J. Bradford "Brad" Polk

Luther D. (Lew) Starling, Jr. is a life-long resident of Clinton, North Carolina. He attended Clinton High School where he served as President of his senior class and President of the Future Farmers of America. He graduated from Campbell University in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. While at Campbell, Lew served as President of the Adam Smith Club, the university's second largest student organization. 1n 1990, he earned his Juris Doctor degree from Wake Forest Univer...

Mike Strickland serves as Of Counsel to the firm’s insurance regulatory practice group. His experience includes representing clients in the areas of insurance coverage, insurance regulatory matters, reinsurance and business litigation and appearing regularly before the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Mike has 30 years of experience representing the North Carolina Rate Bureau, a statutory organization responsible for rates, loss costs and policy f...

Joan has over thirty years of experience in eminent domain and condemnation law and has taught seminars to other lawyers on how to handle condemnation cases involving commercial property. She has a wide range of experience in federal district court, federal bankruptcy court, and many state court systems. Joan has been inducted as a Lifetime Member of the Million and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forums for obtaining multiple recoveries for her clients in excess of One Million Dollars. She ha...

Kevin M. O'Brien is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Insurance Law. Kevin M., who practices law in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Kevin M. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Maria P. Wood is the Managing Partner in our Raleigh office and specializes in medical malpractice, aging services, correctional health care, professional malpractice and ethics, appellate, and general liability matters. In her more than twenty year legal career, she has gained significant litigation and trial experience. Maria has devoted her career to the representation of health care providers. These providers include hospital systems, long-term care facilities (skilled nursing and assiste...

James H. Clarke is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Corporate Law, Health Care Law and Mergers and Acquisitions Law. James H., who practices law in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2011. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which James H. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Steve Mansbery joined Tharrington Smith in 2006 after earning his law degree from Case Western Reserve University. Prior to law school, Mr. Mansbery attended the University of Kentucky, where he earned his undergraduate degree in Finance, with Departmental Honors, and graduated magna cum laude. Mr. Mansbery has been appointed to the Wake County Bar Association and the Tenth Judicial District Bar Professionalism Committee every year since 2009. He was recognized as a "Rising Star" in North Car...

Elizabeth advises and defends health care providers in matters involving patient care issues and risk management issues. She has successfully handled numerous medical malpractice cases and has taken many of them to trial. She has obtained numerous defense verdicts in cases of alleged medical malpractice, a few of which are summarized on her “Milestones” page. Many of these cases involved catastrophic injury or death. Elizabeth represents clients before the North Carolina Medical B...

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

With an extensive trial résumé, Brian centers his practice on the defense of transportation liability claims involving large commercial trucks and buses, medical negligence cases, insurance coverage litigation, insurance bad faith and extra-contractual litigation, and insurance regulatory matters including representation of the North Carolina Rate Bureau and the North Carolina Reinsurance Facility. Brian has litigated cases to verdict in many state and federal courts in North Ca...