Awards and Recognitions:

• Recognized as Best Lawyers in America, Top-Rated Environmental Lawyer, 1996-2021
• Recognized as Best Lawyers in America, Top Environmental Law Firms in Eastern North Carolina, 2013-2021
• Recognized by Business North Carolina Magazine as a member of the “Legal Elite” in the field of Environmental Law, 2011, 2013-2018
• Recognized as Super Lawyers, Top-Rated Environmental Lawyer, 2011-2018
• Firm recognized by U.S. News Best Law Firms as one of three Top Tier Environmental Law Firms in Wilmington, NC market.
• Firm recognized by U.S. News Best Law Firms as one of two Top Tier Environmental Law Firms in New Bern, NC market.
• AV (Preeminent) Peer Review Rating for Ability & Ethics from Martindale-Hubbell

Professional Associations:

• North Carolina Bar Association
  –Member, Administrative Law Section
  –Member, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section
• Board Member, NC Coastal Land Trust
• Board Member, Appalachian Trail Conservancy
• Council Member, Administrative Law Section

Previous Employment:

• North Carolina Attorney General’s Office, Environmental Protection Division
• Ward and Smith, PA

Recent Transactions and Engagements:

• Served as legal advisor to former Governor James Martin on offshore drilling, working on a number of water and coastal-related issues.
• Drafted and filed the State’s official Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) consistency appeals (later upheld by the US Secretary of Commerce) to protect the State’s calls for more complete information.
• Provided legal counsel to the State in conducting public hearings up and down the coast.
• Helped obtain the passage of legislation authorizing a special license plate designed to raise funds for conservation, maintenance and educational projects for the approximately 300 miles of the National Scenic Appalachian Trail that runs through western North Carolina.