Ryli Leader

Amanda Groves is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation. Amanda, 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 Amanda is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Mr. Ellsworth counsels clients to procure, protect, license and enforce intellectual property rights. Mr. Ellsworth works diligently to understand his client’s business and to leverage that understanding to achieve his client’s intellectual property goals in a turn-key and cost-efficient manner. Mr. Ellsworth manages extensive domestic and international patent portfolios for several publicly traded companies and provides strategic counseling to a variety of smaller business concer...

Eddie Booher practices in the area of complex finance transactions, focusing on commercial real estate (acquisitions, development, leasing and construction) and other transactional lending work. Eddie has primary responsibility for the representation of institutional lenders in several commercial real estate conduit loan/securitization programs involving a broad spectrum of property types, including hospitality, multifamily, industrial, retail, office and healthcare properties. His experience...

Brad Johnson is a partner in the Finance Group of Alston & Bird. Brad is a senior partner in the firm’s trust, agency and asset servicing practice, one of the largest corporate trust focused practices in the country. Brad regularly represents financial institutions which provide corporate trust, custody, loan agency, reporting and administrative services in a wide variety of capital markets transactions, including transactions involving collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), projec...

Ben Pleune is a partner in Alston & Bird’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group, with extensive experience litigating patents in U.S. district courts, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and before the International Trade Commission. Ben has also been involved with numerous patent validity challenges before the Patent Trial & Appeal Board. Ben’s practice has focused on a variety of industries, including bar code scanners, image sensors, pharmaceuticals, telecomm...

Holly Bannerman, named to Best Lawyers in America , is a member in the commercial real estate group. Holly Bannerman concentrates her practice in commercial real estate. She represents developers, owners, landlords, tenants and limited partners in a variety of real estate transactions, including land acquisitions, dispositions, financing, development and leasing. She also specializes in joint venture and limited partnership agreements and the related structuring of real estate transactions. H...

Jay represents debtors, banks, secured creditors, indenture trustees, and purchasers of distressed assets in complex chapter 11 and chapter 9 bankruptcy cases and in out-of-court workouts, reorganizations, restructurings, and liquidations. Jay also has extensive experience in state and federal court receivership actions, both in representing creditors seeking the appointment of a receiver for their collateral and in representing the court-appointed receivers. Jay has served as lead bankruptcy...

Richard L. Farley serves as deputy counsel to the firm. Richard helps businesses and their owners across industries avoid and solve the problems, disputes and controversies that can impact their bottom lines. He counsels clients on managing risk in the structuring of contracts and transactions to avoid disputes. When disputes arise, he works closely with his clients to develop appropriate strategies for litigation or voluntary resolution in light of their business goals and potential risks. R...

Jeff Brown is a member within Moore & Van Allen's Commercial Real Estate group. He focuses his practice on the representation of investors and developers in an array of real estate-related transactions and ventures. Jeff represents and serves as counsel to his clients in a comprehensive range of real estate-related matters, from financing, acquisitions and dispositions, joint venture and real estate investment structuring, and development, including complex land use, entitlement and publi...

David Allen practices litigation for a broad variety of clients. He has been trying lawsuits for more than 30 years with close to 100 juries empaneled during that time. A former president of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys (NCADA), David is a frequent lecturer on substantive and technical aspects of trial practice for numerous sponsors of continuing legal education presentations, having addressed both the NCADA and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice in recent years. ...