Another legal industry accolade that comes out each year is the Super Lawyers list, which is a publication of Thomson Reuters. Super Lawyers is a rating service of lawyers across the nation. Peer nominations and evaluations along with third-party research are used to review candidates.
 
CHRISTOPHER K. BEHM
(See Legal Elite profile), Block Crouch Keeter Behm & Sayed
 
NORWOOD P. BLANCHARD III
Category: Super Lawyers-Employment & Labor
Firm: Crossley McIntosh Collier Hanley & Edes
Title: Partner
Education: East Carolina University (B.S.B.A.); Duke University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Blanchard has argued numerous appellate cases at the N.C. Supreme Court, N.C. Court of Appeals and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Areas of focus: Employment, general civil and municipal
 
DANIEL L. BRAWLEY
Category: Super Lawyers-Construction Litigation
Firm: Williams Mullen
Title: Partner
Education: UNC Chapel Hill (A.B. and J.D.)
Career highlights: Brawley was a visiting professor at the law school at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland. “The opportunity to work with law students and professors in a post-Soviet Union environment was educational and rewarding and confirmed my abiding appreciation of the American judicial system,” said Brawley, who also has been voted by his peers into Business North Carolina magazine’s Legal Elite Hall of Fame.
Areas of focus: Litigation, construction and admiralty
 
ALGERNON L. BUTLER III
(See Legal Elite profile), Butler & Butler
 
AULEY M. CROUCH III
(See Legal Elite profile), Block Crouch Keeter Behm & Sayed
 
G. STEPHEN DIAB
(See Legal Elite profile), Murchison Taylor & Gibson
 
DON T. EVANS JR.
Category: Super Lawyers-Transportation/Maritime
Firm: Clark Newton & Evans
Title: Managing partner
Education: UNC; Campbell Law School; Naval Justice School
Career highlights: Focusing on land and sea transactions and incidents, Evans is a retired Navy JAG officer. While his firm conducts a general practice of law, it has unique capabilities in real estate, maritime law, business transactions and wills/estates, Evans said. One of the few proctors in admiralty in the state, he represents 12 of the 13 largest marine insurers in the world, said Evans, who also belongs to the Real Property Section of the N.C. Bar.
Areas of focus: Business transactions, maritime law, real estate, wills
 
JANET L. GEMMELL
(See Legal Elite profile), Cape Fear Family Law
 
KATHLEEN SHANNON GLANCY
Category: Super Lawyers-Workers’ Compensation
Firm: Law Offices of Kathleen Shannon Glancy
Title: Founding attorney
Education: University of California, Irvine (B.A.); Santa Clara University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Glancy served five years as staff and managing attorney at Legal Services in Fremont, Ohio, and in Wilmington. In 1985, she founded her own law firm. She is an active leader in the N.C. Advocates for Justice’s Workers’ Compensation Section and Workplace Injury Litigation Group as well as the Labor and Employment Section of the ABA.
Areas of focus: Board-certified workers’ compensation specialist; social security disability
 
MARK H. HAMLET
(See Legal Elite profile), Hamlet & Associates
 
HENRY L. KITCHIN JR.
(See Legal Elite profile), McGuireWoods
 
PAULA A. KOHUT
Category: Super Lawyers-Estate Planning and Probate
Firm: Kohut PLLC
Title: Sole member
Education: University of California, Irvine (B.A.); Wake Forest University (J.D.)
Career highlights: “Representing individuals and small businesses in North Carolina for over 30 years continues to be a wonderful career. It is an incredible privilege when individuals, business owners and colleagues bring me in as a trusted advisor to assist in designing and implementing estate and succession plans, as well as assistance with new and existing businesses,” Kohut said.
Areas of focus: Trust and estate planning and administration, and business law
 
JAMES W. LEA III
Category: Super Lawyer-Family Law
Firm: The Lea/Schultz Law Firm
Title: Attorney
Education: UNC Chapel Hill; Campbell University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Lea has practiced in family law for the past 32 years. He serves on the N.C. State Bar’s Family Council, a selected group of family lawyers that sets policy and recommends changes to family law on behalf of the N.C. State Bar. His firm was listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s Best Law Firms in family law, tier one.
Areas of focus: Family law
 
