Fewer than three percent of attorneys from across North Carolina are included in Business North Carolina's 2018 "Legal Elite" list. Twenty-two Ward and Smith attorneys were selected this year, but only one was elevated to the "Hall of Fame." Brad Evans, Co-Managing Director, was the top 'vote-getter' in the antitrust category. According to BNC's rules, he is no longer eligible to win in that same category.
Recently, BNC asked Evans and 15 other Legal Elite winners to share their favorite "Guilty Pleasures." Here's what Evans had to say:
Guilty Pleasure: Baseball, by far — specifically watching too much MLB-TV.
Vita: 41; born in Ahoskie; bachelor’s and law degrees from Wake Forest University; married with two children and a rescue dog, Copper.
Memorable case: I represented a large fishing tournament in a lawsuit brought by a team that had been disqualified. The team caught the biggest fish, but one of its members did not have a fishing license, which was required by the rules. The case went all the way to the North Carolina Supreme Court. The appellate courts adopted a standard for interpreting competition rules that is very deferential to hosts, something that was very important to our client and others in its position.
What he’d be if not a lawyer: All of the men in my family for the last couple hundred years have been farmers in Hertford and Bertie counties, so I suppose that would be the likely choice.
Favorite place: I have a small fishing boat, but on nice days, I can leave Bogue Inlet and take it offshore. I have no cellphone service in the Gulf Stream, and I can focus on chasing big fish.
Recent reading: Hemingway is my favorite, and I am working my way through some of the last few books of his that I have missed. I recently completed Islands in the Stream and To Have and Have Not, and A Moveable Feast for the second time.
Passions: Eastern North Carolina; Demon Deacon athletics; my workout group; baseball; hunting and fishing; family; faith.
Don’t ask him to: Miss my morning workout. I’d be grumpy all day!
Find a complete list of winners here.
Brad Evan's image used with the kind permission of Business North Carolina Magazine, John Gessner, photographer.