motion practice, depositions and trial. Before joining Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, Zimmerman was an associate at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice LLP. She graduated from New York University School of Law with a JD and from Duke University with an undergraduate degree in political science.
18. Marcus Liner
General Counsel, One
As General Counsel for One Inc., Marcus Liner has been practicing law for more than 20 years, with over 17 years in senior in-house counsel roles for top-tier payments companies. One Inc. is modernizing the insurance industry through a unified and frictionless payment network. Focusing only on the insurance industry, One Inc helps 260+ carriers transform their operations by reducing costs, increasing security, and optimizing customer experience. In his current position, Liner is responsible for overseeing all legal areas of the company, including client, technology, and business negotiations and agreements, litigation, and intellectual property.
Previously, Liner was Deputy General Counsel at Bank of America Merchant Services (BAMS), where he led legal support for key strategic initiatives and BAMS’s international business, and he negotiated commercial transactions for some of the company’s largest and most complicated clients and partners. Prior to BAMS, Liner was Division General Counsel at Global Payments, where he was based in Hong Kong and responsible for all legal affairs of its Asia-Pacific business. He also supported treasury management, payment systems, and commercial deposits at Wells Fargo Bank. Liner earned both his undergraduate and law degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
19. Bob Hull
Partner, Nexsen Pruet
Bob Hull has more than 40 years of experience counseling clients on issues ranging from general business matters to intricate real estate and corporate, acquisitions, dispositions and financings. Hull currently serves as a Partner at Nexsen Pruet, a multi-specialty business law firm with more than 190 attorneys and offices in Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh, NC – as well as Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach, SC. The firm offers significant advantages to clients in terms of outstanding individual lawyers, a depth of talent, and extensive experience in many areas.
Hull has assisted many corporate clients in handling various business matters, negotiating contracts, and carrying out business transactions of all types. He has advised clients on company formation matters, ongoing management and ownership issues, and merger and acquisition transactions. Hull has also advised clients on business succession and other estate planning matters. He graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law with a JD and from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with an undergraduate degree in political science.
20. Steve Berreth
General Counsel, Cibus Global
Steve Berreth is the General Counsel at Cibus Global. Cibus is a leading agricultural technology company in the multi-billion-dollar plant seed industry. Cibus is a leader in the new era of high throughput gene editing technology that can develop plant traits precisely and predictably at a fraction of the time and cost of conventional breeding. Cibus is not a seed company. It is a technology company that develops and licenses traits to seed companies in exchange for royalties on seed sales.
Berreth was previously Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for Syngenta Crop Protection LLC, the North American Subsidiary of Syngenta AG, one of the world’s largest biotechnology agribusinesses – and one of the largest crop protection chemical and seed businesses in the world. He was a member of the Syngenta global legal and compliance leadership teams and led the North American legal and licensing teams responsible for the global licensing of Syngenta’s biotechnology traits. Berreth is a graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law and holds a BS and MS in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University.
21. Brad Roehrenbeck
General Counsel and Vice President of Legal Services & Compliance, MedCost
Brad Roehrenbeck is the General Counsel and Vice President of Legal Services & Compliance at MedCost, an integrated benefits solutions company offering customized programs to help employers lower their health plan costs and provide more affordable benefits for their employees. Roehrenbeck is responsible for providing general legal counsel to all of MedCost’s business units and overseeing matters relating to corporate, legal, and regulatory compliance. He regularly advises the company on a broad array of evolving legal issues including the Affordable Care Act, ERISA, HIPAA, state insurance laws, and other regulatory matters.
MedCost, headquartered in Winston-Salem, is jointly owned by North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Carolinas Healthcare System. Prior to joining MedCost, Roehrenbeck practiced commercial litigation in the Winston-Salem office of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton. Before that, he clerked for the Honorable Ben F. Tennille, Chief Judge of the North Carolina Business Court. In addition to his law degree, he obtained his BA in music from Wake Forest.
