Ward and Smith Attorneys Honored as 2025 Business North Carolina Legal Elites

Ward and Smith is proud to announce that 38 of its attorneys have been named to Business North Carolina’s 2025 Legal Elite, a testament to the firm’s dedication to legal excellence across North Carolina.

The annual list highlights the state’s top attorneys as chosen by their peers, with fewer than 4% of North Carolina lawyers receiving this honor.

This year, Will Oden has been inducted into the Legal Elite Hall of Fame for Employment Law, an accolade given to the top vote-getter in each category. Will, a pioneer in Employment Law, was recently recognized as one of the first board-certified specialists in the field by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. This induction brings the total number of Ward and Smith’s Hall of Famers to six.

The full list of Ward and Smith attorneys recognized as 2025 Business North Carolina Legal Elite are:

Asheville


Melody King Family Law	Lance Martin Bankruptcy	Hayley Wells Employment

Greenville

Paul Fanning
Bankruptcy

New Bern


Angela Doughty Intellectual	Lee Hodge Business	Michael Parrish Litigation


Greg Peacock Tax and Estate Planning	Lauren Quinn Family Law

Raleigh


Payton Collier Bullard Young Guns	Alex Ferri Construction	Michelle Gonzalez Real Estate	Justin Hill Employment


X. Lightfoot Employment	Marianna Baggett McMurry Young Guns	Evan Musselwhite Construction	Jane Francis Nowell Young Guns


Joe Schouten Litigation	Jason Strickland Construction	Devon Williams Employment	Cameron Winfrey Real Estate

Wilmington


Mary Charles Amerson Family Law	Adam Beaudoin Business	Al Clyburn Family Law	Richard Crow Business


Alex Dale Appellate	Chris Edwards Appellate	Sam Franck Real Estate	Matthew Jones Business


Avery Locklear Young Guns	John Martin Appellate	Will Oden Employment-Hall of Fame ’25	Allen Trask Litigation

Legal Elite Hall of Fame

Along with Will Oden, the Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite Hall of Fame include Joanne Badr, Jim Creekman (retired), Brad Evans, Amy Wang, and David Ward (Counsel Emeritus). While these individuals are no longer eligible to win in the same category due to publication rules, they are recognized annually in the Legal Elite list.