Marie Claire O’Leary Smith

Jennifer’s practice centers on the legal and personal complexities involved in family law matters. Her work includes a particular emphasis on complex equitable distribution and contested custody cases. She approaches family law as an area requiring both strong advocacy and careful judgment, recognizing that divorce, custody disputes, and related matters often involve emotionally difficult circumstances for clients and their children. In custody matters especially, she is committed to ca...

I am a North Carolina Board Certified Specialist in Family Law and a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. I limit my practice to issues involving divorce, marital relations, and family law. I serve other divorce lawyers by providing family financial mediation services to them and their clients. Since 2007, I have been continuously recognized by Best Lawyers in America and named the Family Law Lawyer of the Year for Asheville in 2015, 2017, and 2020. I am named to North Carol...

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...

Joe Ferikes began his practice in 1974 in Atlanta, Georgia, representing such entities as the County of Dekalb. In 1983, Joe and his wife moved back to their hometown of Asheville to continue his law practice and raise their family. He has been a private practice trial lawyer since 1981, and was a solo practitioner until forming Ferikes & Bleynat in 2001. Joe’s representative clients include the Towns of Woodfin and Fletcher, North Carolina, as well as the ABC Boards for Fletcher, W...

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...

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 ...

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...

Lance represents creditors in collections, foreclosures, bankruptcy, Uniform Commercial Code security agreement enforcement, and structured liquidations and workouts. He also represents clients in drafting and negotiating a wide variety of contract, loan, and workout agreements. Lance is certified by the American Board of Certification and the North Carolina State Bar as a Board Certified Specialist in Business Bankruptcy Law. He litigates at all levels of state and federal court, with an emp...

A native of Asheville, Ike returned home to practice law in 1981. After graduation from the University of North Carolina both as an undergraduate and from its law school, Ike clerked at the North Carolina Supreme Court in Raleigh for the year following his admission to the bar. Ike has practiced as a partner in two law firms including one he founded in 1998. He brings to HBS a wealth of trial experience. For nearly four decades, Ike has concentrated his area of practice in the field of medica...

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...