Smith Moore Leatherwood recently added a new member to its team.
 
Matthew Nichols was recently named a partner and member of the law firm’s real estate group in Wilmington. His practice will focus on land use, development and real estate related litigation.
 
Nichols has represented clients in hearings and other proceedings before municipal and county boards on a wide variety of land use, permitting and real estate matters, according to the firm's news release. He currently serves as a council member of the N.C. Bar Association’s Zoning, Planning & Land Use Section and is a former member of the Town of Wrightsville Beach Planning Board.
 
Smith Moore Leatherwood also announced that attorney Jill Peters (at left) was elected to be a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).
 
ACTEC is a professional organization of about 2,600 lawyers nationwide. Membership selection committees and the group’s regents review eligible members before they are admitted.

“Fellows are selected on the basis of experience, professional reputation and ability in the fields of trusts and estates and on the basis of having made substantial contributions to these fields through lecturing, writing, teaching and bar activities,” a news release stated.

“I am honored to be selected as a Fellow by the prestigious American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and look forward to the opportunity to serve the organization,” Peters said in the release.
 
Peters is a member of the Trusts and Estates Team in the firm’s Wilmington office. She assists clients in drafting and executing comprehensive estate plans, with specific emphasis on estate tax, gift tax and charitable gift planning.