MICHAEL V. LEE
(See Legal Elite profile), Lee Law Firm
 
ERICA LEWIS
Category: Super Lawyers-Workers’ Compensation
Firm: Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo
Title: Office managing partner
Education: University of California, Davis (B.S.); Wake Forest University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Lewis founded the Wilmington office of Hedrick Gardner. Under her leadership as office managing partner, the practice has grown and continues to be one of the largest law firms in Wilmington. She holds an AV rating with Martindale Hubbell and was most recently recognized in the 2014 listing in The Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers.
Areas of focus: Practice focuses on workers’ compensation, appellate advocacy and employment law
 
JEAN SUTTON MARTIN  (See Legal Elite profile), Law Office of Jean Sutton Martin
 
JOHN D. MARTIN
Category: Super Lawyers-Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Defense
Firm: Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog LLP
Title: Managing partner, Wilmington office
Education: Wake Forest University (B.A.); Campbell University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Martin has successfully tried numerous medical malpractice and personal injury cases throughout North Carolina. Many of his cases involve brain injury, birth trauma, paraplegia and wrongful death. Martin also has experience with large construction litigation, premises liability and hospital/workplace security. He has appeared before the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court and the N.C. Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.
Areas of focus: Medical malpractice, personal injury and construction
 
ANDREW K. MCVEY
Category: Super Lawyers-Employment & Labor
Firm: Murchison Taylor & Gibson
Title: Member
Education: Wake Forest University (B.A. and J.D.)
Career highlights: McVey was nominated to Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite in 2013 and 2014. He has been certified as a Superior Court mediator since 2000 and is a member of the N.C. Bar Association Labor & Employment Law Section Council, 2009-present. He is a recipient of the 2013 Addison Hewlett Jr. Award for Pro Bono Service.
Areas of focus: Litigation, mediation, employment and homeowners’ association representation
 
KATHERINE LEWIS PARKER
Category: Super Lawyers-Employment; Employment Litigation: Plaintiff
Firm: Tin Fulton Walker & Owen
Title: Partner
Education: University of Georgia (B.A. and J.D.)
Career highlights: She received 2014 N.C. Lawyers Weekly “Women of Justice” Award, 2014 National Law Journal’s “Two Steps Forward in the Carolinas” Award, Norman B. Smith Award, ACLU of North Carolina (2013), Ebbie Award, N.C. Advocates for Justice (2012), UGA’s inaugural class of “40 Under 40” (2011) and is current commissioner on the N.C. Indigent Defense Commission, Legal Committee member for ACLU of North Carolina, board member and past president of Coastal Women Attorneys and former board member for NCAJ, NC PLS and NCAWA.
Areas of focus: Civil rights and constitutional law, criminal defense, employment and labor
 
W. JAMES PAYNE
Category: Super Lawyers-Criminal Defense: White Collar
Firm: W. James Payne Law Firm
Title: Attorney at law
Education: Campbell Law School (J.D.)
Career highlights: A retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel, Payne has defended over 30 felony jury trials on the state and federal level and defended over 20 persons charged with death penalty first-degree murder. He is a member of the White Collar Committee for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and member of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section. Payne is chairman of the Commission on Indigent Defense Services for North Carolina.
Areas of focus: White-collar crime, capital murder, military law-court martials
 
MICHAEL R. RAMOS
Category: Super Lawyers-Criminal Defense
Firm: Ramos Law Office
Title: Owner, attorney at law
Education: UGA, UNC-Pembroke; Campbell Law School (J.D.)
Career highlights: Ramos has practiced criminal defense law in Brunswick and surrounding North Carolina counties for 30 years plus, both in state and federal court. He carries a preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell. He was certified as a specialist in state and federal criminal law by the N.C. State Bar Board of Legal Specialization in 1997 and is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He served honorably in the U.S. Army with the 82nd Airborne Division from 1972 to 1975.
Areas of focus: Criminal defense
 
JOEL R. RHINE
(See Legal Elite profile), Rhine Law Firm
 
LINDA B. SAYED
(See Legal Elite profile), Block Crouch Keeter Behm & Sayed

GARY K. SHIPMAN
Category: Super Lawyers-Personal Injury General: Plaintiff
Firm: Shipman & Wright
Title: Partner
Education: UNCW (B.A.); Campbell University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Shipman has been practicing since 1980. He has handled more than 100 jury trials to verdict during his career.
Areas of focus: Complex civil
 
