He co-chairs the firm’s Diversity Committee, and is a member of its firmwide Associates Committee and Screening Committee.  He is a former member of the firm's Executive Committee.

Relevant Experience

• Served as national coordinating counsel for litigation and labor and employment matters for a multibillion dollar manufacturing and distribution company with national and international operations.
• Represented a national building products distribution company in federal multi-district products liability litigation involving thousands of property damage and personal injury claims arising from defectively manufactured Chinese drywall.
• Represented a national building products distribution company in the North Carolina Business Court against claims from a major competitor that tortious interference with noncompetition agreements, employee raiding, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and misappropriation of trade secrets put it out of business in the State of North Carolina.
• Represented major financial institutions in litigation arising from claims of predatory lending, usury, unfair and deceptive trade practices, violation of the Truth in Lending Act, RESPA, FCRA, and other federal and state laws. 
• Defended national companies in hundreds of individual and class action suits throughout the southeast involving negligent design, defective construction, and product liability claims in residential and commercial construction.
• Represented national companies in numerous cases involving race, gender, age, disability, religious, and pregnancy discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, ADA, ADEA, and other federal and state laws.
• Defended a national franchisor in a four-week jury trial involving claims of sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, and negligent hiring and retention.
• Defended a national manufacturing and distribution company in a two-week jury trial involving claims of wrongful discharge and violation of public policy.
• Defended a national supply chain and transportation management solutions company in a two-week jury trial involving claims of wrongful discharge, violation of public policy, and unfair and deceptive trade practices.
• Represented national health insurers in numerous individual suits and class actions involving claims for wrongful denials of employee benefits under ERISA.

• Member, American, National, North Carolina, and Mecklenburg County Bar Associations
• Admitted to practice:  Fourth and Eleventh U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal; all state and federal courts in North Carolina; pro hac vice  admissions in numerous federal and state courts around the country
• Member, American Bar Association Section on Litigation, Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution, Section on Labor and Employment Law, Tort and Insurance Practice Section
• Mecklenburg County Bar, President (2010-2011)
• Mecklenburg County Bar, President Elect (2009-2010)
• Mecklenburg County Bar, Vice-President (2008-2009)
• Member, Mecklenburg County Bar Board of Directors (2006-2008)
• Co-chair, Mecklenburg County Bar Special Committee on Diversity (2006-2008)
• Member, North Carolina State Bar Ethics Advisory Committee (2010)
• Member, North Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society Committee (2009-2010)
• Board of Directors, North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys (2005-2008)
• Member, Defense Research Institute

• North Carolina Super Lawyers, Business Litigation (2006, 2010)
• Member, United Way of Central Carolinas Ad Hoc Governance Review Panel (2008)
• Member, Leadership Development Initiative Class V (2006-2007)

• J.D., University of South Carolina School of Law, Student Works Editor, South Carolina Law Review, 1986
  
• B.S., University of South Carolina, Accounting, 1982