Kristen Rigsby Smith

TRUE UNDERSTANDING: Asheville Personal Injury Attorney "My father became disabled when my sisters and I were young. Our family nearly lost everything, but my parents got good legal advice and persevered. My mother became a paralegal for the attorney who helped us. My father became our hero who preserved our future through wisdom, frugality and dignity. And I became a personal injury attorney focused on matters of personal injury, workers’ compensation, and wrongful death, who truly unde...

Edward L. Bleynat, Jr. began his legal career by clerking for James G. Exum, Jr., then the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Cutting hsi trial teeth at a major Greensboro business litigation firm. In 1995, Ed relocated to Asheville, to continue his law practice and to raise his family in Western North Carolina where he grew up. Ed and Joe Ferikes merged their practices into Ferikes & Bleynat, PLLC in 2001. Ed is actively involved in a variety of church, civic, and comm...

Bill leads the Litigation Practice Group and his practice experience encompasses civil litigation in both the state and federal courts. He has represented clients in a broad variety of complex construction, business, and commercial disputes. His civil litigation experience includes depositions, pre-trial and dispositive motions, mediations, arbitrations, jury trials, and appeals. Other areas of his litigation practice include insurance coverage disputes, personal injury, agribusiness litigati...

Jennifer Moore is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Family Law. Jennifer, who practices law in Asheville, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Jennifer is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Born in 1965 in Huntington, West Virginia, Brian grew up in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Brian's mother was a nurse, and his father was a doctor in Spruce Pine who ran a clinic, worked in the hospital emergency room, made house calls to people in need. Brian often accompanied his parents when the house calls were after hours. Growing up in a home where taking care of others was so important continues to inspire Brian in his work representing injured and disabled people. In the mid-1990's, bef...

Henry Teich has been practicing law in Asheville, NC for more than 40 years. He and his now retired law partner, Janson Grimes, founded the law offices of Grimes and Teich in 1979. Later, with the addition of partner Scott Anderson, the firm became Grimes Teich Anderson LLP. Henry is a North Carolina Board Certified Workers Compensation Specialist whose interest is assuring that his clients get the best medical treatment available under the circumstances and that they receive protection from ...

William E. Cannon Jr. is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation, Litigation - Land Use and Zoning, Litigation - Real Estate and Municipal Law. William E., who practices law in Asheville, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which William E. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Joanne's practice emphasizes the representation of banks and other financial institutions in commercial loan transactions involving asset-based and real estate secured loans, including new construction, multi-family, mixed use, retail, hotel, and healthcare related projects. She also represents real estate developers and business owners in connection with acquisition, disposition, planning, financing, construction, and leasing negotiations. Joanne's representation has further included the rep...

Adam Peoples primarily defends doctors, lawyers, accountants, and engineers in negligence and ethics matters. His downtown Asheville practice also includes defending claims regarding general liability, governmental liability, civil rights, and products liability. Ranked AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbel, Adam has enjoyed a great deal of success in the courtroom. He has litigated hundreds of cases, including more than 500 hours of trial time, defending cases involving seven and ei...

Scott Anderson has been an attorney since 1989 and is licensed to practice in North Carolina and South Carolina. He is also a Certified Civil Mediator in the state of South Carolina. Early in his career, Scott focused on insurance defense and criminal defense, representing several auto insurance companies and workers compensation insurance companies as well as the S.C Uninsured Employers Fund. He regularly was lead counsel in jury trials and administrative hearings for these clients. In his c...