James E. "Jim" Earle

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...

A former Managing Chariman of the firm, Ben Hawfield provides senior leadership and brings decades of experience to client matters related to workouts and bankruptcy proceedings. Ben Hawfield advises Moore & Van Allen corporate clients in acquisitions and financing transactions, particularly those involving a compromise or restructure of debt. He has significant experience in representing corporations, individuals and lenders in workouts and bankruptcy proceedings.

Rob Marcus is an experienced trial attorney who has developed a diverse litigation practice. Rob has a wide range of trial experience in high-stakes, complex business disputes. He has litigated significant cases involving intellectual property, securities and financial disputes, insurance coverage matters, contract enforcement, and class actions. Rob has handled matters in state and federal courts across North Carolina, and he has significant experience in the North Carolina Business Court. R...

Frank makes it a goal to close his complex deals on his client's desired timeline. To accomplish this, he keeps a rigorous focus on the end game. He emphasizes his client's key objectives without wasting time negotiating irrelevant provisions. That approach allowed him to close a large portfolio loan of 10 assets in just 15 business days for one of the world's largest banks. Executing the deal in such a short timeframe was all the more impressive because it was his client's first deal with th...

Kaitlin Powers represents financial institutions (including commercial banks and Farm Credit System banks and associations), insurance companies and other institutional investors in various senior and mezzanine financing transactions and investments. Kaitlin advises clients on structuring and documenting secured and unsecured credit facilities and single-lender and syndicated lending transactions across a wide array of industries. Kaitlin works with her clients from beginning to end, providin...

Jenny Sugar is a member of Moore & Van Allen's Litigation group. She represents corporations and executives in white collar criminal and government enforcement investigations, proceedings, and trials. As a federal prosecutor for more than two decades, Jenny investigated, prosecuted, and oversaw matters involving a broad range of complex financial crimes, including investment fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, tax fraud, Ponzi schemes, money laundering, and abuse of government funding programs...

Danny Johnson represents large and mid-size businesses and professional service firms regarding the implementation and administration of their employee benefit plans and compensation arrangements. Danny has more than 35 years of experience with a wide range of employee benefit and executive employment matters, including public company clients in connection with their executive compensation programs and dealing with golden parachute severance issues that arise in merger, acquisition, divestitu...

Randall Phillips is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Randall, 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 Randall is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

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...

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...