Debra L. Foster

Paul M. Hattenhauer, a partner with Culp Elliott & Carpenter, P.L.L.C., is chair of the firm’s Estate Planning practice group. Mr. Hattenhauer’s practice is focused on providing tax, business, asset protection and estate planning advice for individuals, closely held business owners and fiduciaries. He provides counsel in sophisticated estate tax reduction strategies, and advises clients on strategies to arrange their affairs to pay the least amount of tax. He is experienced in...

Clients trust Mike, both as a litigation attorney and as a Certified Fraud Examiner, with their most sensitive and complex investigations. Mike gets to the bottom of the facts efficiently to help clients navigate challenging legal situations to achieve better-than-expected results in line with their business objectives. Mike is a seasoned investigator with a long track record of helping clients uncover the truth in complex—and sensitive—internal investigations. Mike represents cor...

Courtney Hamer Smith is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Family Law and Family Law Mediation. Courtney Hamer, who practices law in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2017. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Courtney Hamer is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

John Baron is the lead partner of the Charlotte office’s Federal and International Tax Group, partner-in-charge of the Charlotte office and chair of the partners committee. His practice is principally transactional in nature, and his clients include both domestic and foreign companies and financial institutions, as well as private equity firms, CDOs and hedge funds. He regularly provides tax structuring advice and renders tax opinions with respect to mergers and acquisitions, structured...

3 Things to Know About Paul Dickinson: He represented civilian victims in the Blackwater Massacre case. He has a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating.* He was honored on the 2026 North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Leaders in Law “Icons” list.* Paul R. Dickinson , Jr. is a Partner at the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin and a seasoned trial attorney on the firm’s litigation team who is known for taking on challenging, high-stakes cases. With decades of courtroom experience, he...

Matthew W. Krueger-Andes is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation. Matthew W., who practices law in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Matthew W. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

George Taulbee heads the firm’s Technology, Privacy & IP Transactions Group in North Carolina. He focuses on all intellectual property and transactional matters involving computer and Internet technology, electronic commerce, and sports and entertainment. Mr. Taulbee has more than 25 years of experience working in software licenses and development outsourcing, joint venture, website hosting, and content and linking agreements. He has extensive experience in patent, trade secret and ...

Clients turn to Nader to provide thoughtful advice and counsel when facing complex and high-stakes litigation, enforcement, and regulatory issues. Nader’s experience ranges from handling class actions and complex business and securities litigation to representing companies in parallel civil and criminal investigations by governmental authorities and regulators across the globe. His clients greatly value his judgment and work ethic in developing effective legal strategies and providing p...

Katie Duffy's practice is focused on estate planning, trust and estate administration, charitable planning, tax planning for high net-worth individuals, business succession, and transactional and business matters that arise in connection with the acquisition, ownership, and operation of closely held businesses. As a member of the North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia bars, Katie advises clients in all three states with respect to their personal, financial, tax, business and estate plann...

A frequent author and speaker on intellectual property law developments and a trained mechanical engineer, Henry Ward focuses his practice on preparing and negotiating technology and commercial agreements and counseling clients in connection with patent, trademark, copyright, advertising regulations and litigation matters. He counsels clients on obtaining, protecting, licensing and enforcing intellectual property in a variety of industries, including: Metallurgy Welding Telecommunications Com...