Olivia’s mission is to help clients navigate the day-to-day challenges and legal hurdles of running a business by providing vital counsel throughout the life cycle of a company and advising businesses on their legal rights and responsibilities.

Olivia negotiates merger and acquisition transactions, including asset and stock purchases, as well as vendor and customer agreements, and documents for equity and debt issuances. She advises on corporate restructuring, succession planning, and asset protection strategies to maximize value and mitigate risk. Additionally, Olivia guides businesses through corporate governance and other operational issues. She forms new investment and operating entities, advises business managers, directors, and officers, and assists in creating policies used to manage companies.

Olivia also counsels franchisors in structuring their franchise programs, drafting franchise disclosure documents and franchise agreements, and negotiating franchise sales and transfers on their behalf.

Olivia graduated cum laude from Wake Forest University School of Law, where she received the merit-based Dean’s Scholarship and W. Fred Williams Scholarship. Prior to joining Ward and Smith, Olivia served as a judicial intern to the Honorable Paul M. Newby of the Supreme Court of North Carolina.