2026 Construction and Closely Held Business Conference
Speakers
Guest Speakers
Travis Adams
Ward and Smith Business Consulting
Travis Adams is a seasoned entrepreneur and visionary strategist who understands the ‘chaos of success’ from the inside out. Having served as CEO of his own family enterprise—where he quadrupled revenue and transformed a legacy culture—he helps founders transition from owner-operators to strategic architects. Travis combines the grit of a bootstrapper with the precision of a master-level consultant to ensure your business thrives across generations.
Ward and Smith Business Consulting
Hank Harris is the Director of Consulting for Ward and Smith Business Consulting, LLC. He is a veteran of the management consulting and investment banking industries, Hank specializes in the strategic architecture of closely-held firms. Having authored three books and numerous papers on business excellence, he serves as a high-level advisor to CEOs navigating the crossroads of growth and legacy. Hank’s deep understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset allows him to craft succession and family business solutions that safeguard a heritage for generations to come.
Ward and Smith Speakers
Family Law Attorney
Phillip Cowan is an experienced family law attorney who represents clients in a wide range of domestic matters, including divorce, child custody and support, spousal support and alimony, premarital and separation agreements, termination of parental rights, and domestic violence cases. He has significant experience handling complex financial matters impacting divorce settlements, such as business valuations, property division, equitable distribution, and issues related to high-net-worth marital estates.
North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Employment Law Specialist
Justin focuses his practice on labor and employment matters. He works with businesses, employers, and human resources professionals across the state. Additionally, Justin is a member of the firm’s Professional Licensing group and defends licensed professionals before North Carolina’s many professional and occupational licensing boards. Justin received his undergraduate degree from Davidson College and earned his J.D. from Campbell University School of Law, where he graduated in the top ten of his class.
Business Attorney
Lee regularly advises clients on a broad range of business law matters, including the formation of new business and investment entities, stock purchase/sale transactions, asset purchase/sale transactions, and contract drafting and negotiation. Lee also represents clients on a wide variety of tax planning matters, including 1031 exchanges, reorganizations of business entities, tax planning for mergers and acquisitions transactions, and tax planning for individuals.
Tax and Employee Benefits Attorney
Steve Long leads the firm’s Tax and Employee Benefits practice. He has extensive experience working with employers in banking, retail, and technology to establish and maintain retirement plans, executive compensation agreements, stock incentive plans and other employee benefits.
Steve also advises charities and other tax-exempt organizations regarding their IRC 403(b) and IRC 457 retirement plans, as well as issues related to compliance with Internal Revenue Service and state regulations concerning executive compensation, fundraising and lobbying activities. Additionally, he counsels business owners and individuals in retirement and estate planning.
North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Employment Law Specialist
Emily is a North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Specialist in Employment Law. Her practice focuses on helping employers navigate complex employment law issues. She has become a trusted advisor to businesses and organizations in facilitating compliance in the rapidly-changing employment landscape, providing counsel at all stages of personnel matters and negotiating resolutions to employee disputes.
North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Employment Law Specialist and Ward and Smith Business Consulting, President
Will Oden, an employment law attorney at Ward and Smith, serves as President of Ward and Smith Business Consulting, LLC, and professionally brings to our consulting clients over two decades of emphasis on employee mentorship and development, strategic human resources experience for clients ranging in size from single member LLCs to Fortune 500 companies, and a zeal for assisting clients to develop, reinforce, and protect their internal culture. Personally, Will has managed business and property transitions for his own family and extended family, and tries to bring a practical approach to every consulting engagement to focus on what matters most – your family.
North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Specialist – Estate Planning, Probate, and Elder Law
Greg is certified by the National Elder Law Foundation as a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA). He also is certified by the North Carolina State Bar both as a Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law and as a Board Certified Specialist in Elder Law. Greg frequently lectures to civic and community groups and at continuing legal education seminars on various topics relating to estate planning and administration and Medicaid planning.
Government Relations Attorney
Marley is a government relations attorney adept at assisting clients with a broad spectrum of governmental matters spanning all levels of government, including federal, state, and local. She is a registered state lobbyist for several local government and nonprofit clients and enjoys advocating on their behalf at the North Carolina General Assembly. Her experience extends from navigating procurement processes and North Carolina business incentives to guiding private entities seeking government partnerships. Marley ensures clients craft compelling responses to government RFPs and effectively drafts and negotiates procurement contracts for both private and public entities. ent Relations Attorney
Cybersecurity, Data Privacy & Technology Attorney
Mayukh Sircar is a Certified Information Privacy Professional-United States (CIPP/US) who utilizes his keen insights and practical knowledge of privacy and data security law to help clients turn cybersecurity risks into manageable business opportunities. He advises businesses in various industries on developing privacy protection practices, such as the legal requirements and risks associated with the collection, storage, transfer, use, protection, and data disposal. He also counsels clients on structuring and operationalizing privacy compliance programs, data breach response and planning, contract and vendor management, and licensing and technology transactions.
Construction Litigator
Jeff is a construction litigator who represents and advises contractors, subcontractors, owners, lenders, and design professionals throughout all phases of the construction and development process. With a focus on providing efficient and cost-effective legal solutions, Jeff is committed to guiding clients through the complexities of the building process.
Jeff has a wide variety of civil litigation experience in high-stakes cases. In addition to litigating construction, design, and design/build contracts, Jeff also regularly litigates on behalf of community associations and homeowner associations. In addition, he works with businesses and individuals from a wide variety of industries in complex commercial litigation, including representation of policyholders involved in first- and third-party coverage litigation with their insurance carriers.
General Practitioner
Allen began his career as a traditional litigator focused on business and real estate disputes. Working with North Carolina real estate developers and the community associations that they create was where Allen found his professional footing. He continues to handle a wide range of issues for these clients, including the preparation, amendment, interpretation, and enforcement of restrictive covenants and governing corporate documents, declarant control transition and disputes, fiduciary concerns, and collections. Allen’s representation of community associations in disaster recovery cases gave rise to his interest in the insurance space, which he actively leverages for the Firm’s clientele. His work with real estate developers goes beyond just their relationship with community associations and embraces both land use and zoning matters and commercial leasing and property management concerns.
North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Employment Law Specialist and Ward and Smith Co-Managing Director
As one of the firm’s Co-Managing Directors, Devon maintains a robust practice, handling complex labor and employment matters. This includes providing guidance on federal contractor compliance, particularly concerning the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, managing and defending contentious claims of employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, advising employers on disciplinary actions and terminations to limit potential legal risks, and negotiating, drafting, and litigating enforceable restrictive covenants to safeguard clients’ interests.
Devon regularly counsels HR executives and C-suite officers, navigating them through the many state and federal requirements for employers with the aim of helping clients avoid costly litigation and improve workplace relations. In addition to offering clients proactive solutions to avoid costly litigation, Devon routinely dives in to handle complex employment litigation matters, including defending FLSA Collective Actions, wage and hour class actions, Medicare Secondary Payer Act claims, discrimination and harassment lawsuits, breach of contract, and other legal matters arising out of the employment or quasi-employment relationship. In matters relating to employee benefits, she concentrates on issues confronting health and welfare benefit plans (such as medical, dental, and other plans) and their sponsors, including the provisions and impact of the Affordable Care Act.
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