Navigating Easement Disputes in North Carolina
May 17, 2024
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Luke C. Tompkins
Construction and Commercial Litigation Attorney
Luke represents clients in North Carolina state and federal courts in a variety of complex construction, real estate, and commercial business disputes.
In his construction practice, Luke handles the prosecution and defense of payment, defect, delay, extra work, bond, and lien claims. He also provides strategic counsel to property owners in a range of real estate matters, including the prosecution and defense of real property disputes involving easement rights, property use and development rights, boundary disputes, partitioning property, and condemnation actions.
Luke's commercial litigation practice encompasses advising business owners on internal company management disputes, complex contractual disputes, and disputes involving fiduciary duty and unfair or deceptive trade practice claims.
Prior to joining the firm's Raleigh office, Luke served as a full-time law clerk for the Honorable Gregory P. McGuire in the North Carolina Business Court.
Education
- J.D., cum laude, Campbell University School of Law, 2018; Campbell Law Review, Articles Editor
- B.A., cum laude, North Carolina State University, 2013
Representative Experience
Luke's construction, real estate, and commercial litigation experiences include:
- Representing a general contractor against an owner to recover money owed and to enforce the contractor's lien. The court awarded summary judgment on all claims, including an award of lost profits and attorneys' fees.
- Representing a general contractor against subcontractors to recover damages caused by the subcontractors' supply of defective materials and defective work. The case involved complex issues of personal jurisdiction over a foreign material supplier, which issues were resolved favorably for the client.
- Representing a subcontractor against an owner regarding claims of negligence and leveraging North Carolina's economic loss rule to position the case for a favorable resolution.
- Representing a property owner in appealing and setting aside a partition sale that was conducted without proper notice and assisting the client in achieving a resolution that allowed the client to purchase the property.
- Representing the owner of property that was once a golf course against claims that the property was restricted from being developed as anything other than a golf course. The Court awarded summary judgment in favor of the owner's rights to develop the property for non-golf uses.
- Representing a foreign product distributor in resolving a dispute involving alleged breaches of an exclusive United States product licensing agreement.
- Representing a business owner in favorably resolving a dispute involving whether it wrongfully terminated a professional services agreement.
Honors and Distinctions*
- Leadership Raleigh, Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, 2024
- The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch, Best Lawyers®, 2025
Professional and Community Affiliations
- North Carolina Bar Association
Admitted to Practice
- North Carolina, 2018
- United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of North Carolina
* Please see the following websites for an explanation of the membership standards for the following recognitions: www.bestlawyers.com; businessnc.com/special-sections/legal-elite/; and www.superlawyers.com/north-carolina.
