Blanch Lawyers

Durham disability, personal injury and traffic lawyer representing clients in Durham, Raleigh, Cary, Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and throughout North Carolina.

Attorney Mark V.L. Gray, founder of the North Carolina law firm of Gray Legal Group has been practicing law since 1982.

Our founding lawyers are trusted in the legal community and are members of many prestigious organizations. Mark V.L. Gray is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a group that is limited only to those who have recovered many millions of dollars for victims of negligence, as well as the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). We are respected by our peers for our diligence in standing up for the rights of our clients.

Attorney Grays’ longevity means that...

False information on your credit report stopping you from getting a loan? Settled a debt, but collectors are STILL calling you? Identity theft victim? I sue creditors and credit bureaus, including Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, on behalf of consumers who are not able to get credit reporting errors corrected on their own. I also advise victims of identity theft and security breaches, and I sue debt collectors and creditors in cases of abuse, deception, harassment, and threats, including harassing phone calls.

Consumer litigation: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act,...

Jon graduated from the University of Kansas in 1965, and Columbia University School of Law in 1968. Before joining the firm, he clerked for the Honorable Richard T. Rives of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and practiced with Carter, Ledyard and Milburn in New York City. He has taught at the law schools of Duke, UNC, and Wake Forest and is co-author of the practice volume of Larson's Employment Discrimination. Jon has served as President of the District Bar, Chair of the Dispute Resolution Section, Association's Labor and Employment Section and Appellate Rules Committee of the North...

Michelle Dewkett-Kochhar found her passion for workers’ compensation law dabbling in personal injury, workers’ compensation, and criminal defense law after graduating from law school. Dewkett-Kochhar graduated from Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law in 2019, and passed the North Carolina Bar Exam that same summer. A northerner at heart, Dewkett-Kochhar grew up in Rhinebeck, New York. She first moved to Raleigh to attend North Carolina State University, where she received a B.A. in International Studies and a minor in Spanish. While at law school, Dewkett-Kochhar served as a research assistant and interned with the Wake County Public Defender’s Office, a personal...

Steven maintains a varied practice focusing on representing workers who have been injured on the job and people who have been injured due to the negligence of others. His practice also includes representing consumers who have been harmed by unfair or deceptive business practices.

Steven started his legal career with the office of the North Carolina Attorney General, where he worked primarily defending the state of North Carolina in workers’ compensation cases, before deciding to join Martin & Jones out of a desire to help real people who have been injured or harmed. Steven understands how difficult it is for people...

Ben Burnside is passionate about representing the rights of mentally and physically disabled and injured people. He focuses his practice on helping disabled workers and veterans receive the Social Security Disability and VA benefits to which they are entitled, especially when they have been denied those benefits in the past.

Ben is a proven advocate for his clients. In 2008, he became a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a prestigious association of trial lawyers. Membership is limited to attorneys who have won million dollar or multimillion dollar verdicts, awards or settlements for their clients. Fewer than 1 Social Security...

Mr. Spain was admitted to the State Bar in 2013 and practiced as an estates and business law attorney prior to joining BHSPA in 2018. Jason focuses on Estate Planning and Probate law, helping clients plan for their family’s future and to assist clients in administering the estate of a loved one. He also is proficient in helping small business owners set up business succession plans that will allow their companies to be passed on to the next generation and help provide financial security for their families in the event of retirement, death, or disability. ...

Shelia Huggins is a North Carolina licensed attorney with almost 20 years of experience in working with businesses in a variety of capacities. Her extensive experience includes business formation, contracts, government relations, entertainment law, and social media. Shelia is a former adjunct professor at North Carolina Central University where she taught Entertainment and Business Law, and she has spoken at numerous events including the Long Leaf Pine Film Festival, the Duke University School of Business Black and Latinx Conference, and the Wake Forest School of Law Entertainment and Sports Law Symposium. Shelia's personal interests include documentary film and video production. She has...

Derrick Hensley is a Child Welfare, Family, and Immigration lawyer who manages a small law firm in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Derrick founded his own firm in order to ensure he could take cases that make a real difference for his clients, and to ensure that his practice always observed the highest principles of the legal profession. Derrick is dedicated zealously advocating for his clients and to fostering an open, communicative attorney-client relationship based on trust and honesty.

Derrick's firm has practices in several fields of law, focusing on the intersections between them, including international family law, humanitarian and family immigration, and...

I am a Board Certified Specialist in Immigration Law. I am fluent in Spanish. I assist families, businesses, and individuals in finding solutions to their immigration problems.

