James M. "Jamie" Weiss

Russell D. Babb was born in Wilson, North Carolina. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar and co-captain of the 1995 Carolina football team. A four-year starter as an offensive lineman for the Tar Heels, Mr. Babb was also the winner of the 1995 Jim Tatum Award, which is presented each year to the top Senior Scholar-Athlete in the Atlantic Coast Conference. After college, Mr. Babb entered the University of North Carolina School of La...

John W. Narron has been practicing law in North Carolina since 1977 and has been a partner with Smith Debnam since 1987. Mr. Narron’s practice consists of litigation, arbitration, mediation and business transactions. For 30 years, Mr. Narron has provided advice and litigation services to clients in central and eastern North Carolina in all manner of civil disputes frequently involving equitable distribution proceedings, alimony trials, will caveats, employment disputes, personal injury ...

Ben is an experienced trial lawyer who earned his law degree from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He was trained in trial practice at the nation’s preeminent Public Defender agency, the federally funded Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, described by United States Attorney General Eric Holder as “the best public defender office in the country.” From 2006 to 2011, Ben worked as an attorney at the Public Defender Service in DC, including...

A trusted advisor, Marcus Trathen focuses his practice in the fields of communications law, utilities regulation, mass media, the Internet, intellectual property, and legislative representation. Marcus counsels clients on a variety of issues, including telecommunications regulation, media and the First Amendment, Internet law and regulation, and broadcast licensing and regulation. Marcus advises businesses on complex matters related to intellectual property licensing. Marcus has extensive exp...

Bob deRosset serves clients primarily in the fields of construction, business, and product liability law. He tries cases at the state and federal level in North and South Carolina. He is certified by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission to conduct mediated settlement conferences in Superior Court cases and uses his perspective as a seasoned litigator to assist parties to voluntarily resolve their disputes through mediation. Bob has also completed collaborative law training and adv...

Martha L. Sewell is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law and Health Care Law. Martha L., who practices law in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2013. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Martha L. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

With a career that has included in-house patent counsel positions at GlaxoSmithKline and Targacept, Inc. (now Catalyst Biosciences), Amy Fix understands the core business issues her clients face. She has spent many years helping clients protect pharmaceutical, agricultural and polymer technologies, and is notably skilled in the growing sector of small-molecule drug development. Amy’s clients range from large international pharmaceutical corporations to smaller companies producing innova...

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...

In joining Hardison & Cochran in 2008, Joel Jackson Hardison made a transition from defending insurance companies in Workers Compensation cases to representing injured and disabled workers. He applies the insights he gained from representing insurance companies to assist the injured workers he represents. There is little doubt about which type of practice he prefers. Hardison received a B.A. degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina in 1999 and a J.D. from the UNC School ...

Don Beskind’s trial practice focuses on car and truck crash cases, medical and legal malpractice, and business torts. He is also a Professor of the Practice at Duke Law School. Don served on the American Association for Justice's Board of Governors and professional education committee - the National College of Advocacy, has been a Program Director for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, has authored case files for AAJ and NITA and is a co-author of North Carolina Evidentiary Found...