(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — Eight attorneys from Parker Poe were recently named "Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers® 2015 (Copyright 2014 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, SC). Only one lawyer in each practice area is named “Lawyer of the Year" within a designated market.
The following individuals were named 2014 "Lawyer of the Year" recipients from Parker Poe:
• Catharine Biggs Arrowood (Raleigh: Arbitration)
• Chip Holmes (Charlotte: Insurance Law)
• John F. Graybeal (Raleigh: Antitrust Law)
• Keith M. Weddington (Charlotte: Litigation – Labor and Employment)
• Kevin A. Dunlap (Greenville: Litigation – Environmental)
• Robert W. Spearman (Raleigh: Litigation – First Amendment)
• Thomas N. Griffin III (Charlotte: Environmental Law)
• W. Samuel Woodard (Charlotte: Litigation – Real Estate)
Ms. Arrowood litigates and arbitrates for both large and small businesses and has considerable experience with regulated companies. She focuses on resolving problems that threaten the viability of a business. Her clients have included educational institutions, utilities, insurance companies, accounting and law firms, health care and biotech firms, banks and commercial aerospace companies. Additionally, Ms. Arrowood was recently elected president of the North Carolina Bar Association.
Mr. Holmes practices in the areas of personal injury defense, insurance litigation, premises liability litigation and medical malpractice. He has experience in both state and federal courts, as well as in arbitration and mediation.
Since his days as a trial lawyer in the Antitrust Division of the United States Justice Department, Mr. Graybeal's practice has focused primarily in the areas of antitrust and trade regulation, both litigation and counseling.
Mr. Weddington has been representing employers for more than 25 years and has defended Fortune 500 and middle market companies in a broad array of disputes with employees and former employees. He is a go-to attorney for clients’ most sensitive and potentially most high profile employment disputes. Whether the case requires resolute and intensive litigation or delicate negotiations to achieve a favorable resolution, Mr. Weddington provides results-oriented solutions to achieve clients’ objectives.
Mr. Dunlap represents a wide variety of clients, including manufacturing, construction, chemical and engineering companies; as well as public utilities, retailers, landfills and professional service firms. He regularly advises clients on issues including class actions, environmental disputes, unfair trade practices, mass torts, toxic torts, products liability, personal injury, death, property damage, insurance coverage, shareholder disputes, and general commercial disputes.
Mr. Spearman has extensive experience in many areas of civil and commercial litigation. He also practices in areas of public law such as elections law, government procurement and conflict of interest issues. He has handled numerous complex commercial lawsuits for large public companies in North Carolina federal courts, state courts and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In addition, Mr. Spearman is known for his decade-long representation of several of the state’s low-wealth school districts in the matter that became known nationally as Leandro v. State of North Carolina.
Mr. Griffin handles a wide range of environmental matters and concentrates his practice on environmental law and litigation. In addition to general environmental work, he represents and defends environmental engineers and consulting groups with respect to professional obligations and claims arising out of their work. Mr. Griffin serves as the firm’s Chairman of the Board and Managing Partner.
Mr. Woodard has extensive experience in representing large lending institutions in commercial real estate financing transactions, including syndicated lending and in commercial lending transactions. In addition, he has represented a number of major commercial real estate developers and lenders in the development and financing of several large real estate projects. Mr. Woodard also serves as general counsel to a number of the firm's corporate clients.
Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting peer-review surveys in which thousands of lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers.
About Parker Poe
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP has more than 190 lawyers in five offices located in major markets across North Carolina and South Carolina. The Firm provides legal counsel to large commercial and public organizations on litigation, corporate and regulatory matters.