There were 735 lawyers who made Business North Carolina magazine’s annual Legal Elite list this year. That’s less than 3.5 percent of attorneys in the state who made the cut, and it included 20 lawyers in Wilmington.

To compile the annual list – now in its 12th year – Business North Carolina asks the more than 20,000 active N.C. State Bar members to vote for their recommendations of top lawyers in 14 business-related specialties, from construction to intellectual property law.

Lawyers were not able to vote for themselves. They were allowed to vote for members from their own firms, but they had to vote for another out-of-firm lawyer in the same category. The vote for the out-of-firm lawyer was weighed more heavily.

Here are the local attorneys who made the 2013 list:

 

Adam M. Beaudoin

Category: Legal 

Elite-Business

Firm: Ward and Smith

Title: Attorney

Age: 37

Education: James Madison University (B.A.); University of Richmond (J.D.)

Career highlights: “Gaining clients’ trust, becoming invested in their successes, being a part of their team – those things make my job rewarding and worthwhile. Whether it is helping a franchisor take a local brand and concept national or assisting diverse nonprofit boards in navigating very complicated landscapes, I believe I am helping people succeed while avoiding potential risks,” Beaudoin said.

Areas of focus: Condominiums/community association; corporate, limited liability company and partnership; nonprofit formation and governance issues; and franchise 

 

Christopher K. Behm 

Category: Legal Elite-Construction (Also named to Super Lawyers-Rising Stars)

Firm: Block, Crouch, Keeter, Behm & Sayed

Title: Partner

Age: 40

Education: Guilford College (A.B); Wake Forest University (J.D.)

Career highlights: Behm has been a partner with Block, Crouch, Keeter, Behm & Sayed since 2005. He previously was an associate attorney with Block, Crouch & Keeter and with Howard, Stallings, From & Hutson in Raleigh.

Areas of focus: Civil, commercial, construction, homeowners association (HOA), trust and estates, real estate and personal injury

 

Algernon L. Butler III

Category: Legal Elite-Bankruptcy (Also named to Super Lawyers)

Firm: Butler & Butler

Title: Partner

Age: 44

Education: UNC Chapel Hill (A.B. and J.D.)

Career highlights: Butler is a member of the Bankruptcy Section of the N.C. Bar Association. With the association, he has served several terms as a director and on the program planning committee for its annual bankruptcy institute, among other positions. He serves on the local rules committee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court (EDNC) and is currently its vice chairman. Butler also serves as a Chapter 7 trustee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court (EDNC). 

Areas of focus: Certified by the N.C. State Bar and the American Board of Certification as a specialist in both business and consumer bankruptcy law

 

James Oliver Carter 

Category: Legal Elite-Bankruptcy

Firm: Carter & Carter Attorneys

Title: Partner

Age: 63

Education: Wake Forest University (B.A. and J.D.)

Career highlights: Carter was a bankruptcy trustee in Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 cases from 1975-2000. He served on the panel of Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees for 25 years for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court (EDNC) and as the trustee in Chapter 11 cases.

Area of focus: Bankruptcy

 

Stephen E. Coble

Category: Legal Elite-Litigation

Firm: Coble Law Firm

Title: Attorney, manager

Age: 40

Education: Elon College (B.A.); Appalachian State University (MPA); University of Dayton (J.D.)

Career highlights: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly named Coble an Emerging Legal Leader in 2010. He also was named on the Super Lawyers-Rising Star list in 2012.

Area of focus: General civil litigation

 

Richard P. Cook

Category: Legal Elite-Bankruptcy 

Firm: Cape Fear Debt Relief

Title: Owner, managing attorney

Age: 30

Education: UNC Chapel Hill (B.A. and J.D.)

Career highlights: “Over the past four years, I have helped hundreds of hard working families and small business owners in the Cape Fear region reorganize and regain control of their financial future. By focusing solely on bankruptcy, my clients can be assured that their case will be handled with the utmost attention to detail,” Cook said.