Chris Hyland is an experiences personal injury lawyer and managing partner at Hyland, Padilla, & Fowler, PLLC. He is committed to protecting the rights of injury victims in Raleigh and Durham. Chris attended College of Wooster for his undergraduate degree and earned his Juris Doctor from Campbell University School of Law. Active in the legal community, he is a current member, and former president, of the Durham County Bar Association. He is also a part of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, Fourteenth Judicial District, the North Carolina Bar Association, and more. For his dedication and success, he was awarded...

Stuart Paynter is an experienced trial attorney who specializes in catastrophic personal injury cases, products liability and complex commercial litigation, including intellectual property and antitrust cases. Mr. Paynter began his career at Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the country's top law firms, before starting in own law firm in 2005. Under his leadership, Paynter Law has obtained over $500 million in verdicts and settlements, including verdicts exceeding $100 million. Mr. Paynter fights to ensure that all his client have their day in court. Mr. Paynter has sued and won against Fortune 500 companies and other large corporate entities--including groundbreaking litigation...

Mr. Jacob Goad is a workers’ compensation and personal injury attorney with Law Office of Jacob Goad, PLLC. Mr. Goad graduated from the University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill where he majored in Spanish and minored in Social and Economic Justice. At UNC, Mr. Goad earned membership in Sigma Delta Pi, a Hispanic Collegiate Honor Society. After earning his undergraduate degree, Mr. Goad lived and worked in Peru, where he got involved with environmental advocacy and also coordinated international delegations. He accompanied CNN producers and Dr. Sanjay Gupta to the town of La Oroya where Mr. Goad introduced Dr. Gupta...

Rich Daugherty is an employment law attorney with extensive experience serving clients throughout the State of North Carolina. Since 2003, Rich has represented individuals in a wide range of employment disputes including severance negotiations, executive exit negotiations, wrongful termination, sexual harassment and assault, discrimination, retaliation, and FMLA violations. He has successfully litigated against Fortune 500 and other large corporations in federal and state cases in North Carolina with results favorable to his clients. Rich also negotiates confidential severance agreements for his clients. Rich earned a bachelor’s degree in business economics from the University of Richmond and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth...

Deborah (“Deb”) Bowers graduated from the University of Texas in 1974 and received her J.D. degree, cum laude, from the University of Houston, Bates College of Law in 1980. She practiced in New Jersey for several years before moving to North Carolina in 1997. Throughout her practice, Deb has concentrated her practice on construction litigation and, in more recent years, on insurance coverage matters.
Deb is currently serving as Chair of the Insurance Law section of the North Carolina Bar Association for 2018-2019 and has been named as a North Carolina SuperLawyer in the field of insurance law....

Mr. Dummit is an aggressive trial attorney who has earned a reputation for successfully and professionally representing his clients in the courtroom. He routinely represents clients with charges varying from Driving While Impaired to Drug Trafficking in criminal courts. Mr. Dummit also litigates for victims in cases ranging from simple auto negligence to medical malpractice and wrongful death cases. He has focused his practice in actual courtroom litigation for 20 years and has had extensive experience in district and superior courts, and in both State and Federal Courts. Mr. Dummit has taught seminars to other attorneys on civil and criminal...

Tyler S. Benson is an attorney based out of Raleigh, NC. Tyler focuses his practice on criminal, DWI, and traffic matters, and has represented clients throughout the State of North Carolina on thousands of cases. He knows the ins-and-outs of traffic laws and DMV regulations, and has handled criminal matters ranging from felonies to misdemeanors. He is also an experienced entertainment attorney, and handles contract and venue negotiations for a number of musical acts. Prior to working with iTicket, Tyler worked for a large criminal & traffic firm in Chapel Hill, and his practice has taken him all over central...

Ryan is licensed to practice law in New York and North Carolina. His law practice is focused on contracts, trademark applications, oppositions, and disputes, and every day legal matters that affect businesses. Ryan and his colleagues maintain a blog devoted to trademark and copyright law: www.nctrademarklawyers.com.

Mr. Jennings joined the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin in 2006 and practices in the Firm's Workers' Compensation Department. He received his J.D. with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law, and graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina State University, where he received his B.S. in Animal Science. Since obtaining his law degree, Mr. Jennings has practiced in the area of workers' compensation, and is now representing workers having suffered catastrophic injuries as a result of a work accident. "After working in insurance defense as an attorney for workers' compensation insurance carriers, I sought to make an...

Jim White’s practice focuses on complex litigation, lender liability and debtor bankruptcy. Clients are individuals and businesses who have suffered serious financial injury. For some, a lawsuit or aggressive negotiation can resolve a dispute or right a wrong. For others, Chapter 7, 11 or 13 bankruptcy can save their home, help rebuild their finances or repair a business. He received the Business Leader Media Pro Bono Impact Award and was named Pro Bono Attorney of the Year by Legal Aid of North Carolina, Durham County. Jim is rated AV Preminent by Martindale-Hubbell, was recognized by...

