Kelly Margolis Dagger

With more than 40 years of litigation experience in areas including medical malpractice, worker’s compensation, and general casualty litigation, Joe now focuses his practice on mediation. Certified by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission to conduct mediated settlement conferences in Superior Court cases, Joe is available to conduct mediations in most North Carolina counties. Joe is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and holds an AV Peer Review Rating f...

Barri Hilton Payne In 2011, Barri became a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law and a Certified Family Financial Mediator. She was born in High Point, North Carolina and grew up in Davidson County. She attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where she majored in Religious studies and Sociology. Barri is a 1999 graduate of University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill. After twelve years as a partner in a local law firm, Barri opened her own solo family law and m...

“Chris is just really willing to get in and get the job done. He understands the need to balance costs against trial preparation. He’s also willing to say, this isn’t my area, let me refer you to somebody else.” The above quote, from a national construction client with outside counsel in nearly every state, was shared with Thomson Reuters, the company behind Westlaw, during its global research with senior in-house counsel to identify top-performing lawyers in private p...

Shirley M. Diefenbach is a partner/member of the law firm of Walker, Lambe, PLLC, where she primarily practices in the areas of Estate Planning, Elder Law and Trust & Estate Administration. Ms. Diefenbach is also the managing partner of the Trust & Estate Administration department within the law firm. For over forty years, Walker Lambe, PLLC has served its clients, in the areas of Estate planning, Trust Administration, Probate, Taxation, Estate and Trust Disputes, Planning for childre...

Ted Smyth has been litigating insurance and tort cases for 31 years in all State and Federal Civil Courts in North Carolina. He has been listed as a Super Lawyer in North Carolina's Super Lawyers Magazine for 2006, 2008-2013(Insurance Law). He has been named to Woodard/White's "The Best Lawyers in America" for Insurance Law(2007-2013), Commercial Litigation(2009-2013), Personal Injury Litigation(2009-2013) and Bet-the-Company Litigation(2010-2013). He is active in the Wake County Bar, as the ...

Michael J. Denning is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Family Law, Family Law Arbitration and Family Law Mediation. Michael J., 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 Michael J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

George M. Teague is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Government Relations Practice and Insurance Law. George M., who practices law in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2008. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which George M. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Lori’s practice is principally focused on workers’ compensation litigation. She advises and defends employers and insurers in the manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, hospitality and retail industries throughout all stages of litigation before the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Lori handles complex workers’ compensation issues and strives to provide efficient and effective resolutions for her clients, whether that means negotiating with the other side or taking ...

Forest has been practicing law for twenty-five years. He spent the first six years of his career as a partner with a large "defense" law firm mainly defending large corporations in civil lawsuits. Seeing the inequalities that existed in the justice system between wealthy and powerful companies and regular people, Forest was motivated to change his law practice, join Martin & Jones and help level the playing field for ordinary, hard-working people and their families. With the experience Fo...

Noah H. Huffstetler III is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Administrative / Regulatory Law, Appellate Practice, Commercial Litigation, Health Care Law, Litigation - Antitrust and Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy). Noah H., who practices law in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been recognized since 1991. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Noah H. is held by other top lawyer...