Areas of focus: Consumer and small business bankruptcy

 

Fred B. Davenport Jr.

Category: Legal Elite-Business

Firm: Murchison, Taylor & Gibson

Title: Member (partner)

Age: 61

Education: UNC Chapel Hill (B.A., J.D. and MBA)

Career highlights: Davenport joined Murchison, Taylor & Gibson in 1977, practicing business and corporate law at the firm until 1996 when he left to serve as general counsel for PPD until 2001. He was president of PPD from 2002 to 2006, and returned to Murchison, Taylor & Gibson in 2008.

Areas of focus: Business and corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, life sciences and estate planning

 

Janet L. Gemmell

Category: Legal Elite-Family

Firm: Cape Fear 

Family Law    

Title: Attorney

Age: 37

Education: UNCW (B.A.); Campbell University (J.D.)

Career highlights: Gemmell is a contributing writer and public speaker on divorce law topics for local publications and a national magazine. She also teaches continuing legal education classes for other attorneys throughout the state. 

Areas of focus: Divorce and family law

 

H. Mark Hamlet

Category: Legal Elite-Construction (Also Super Lawyers)

Firm: Hamlet & Associates

Title: Managing Partner

Age: 47

Education: Wake Forest University (B.A.); Campbell University (J.D.)

Career highlights: Hamlet worked for several years with a large, regional firm representing clients from local contractors to Fortune 500 companies. He formed his own firm last year with four associate attorneys. 

Area of focus: Construction 

 

Andrew T. Heath

Category: Legal Elite-Young Guns

Firm: Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo

Title: Attorney

Age: 31

Education: UNC Asheville (B.S.); Indiana University (J.D.)

Career highlights: Heath represents a variety of southeastern North Carolina businesses, primarily before the N.C. Industrial Commission. He serves on the board of directors for the New Hanover County Bar Association Inc. and the Executive Committee for Welcome Home Angel Inc., a Wilmington nonprofit charitable organization. Heath was named one of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly’s Emerging Legal Leaders for 2011.

Areas of focus: Workers’ compensation

 

Henry L. Kitchin Jr.

Category: Legal Elite-Antitrust and Litigation (Also Super Lawyers)

Firm: McGuireWoods

Title: Partner

Age: 42

Education: UNC Chapel Hill (B.A.); 

Wake Forest University (J.D.)

Career highlights: Kitchen concentrates his practice on business litigation and creditor’s rights matters. He represents plaintiffs and defendants in antitrust, business tort and breach of contract cases. He also represents creditors in creditor’s rights and bankruptcy cases and defends lenders in predatory lending and lender liability suits.

Area of focus: Business, financial services and bankruptcy

 

Gilbert “Gib” Laite III

Category: Legal Elite-Construction (Also named to Super Lawyers)

Firm: Williams Mullen

Title: Partner

Age: 55

Education: University of Maine (B.S.); Wake Forest University (J.D.)

Career highlights: Laite graduated with honors from law school at Wake Forest and served two years as a law clerk to the U.S. District Court. He then entered private practice with the Maupin Taylor firm in Raleigh. In the late 1990s, he established the firm’s Wilmington office. Maupin Taylor merged into Williams Mullen in 2006. Laite is AV rate by Martindale Hubbell and listed by Best Lawyers in America in eight categories of practice.

Areas of focus: Business, property, construction and financial sector

 

Michael Lee

Category: Legal Elite-Real Estate (Also Super Lawyers)

Firm: Lee Law Firm

Title: Did not provide

Age: Did not provide

Education: UNC Chapel Hill (B.A.); Wake Forest University (J.D.)

Career highlights: Lee started the Lee Law Firm in 2012. He also has earned Martindale-Hubbell’s top rating; Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite 2007, 2009-2012; North Carolina Super Lawyers 2009-2013; and included in The Best Lawyers in America, 19th edition. Lee also has served as a N.C. DOT board member and N.C. Ports Authority board member.

