Geraldine Sumter

After receiving his Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, John Paul Tsahakis spent a year abroad working in Greece, the birthplace of three of his four grandparents. He returned to Chapel Hill in 2006 to earn his Juris Doctor at the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he was an active member of the Holderness Moot Court Bench. In 2009, John Paul had the honor of competing in the National Environmental Moot Court Competition in New York. Raised in...

Joey Norman has a diverse corporate, commercial, and transactional law practice, employing a value-driven approach to his practice particularly focusing on appraising and addressing risk from a business operations and efficiency view point, while accomplishing legal goals and helping his clients maximize return. Joey has a broad-based transactional and corporate law practice. He acts as outside counsel addressing day to day general corporate, operational, and commercial legal matters, includi...

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...

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.

R. Kader Crawford is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Banking and Finance Law. R. Kader, who practices law in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which R. Kader is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

A former presidentially appointed U.S. attorney, Thomas Walker understands the high stakes of federal and state investigations and white-collar criminal defense. A former presidentially appointed U.S. attorney, Thomas concentrates his practice in government investigations, internal corporate investigations, and white-collar criminal defense. Thomas has extensive jury trial experience in state and federal courts and previously served as special counsel to North Carolina Attorney General Roy Co...

Ronald S. Lovelace is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Banking and Finance Law. Ronald S., who practices law in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2016. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Ronald S. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Wood Lay's diverse practice focuses on representing and advising employers in matters involving the full range of labor and employment law issues with an emphasis on employment, ERISA, non-competition, and trade secret litigation. His significant litigation experience also includes the handling of complex business tort claims for a number of Fortune 500 companies. With over 30 years of experience, Wood focuses his practice on advising national employers on addressing the employment law challe...

Ed O’Keefe advises and represents financial institutions. From strategy to tactics and logistics, Ed’s experience includes investigations, litigation, regulatory compliance, governance, cybersecurity, compensation, and risk management. He also advises on law department management, including effective legal engagement with regulators and control functions. Ed is the former Global General Counsel of Bank of America Corporation. Having also headed or served as a senior executive with...

Patrick Hayden is a partner in the Global Finance & Debt Products Group. His practice focuses on mortgage-backed and asset-backed securitization, and he has represented global financial institutions as indenture trustee in negotiating and closing hundreds of CDO transactions, including CLOs, commercial real estate CDOs and synthetic CDOs. He currently represents indenture trustees in connection with the administration of CDO transactions and has extensive experience with questions and dis...