Brooke R. Watson

Jonathan Watkins is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation and Litigation - Securities. Jonathan, who practices law in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Jonathan is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

John C. Gilson is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law and Mergers and Acquisitions Law. John C., who practices law in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which John C. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Ryan is a partner in the Construction and Litigation Practice Groups in the Charlotte office. His primary focus is large public and private commercial construction practice disputes. Ryan has extensive experience in representing contractors, subcontractors, and sureties in various state and federal courts, as well as private arbitrations. He also assists clients in drafting and negotiating their construction contracts to meet the client’s specific needs on each project. Ryan has taught ...

Patrick Yingling is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Banking and Finance Law. Patrick, who practices law in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Patrick is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Doak Barnhardt engages in a broad range of finance-related areas, with an emphasis on senior bank debt and syndicated loan finance. Doak has considerable experience in corporate and commercial lending arrangements, including secured lending, acquisition and recapitalization finance, subordinated debt transactions, and work-out and restructure. Further, he represents a number of public and private companies as borrowers under syndicated credit facilities. Since joining the firm in 1984, he has...

Dane Baltich understands the importance of strategically growing and managing international patent portfolios. He also guides his clients on the issues of licensing, infringement, validity, and enforceability of patents. With his expertise, Dane positions patent portfolios for monetization, downstream litigation, and other strategic purposes for both domestic and international clients. His vast experience includes drafting and prosecuting patent portfolios across a broad range of fields, incl...

Christopher M. Kelly

John D. Cole is a litigator with broad experience across the spectrum of employment law and labor law. For more than 20 years, John has represented employers of all sizes in cases throughout the eastern United States. He has handled numerous cases involving virtually all aspects of employment law before various federal courts, federal and state administrative agencies, and the state courts of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. He has also handled employment arbitration cases before A...

Rob Fisher has years of experience providing tax advice in connection with mergers and acquisitions transactions, financial products, and joint ventures. Rob focuses on transactional tax planning, representing public and private companies, private equity funds, search funds, and other sponsors in connection with their mergers and acquisitions transactions, financings and investments. He also represents founders and other closely held business owners in connection with their exit events and fi...

Jay represents debtors, banks, secured creditors, indenture trustees, and purchasers of distressed assets in complex chapter 11 and chapter 9 bankruptcy cases and in out-of-court workouts, reorganizations, restructurings, and liquidations. Jay also has extensive experience in state and federal court receivership actions, both in representing creditors seeking the appointment of a receiver for their collateral and in representing the court-appointed receivers. Jay has served as lead bankruptcy...