Areas of focus: Real estate development, finance, land use and zoning

 

David G. Martin 

Category: Legal Elite-Real Estate

Firm: Smith Moore Leatherwood

Title: Partner-in-Charge, Wilmington office

Age: 47 

Education: UNC Chapel Hill (B.A.); Campbell University (J.D.); Boston University (LLM, Taxation)

Career highlights: Martin assists clients with the financing and acquisition of real property, development, commercial leasing and the preparation and negotiation of real estate and loan documentation. He also has experience representing lenders in commercial loan transactions, workouts and foreclosures 

Areas of focus: Commercial real estate transactions, real estate finance and loan workouts and foreclosures

 

Jean Sutton Martin

Category: Legal Elite-Litigation (Also named to Super Lawyers)

Firm: Rhine Law Firm

Title: Partner

Age: 45

Education: Wake Forest University (B.S.); University of South Carolina (M.I.B.S.); Wake Forest University (J.D.)

Career highlights: Martin has a master’s of international business studies and served as the editor-in-chief of the Wake Forest Law Review. Her litigation practice spans from business disputes to product defects and consumer class actions.

Area of focus: Complex civil litigation

 

James W. McGee Jr.

Category: Legal Elite-Criminal (Also named to Super Lawyers-Rising Stars)

Firm: The McGee Law Firm

Title: Owner

Age: 41

Education: UNC Wilmington (B.S.); Campbell University (J.D.)

Career highlights: “I have had the pleasure of assisting a wide variety of criminal defense clients in the greater Wilmington area,” McGee said.

Areas of focus: DWI defense, criminal defense and personal injury

 

Andrew K. McVey

Category: Legal Elite-Litigation

Firm: Murchison, Taylor & Gibson

Title: Managing partner

Age: 45

Education: Wake Forest University (B.A. and J.D.)

Career highlights: McVey successfully defended a bank at 

the trial court and on appeal in litigation alleging breach of fiduciary duty. He also successfully defended an Italian entity in federal trial and appellate litigation, alleging breach of an exclusive franchising agreement. McVey is certified as a Superior Court mediator and received the 2013 Addison Hewlett Jr. Award for Pro Bono service. He also coached the team that finished second 

at the National High School Mock Trial Championship in 2000.  

Areas of focus: Litigation, mediation, employment and homeowners’ association representation

 

Joel R. Rhine

Category: Legal Elite-Construction

Firm: Rhine Law Firm

Title: Attorney

Age: 50

Education: Wake Forest University (J.D.)

Career highlights: Rhine leads Rhine Law Firm’s complex civil litigation team, remaining personally involved in the majority of the firm’s largest and most intricate cases. His litigation practice includes catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases; tractor-trailer and bus accident cases; construction litigation; products liability; corporate disputes; admiralty claims; and insurance disputes. He is also involved in numerous class actions and mass torts throughout the country.

Area of focus: Complex civil

 

Linda B. Sayed

Category: Legal Elite-Family 

Firm: Block, Crouch, Keeter, Behm & Sayed

Title: Partner

Age: 55

Education: UNCW (B.A. and M.Ed.); Campbell University (J.D.)

Career highlights: Sayed has previously been an associate attorney with Block, Crouch, Keeter & Huffman as well as at Ward and Smith. She also is vice president of the 5th Judicial Bar.

Areas of focus: N.C. certified family law specialist

 

John R. Sloan

Category: Legal Elite-Tax/Estate Planning

Firm: Ward and Smith

Title: Attorney

Age: 47

Education: UNC Chapel Hill (A.B. and J.D.)

Career highlights: “I have appreciated thoroughly the opportunity to work with clients in our surrounding communities to develop and implement estate plans to care for their families. This work has involved a broad range of issues, including business succession, gifting strategies, estate tax mitigation, asset protection, trusts to protect spouse and children and other 

critical issues,” Sloan said.

Areas of focus: Board certified specialist in estate planning and probate law

For the local 2013 Super Lawyers list, click here.