Mariana Vázquez-García is the founder of Vazquez Garcia Law, PLLC. Her passion for helping people with their immigration cases was ignited when she joined the Immigration Law Clinic at the George Washington University Law School in the fall of 1997. While she was still a law student, she won two cases before the Immigration Court in Arlington, Virginia. She knew then that once she graduated law school in 1998, she only wanted to practice immigration law. That enormous desire to help others continues to this date with much success.

Since 1998, now as an Attorney, Mariana has...

As an injury attorney, he’s found a job that combines his passion for research and for helping people who have often been wronged by the system that is supposed to protect them.

Jack graduated summa cum laude from N.C. Central University with a double major in political science and criminal justice. He earned his juris doctor from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2016.

Originally from Basingstoke, England, Jack came to the United States on a tennis scholarship at N.C. Central. He started playing tennis at age 5 and was part of England’s national program as a junior.

While at...

John Alan Jones is the founding member and managing partner of Martin & Jones, where he has worked since he began practicing law in 1982. John Alan handles both trial and appellate work in state and federal courts throughout North Carolina and around the U.S. He heads the firm's medical malpractice group, which is comprised of three attorneys and seven staff members. John Alan dedicates a large percentage of his practice to representing individuals catastrophically injured by medical negligence, defective pharmaceuticals, toxic substances or other negligence. He also devotes a significant amount of his work time to consumer...

Matthew Burkert was raised in Durham, North Carolina, and still resides in the same area he grew up in. He is a graduate of East Carolina University, where he received a bachelor’s degree majoring in Criminal Justice in 2008. Matt then attended North Carolina Central University School of Law, earning his Juris Doctor degree in 2012. He passed the North Carolina Bar Exam in February, 2013, becoming a licensed attorney in the State. Matt joined the Constantinou Law Group, PA as a law clerk while in law school in 2010. He remained at the firm after passing the bar, becoming...

NC Licensed attorney providing residential real estate legal services to Buyers, Sellers and Homeowners.

Melissa Duncan is a member of the family run Duncan Law, PLLC. Our firm is family run and we do all that we can to treat our clients as if they were part of our own family. Duncan Law's Commitment To You: Free Consultation: The first time that you come to our office to talk with an attorney it will be completely free. You deserve to have your case heard without having to pay. Your free consultation will allow you to explain your situation to an attorney so that he can best explain your legal options. Personal Attention: We treat you as a...

Paul Mengert II is a graduate of Elon University School of Law. During his eight-plus years of practice, Paul has accrued significant experience as a litigator and has handled all aspects of family law cases, including custody and divorce. Paul has a keen eye for big picture problem solving and a genuine desire to help his clients achieve their goals. Attorney Mengert is a native of Greensboro. As a young man, Paul achieved the highest rank in Scouting, the Eagle Scout Award. Paul has experience in acting, singing, and debate. While at Elon, Paul excelled at national-level mock trial competitions as...

Rett Saslow's is a North Carolina Board of Legal Specialization Certified Specialist in Business and Consumer Bankruptcy Law since 1996. His law practice is primarily directed to assisting people through bankruptcy, business law, transactional matters, creditors' rights, collections, and commercial real estate. Rett advises clients on business issues and corporate law; assists clients in acquisitions, sales, financing and leasing transactions; and represents clients in Chapter 7, Chapter 13 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. A native of Greensboro, North Carolina, Rett attended public schools in Greensboro, and Davidson College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill....

During much of past fifteen years of my career as an attorney, I worked in the non-profit public interest law sector to provide legal services and technical support to North Carolina’s financially distressed and limited resource property owners seeking to preserve their homes, land, farms, and rural livelihood.  I've also worked briefly at a small private law firm representing clients in personal injury and business litigation cases. I was raised in the West End community of Mebane – my father’s hometown and a historical black community founded by former slaves after the Civil War in Alamance County.  During the past several years, the West End Revitalization Association...

Shahzad Khan, a native of Pakistan, has put down roots in High Point, North Carolina, where he serves the legal needs of his community and the residents of the surrounding counties of the Triad.

A former business owner and manager of a used car dealership, Shahzad earned a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina – Greensboro. Shahzad then went on to pursue his Juris Doctor, which he received from Elon University School of Law.

Shahzad made the decision to pursue a legal career when he saw a need for accessible, efficient, and affordable representation in...

Public Welfare and Poverty Law