R. CLARKE SPEAKS
Category: Super Lawyers-Personal Injury General: Plaintiff
Firm: Speaks Law Firm
Title: Attorney
Education: East Carolina University (B.S.); Campbell (J.D.)
Career highlights: Speaks is the founder of his law firm. “We aggressively pursue the legal objectives of our clients. Speaks said the firm represents individuals and corporations in state and federal court at all levels of the civil and criminal process.
Areas of focus: Personal injury
 
RYAL W. TAYLOE
Category: Super Lawyers-Construction Litigation
Firm: Ward and Smith
Title: Attorney
Education: UNC Chapel Hill (A.B.); Wake Forest University (J.D.)
Career highlights: “Highs and lows occur every day in the wide world of litigation and dispute resolution. A typical highlight for me is leading a client to a resolution that makes the most sense, whether it be an early settlement or courtroom trial,” Tayloe said.
Areas of focus: Contract and lease disputes, eminent domain and construction

Attorneys named to Super Lawyers - Rising Stars

A number of local attorneys also were named to Super Lawyers’ Rising Stars list this year. To be eligible for the Rising Stars category, candidates have to be either 40 or younger or in practice for 10 years or less.

SETH P. BUSKIRK
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Transportation/Maritime
Firm: Clark, Newton and Evans
Title: Lawyer
Education: Appalachian State (B.S.); Campbell University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Buskirk has represented clients in numerous maritime and inland transportation matters including: vessel collisions, fixed structure and cargo damage, personal injuries, wrongful death, limitation of liability actions, vessel arrest and sale, towing and salvage, charter party disputes and shipboard investigations on behalf of protection and indemnity clubs.
Areas of focus: Maritime and transportation law
 
ERIN COLLINS
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Civil Litigation: Defense
Firm: Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo
Title: Special counsel
Education: NCSU (B.A.s); Campbell University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Collins is chairwoman of the legislative committee for the National Alliance of Medicare Set-Aside Professionals (NAMSAP), former chairwoman of the N.C. Association of Defense Attorneys Young Lawyers Group, and member of the N.C. State Bar, Defense Research Institute and the National Retail & Restaurant Defense Association’s workers’ compensation group. She writes and presents on Medicare Secondary Payer compliance topics and co-authored two Medicare compliance articles.
Areas of focus: Civil litigation, workers’ compensation and Medicare Secondary Payer compliance
 
EDWARD “TRIP” JAMES COYNE
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Business Litigation
Firm: Williams Mullen
Title: Attorney
Education: Wake Forest University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Coyne served for two terms as law clerk to the N.C. Business Court.
Areas of focus: Business law and litigation
 
JUSTIN K. HUMPHRIES 
(See Legal Elite profile), Humphries & King
 
SAM B. FRANCK
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Professional Liability: Defense
Firm: Ward and Smith
Title: Attorney
Education: Virginia Tech (B.S.); College of William and Mary (J.D.)
Career highlights: “I value every opportunity to help clients resolve problems, particularly those that benefit from creative thinking and practical diligence,” Franck said. “Some examples include the negotiation and consummation of sophisticated multiple party transactions; the development of condominiums for mixed-use, ... and facilitating cooperative solutions for owners’ associations.”
Areas of focus: Board-certified specialist in real property law-commercial transactions; condominium and planned community development
 
MELODY J. JOLLY
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Professional Liability: Defense
Firm: Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog
Title: Partner
Education: UNC Chapel Hill (B.A. and J.D.)
Career highlights: Jolly has successfully litigated cases at the trial court level as well as before the N.C. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She also devotes considerable time to counseling professionals on their ethical obligations and with regard to potential malpractice claims in an effort to help her clients avoid lawsuits. She is an active participant in the Defense Research Institute,  and she is vice chairwoman of the firm’s professional liability practice group.
Areas of focus: Professional liability defense and construction
 
REBECCA A. (SCHERRER) KNUDSON
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Construction Litigation
Firm: Hamlet & Associates
Title: Attorney
Education: UNCW (B.A.); Northeastern University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Knudson has litigated cases before the trial court and the N.C. Court of Appeals and has successfully defended her clients against claims of wrongful death, breach of contract and unfair and deceptive trade practices. She is currently vice president of the New Hanover County Bar Association
Areas of focus: Construction, litigation and business
 