22. Nathan White
Partner, Taylor English Duma
Nathan White is a Partner in Taylor English’s Commercial Litigation Department and the Construction/Environment/Real Estate Litigation Practice Group. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, White focuses his practice on complex business litigation in North and South Carolina. Taylor English Duma LLP is a full-service law firm headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Built from the ground up to provide highest-quality legal services for optimal value, the firm combines the best aspects of a traditional law firm with seasoned attorneys managing their practices throughout the United States. White has tried more than 50 jury cases to verdict, including jury trials in both North and South Carolina, and has argued numerous cases on appeal.
White began his private practice career as an associate with a Charlotte-based Am Law 200 firm. He started his legal career as an active-duty Air Force military attorney for 10 years. After starting in private practice with Charlotte’s largest law firm, he has continued his military service as a Reservist. He is a Lieutenant Colonel & currently serves as the General Counsel for the 315th Airlift Wing in Charleston, South Carolina, a 2,200 airmen-strong unit tasked with providing worldwide strategic airlift in support of a variety of military missions. White graduated from Mercer University with a JD, from The George Washington University with an LLM in litigation and dispute litigation and from the University of South Carolina with an undergraduate degree.
23. Lee Reeves
General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Itafos
Lee Reeves is the General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at Itafos. The company is a phosphate and specialty fertilizer company. Itafos is a Delaware corporation with shares that trade on the TSX Venture Exchange (“TSX-V”) under the ticker symbol “IFOS”. Reeves has over 25 years of experience in corporate law, securities, governance, compliance, investor relations and business strategy. During his career, he has designed, built and managed the legal and compliance functions for NYSE-listed companies, led the global expansion for a Fortune 30 retail company, negotiated international joint venture agreements and supervised global sourcing operations.
Before joining Itafos, Reeves founded MLR Consulting, LLC where he provided business and legal consulting services. Reeves also previously served as General Counsel for Market America and Chief Legal Officer for LL Flooring, Inc. Prior to these roles, he was a top legal officer with Lowe’s Companies, Inc. where he led the corporate, compliance, technology, intellectual property, real estate and securities functions. Before moving in-house, Reeves worked at international law firms in New York, NY and Atlanta, GA. Reeves holds a JD and a bachelors of business administration from Southern Methodist University; and also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
24. Erika Eisenoff
Partner, Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo
Erika Eisenoff is a Partner in the Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo’s Charlotte office. They have partnered with businesses of all sizes throughout the Carolinas for over 65 years and have become one of the region’s premier law firms for conflict and litigation prevention, management, and resolution. With over 100 attorneys in Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington, and Asheville, North Carolina, and Columbia, South Carolina, they are well equipped to effectively and efficiently respond to their client’s needs. Eisenoff’s practice focuses primarily in the area of workers’ compensation. She represents employers and insurance carriers before the North Carolina Industrial Commission, and throughout all stages of litigation.
Prior to joining Hedrick Gardner, Eisenoff served as a law clerk for three different judges at the North Carolina Court of Appeals. This experience gives Eisenoff a unique perspective when defending clients. While attending law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Eisenoff served as a staff writer for the First Amendment Law Review. Her article, “Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil? A Re-Examination of Public Employee Free Speech Rights”, was published in the First Amendment Law Review Journal. Eisenoff graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a JD and an undergraduate degree.
25. Charles Yeh
Partner, Patterson + Sheridan
Charles Yeh is a Partner at Patterson + Sheridan. As a nationally recognized full-service intellectual property and technology law firm, Patterson + Sheridan provides comprehensive legal services for some of the world’s largest, most innovative brands. Yeh is a full-service patent attorney who truly understands the complete lifecycle of a patent. In addition to personally preparing and prosecuting over 400 patent applications, he has served as counsel on multiple multimillion-dollar patent litigations in federal district court, prepared numerous IP transfer and license agreements, briefed multiple inter partes review proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and prepared non-infringement and invalidity opinions.
Before practicing law, Yeh was a software engineer at MicroStrategy, where he oversaw the company’s central server technology. He was one of the fastest and youngest to ever be promoted to the company’s Senior Engineer ranks. He is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. Yeh holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University and his JD from the Duke University School of Law.
