Parker Poe

Profile

Debbie Edney works principally with clients in the area of business litigation. Her experience includes managing, trying and arbitrating cases involving trade secret misappropriation, covenants not to compete, tortious interference, breach of fiduciary duty, antitrust claims and unfair competition. Additionally, Ms. Edney works with clients in commercial contract and other general commercial disputes.

Ms. Edney is seasoned in commercial lease disputes, including disputes over boundaries, exclusivity provisions, CAM charges, summary ejectment actions and other commercial real estate litigation issues. Her practice involves federal and state courts, both in North Carolina and throughout the United States, as well as domestic and international arbitration.

Ms. Edney also works on antitrust and trademark infringement cases and other general commercial disputes, including defamation, civil conspiracy and fraud, covering a wide range of industries and has participated from beginning to end in an International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration and one of the only post-merger trials prosecuted by the Federal Trade Commission in recent years.

Before entering law school, Ms. Edney worked as a journalist and public relations consultant in the United States and Canada. While at the University of North Carolina, she was the Note and Comment Editor of the North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation. She is a member of Parker Poe's Pro Bono Committee and devotes considerable time every year to handling pro bono cases, including guardian ad litem appellate work for at-risk children, domestic violence cases and defending against evictions of individuals in need.

Experience Highlights

Ms. Edney has achieved successful results for clients in a wide range of disciplines, including commercial real estate, motorsports, health care, manufacturing, banking and education. Among her recent achievements for clients have been:

• Successfully trying a case to a jury for clients in the motorsports industry for unfair competition, libel per se, tortious interference and other claims resulting in treble damages and an award of attorneys' fees
• Representation of employers in various industries, including health care, aviation, manufacturing and government contracting in lawsuits to enforce to restrain the disclosure of trade secrets and confidential information
• Successfully negotiating settlements in covenant not to compete cases, including obtaining acknowledgements that the covenants in question were valid and enforceable, resulting in "wins" for the client without the expense of litigating through trial
• Representation of shareholders and companies in disputes involving state securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and constructive fraud
• Successfully defending a real estate developer client against a temporary restraining order obtained by a landowner, resulting in a denial of a preliminary injunction permitting the client to move forward with development

News

• More than 50 Parker Poe Attorneys among Business Leader's Top Lawyers
  September 24, 2008
• NC Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Sunbelt Rentals
  October 26, 2005

Events & Speaking Engagements

• Taking the Deposition
  June 19, 2007
  Lorman Education Services
• An Overview of Business Torts
  March 30, 2007
  Mecklenburg County Bar, View from the Bench and Annual Civil Litigation Forum
• Litigation Basics: Pleadings, Process & Discovery
  September 29, 2005
  Mecklenburg County Bar, New Lawyer Orientation
• Business Litigation: Proving Lost Profits
  February 10, 2005
  Mecklenburg County Bar