AMANDA B. MASON
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Family Law
Firm: Mason & Rutherford
Title: Partner
Education: University of Arizona College of Law (J.D.)
Career highlights: “For over a decade, Amanda has provided aggressive and thorough representation of her clients in both state and federal courts. Amanda fights for her clients’ rights and gets families through the process so that they can heal and move on to better days,” the firm stated.
Areas of focus: Divorce, separation and child custody
 
JAMES TIMOTHY MOORE
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Personal Injury General: Plaintiff
Firm: Shipman & Wright
Title: Associate attorney
Education: UNCW (B.S.); Campbell University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Named to The National Trial Lawyers: Top 40 under 40 and National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys Top 10 Attorneys under the age of 40 in North Carolina; certified contract adviser for the NFL
Areas of focus: Wrongful death, personal injury litigation, construction litigation and mass torts
 
ANDREW NETTLEMAN
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Criminal Defense
Firm: The Nettleman Law Firm
Title: Managing attorney      
Education: UNC Chapel Hill (B.A.); Elon University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Nettleman has practiced law in Wilmington since 2010, when he opened The Nettleman Law Firm with his wife. Since that time he has practiced primarily in criminal defense, taking many cases to trial in that time.
Areas of focus: State and federal criminal defense, DWI, drug offenses, violent crime, sexual offenses
 
WILLIAM A. ODEN III
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Employment & Labor
Firm: Ward and Smith
Title: Attorney
Education: UNC Chapel Hill (B.A.); Campbell University (J.D. and M.B.A.)
Career highlights: A former president of the New Hanover County Bar Association and Lower Cape Fear HR Association, Oden currently serves on NCSHRM’s Leadership Council.  Oden also was appointed this year to serve as a founding member of the Campbell Law Alumni Association's inaugural board of directors. He is certified as a manager of environmental safety and health programs.
Areas of focus: Employment law, employment litigation, occupational safety and health and workers’ compensation
 
JAMES F. RUTHERFORD
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Criminal Defense
Firm: Mason & Rutherford
Title: Partner
Education: UNCW (B.S.); Michigan State University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Rutherford practices law in state and federal courts. He said being certified by the State Bar as a specialist in criminal law as well as being named a Rising Star have been his greatest professional honors so far.
Areas of focus: Certified specialist in criminal law
 
FAISON GIBSON SUTTON
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Real Estate
Firm: Murchison, Taylor & Gibson                                                   
Title: Member (partner
Education: Duke University (B.A.); UNC Chapel Hill (J.D.)
Career highlights: Sutton advises real estate developers in the acquisition, development, subdivision, zoning, leasing and sale of real property and assists with the formation and management of residential planned communities, commercial and residential condominiums, timeshare and fractional interest projects, shopping center facilities, office complexes and mixed-use developments. 
Areas of focus: Commercial real estate and development and agribusiness
 
HELEN L. TAROKIC
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Immigration Law
Firm: Helen Tarokic Law
Title: Attorney, manager
Education: Lake Forest College (B.A.); Wake Forest University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Tarokic is one of two N.C. board-certified immigration specialists in Wilmington, obtaining humanitarian visas for victims of domestic violence and other crimes, as well as for juveniles who have been abused, abandoned or neglected.  She was voted a Top Young Attorney in North Carolina Rising Stars in 2012, 2013 and 2015. She is an active member of AILA, the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Areas of focus: N.C. board-certified immigration law specialist
 
BENTON L. TOUPS
(See Legal Elite profile), Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog
 
ALLEN N. TRASK III
(See Legal Elite profile), Ward and Smith
 
THOMAS G. VARNUM 
(See Legal Elite profile), Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard
 
BRETT T. WENTZ
Category: Super Lawyers/Rising Stars-Criminal Defense
Firm: Wentz Law
Title: Founder 
Education: East Carolina University (B.A.); Campbell University (J.D.)
Career highlights: Wentz is the founder of his law firm. “I started doing this to help people, and having the ability to do that on my own is one of the highlights,” he said.
Areas of focus: Criminal defense

To see who was named to Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite list this year, click here.