Butner Lawyers

Still an engineer at heart, I help companies seek strong patent protection to arm against me-too products and stay clear of third-party patent rights.

I am the right choice for the right client, but not everyone needs the same sort of patent attorney.

Some clients want to just file something so that the client can say "patent pending" without caring about actually getting a useful patent. I am not a good fit for such clients as I want to be in it to win it.

Some clients want to file a patent application although they have no idea...

Managing partner Benjamin T. Cochran oversees the operation of Hardison & Cochran Attorneys at Law in addition to representing individual clients in cases involving workers’ compensation and personal injury law.

A lifelong North Carolinian, Cochran knew from his high-school days in High Point that he wanted to be an attorney. He received a B.A. degree in economics and African-American studies from the University of North Carolina in 1999 and then enrolled at the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University.

As a second-year law student, Cochran started working part-time in the law firm he now manages. During his third year...

Angela L. Haas, of Haas & Associates, PA, is an experienced family law attorney and mediator, who serves both traditional and non-traditional families in every aspect of family law, estate planning and administration. A double-major honors graduate of Appalachian State University and Campbell Law School, Angela is dedicated to working with each client to develop creative and effective solutions to protect themselves and their families. Ms. Haas offers a refreshing perspective on the challenges and opportunities that each client faces, and seeks to take advantage of the best legal and practical solutions available in each case.

With over 30 years of diverse legal experience including civil litigation, mediation, negotiation, counseling and consulting, Laura’s passion is offering clients personal and powerful representation on employment law issues. The Noble Law is a recognized leader in employment law with offices in New York, Raleigh, and Charlotte. Our goal is to level the playing field for employees. We work to deliver outcomes with integrity and empathy for the client’s journey. Our success is measured by delivering positive impacts for our clients and serving as a catalyst for changes in employment law and society as a whole. Laura developed this conviction from...

Laurie Biggs' practice focuses on business and consumer bankruptcy, including chapter 7, chapter 11, chapter 12, and chapter 13 cases. Ms. Biggs primarily represents small business owners, individuals, and those in the agricultural sector who need help addressing their debts or exploring their legal options. Ms. Biggs has been certified as a specialist in business and consumer bankruptcy by the North Carolina State Bar. With almost twenty years of experience helping clients navigate their financial difficulties, Ms. Biggs In addition to bankruptcy cases, Ms. Biggs also practices in the area of out of court financial restructuring, business disputes, civil...

Melissa Dewey Brumback is an AV-rated litigation partner at Ragsdale Liggett PLLC, where she focuses her practice on defending and protecting engineers and architects in both construction law and business disputes. The bulk of Melissa's practice consists of representing architects and engineers in construction-related claims, including construction administration and management, plan defects, testing failure claims and delay claims. Melissa has represented design professionals in State and Federal courts as well as in binding arbitration, when the parties wish to avoid the formality, time, and expense of a trial. Her practice includes the defense of all sizes of claims, from...

In joining Hardison & Cochran in 2008, Joel Jackson Hardison made a transition from defending insurance companies in Workers Compensation cases to representing injured and disabled workers. He applies the insights he gained from representing insurance companies to assist the injured workers he represents. There is little doubt about which type of practice he prefers. Hardison received a B.A. degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina in 1999 and a J.D. from the UNC School of Law in 2004. He was a member of the law school’s Holderness Moot Court team and was named to the Dean’s List. He launched his...

Construction & Business Lawyer representing Owners, Developers, Sureties, General Contractors, Subcontractors, Suppliers, and other Construction Industry Participants in Litigation, Mediation, and Arbitration. Federally Certified Mediator for the EDNC, United States District Court. Certified Arbitrator for Wake County District Court. Private Arbitrator for Construction and Commercial disputes. Arbitrator and Mediator, Construction Industry Panel of Neutrals, American Arbitration Association (AAA)

Hunt's practice at Martin & Jones focuses on representing people who have been harmed by the negligence of others, including from tractor-trailer collisions, car wrecks, defective products and construction accidents. He has successfully tried numerous cases to verdict for his clients before juries across the state of North Carolina. He is licensed to practice in all North Carolina courts, as well as all federal courts in North Carolina and the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Hunt has been recognized by Super Lawyers every year since 2016 as a Rising Star.

Workers who have been injured on the job or who suffer occupational diseases oftentimes must face a frustrating waiting game to receive the benefits they deserve. Attorney James Adam Bridwell, who focuses his practice solely on workers’ compensation cases, knows what it takes to help clients get their lives back together. Bridwell is a native South Carolinian. He received a B.A. in marketing and management from the University of South Carolina before coming to Raleigh to attend Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. While in law school, he was a case summary writer for the Campbell Law Observer and...

Elder Law and Estate Planning attorney. Personal Family Lawyer (tm). Member NAELA and Wealth Counsel. Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering, Michigan State University College of Law. Compassionate, able to work with families experiencing dementia or other disabilities.

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. ...

Weede Law, PLLC is a criminal defense law practice that handles all types of state and federal criminal cases. We serve the Triangle area as well as surrounding communities.

Attorney Patrick B. Weede, a former state and federal prosecutor and an experienced trial attorney, is uniquely qualified to handle your case. He knows how to identify the key issues and how to think like a prosecutor.

As a prosecutor, Mr. Weede handled almost every type of case, including traffic, DWI, drugs, fraud, property crimes, firearm offenses, common law/armed robbery, and murder. In addition, he...

Stuart Matthews is the founding immigration attorney of Matthews Immigration Group in Raleigh, NC. His practice is nationwide and focused on business and corporate immigration matters. Prior to relocating to Raleigh, Stuart gained well over a decade of diverse immigration law and policy experience in Washington DC, Baltimore, and Nashville. Stuart has delivered immigration strategies and solutions to Fortune 50, Fortune 500, and Global 500 companies as well as other domestic and multinational corporations, middle market companies, small business start-ups and entrepreneurs, research organizations and DC think tanks, academic institutions, law firms, and individuals across a wide range of industries,...

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...

Attorney Peace is a managing partner at the Law Office of Peace & Squires, PLLC practicing in the areas of Business, Contracts, and Personal Injury Law. Attorney Peace has worked extensively negotiating North American and International contracts, and has used her notable negotiations skills to effectuate first-rate results for her clients.

Attorney Peace earned her Juris Doctor degree from North Carolina Central University in 2008, her Master of Business Administration, Cum Laude, from North Carolina Central University in 2004, and her Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, Magna Cum Laude, from North Carolina Central University in 2002. While attending North Carolina...

Forest has been practicing law for more than twenty-five years. He spent the first six years of his career as a partner with a large “defense” law firm mainly defending large corporations in civil lawsuits. Seeing the inequalities that existed in the justice system between wealthy and powerful companies and regular people, Forest was motivated to change his law practice, join Martin & Jones and help level the playing field for ordinary, hard-working men and women and their families.

John A. Price has over four decades of legal experience, including first chair trial experience on a variety of complex business and commercial litigation matters with special emphasis on the areas of antitrust and unfair/deceptive trade practices, business torts, securities fraud, intellectual property, minority shareholder, regulatory, products liability, environmental, and a wide spectrum of business disputes. He is ranked AV Preeminent with 5 out of 5 for legal ability and ethics by Martindale-Hubbell in a peer-reviewed rating. He is certified in civil litigation by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, licensed to practice law in Kansas, Texas and...

I am a North Carolina Board Certified Specialist in Immigration Law (one of only twenty-nine in the state). I graduated with Honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 2009 and have over five years of full-time immigration law experience. I love my job because on a daily basis I work closely with families, businesses, and individuals to make an otherwise intimidating immigration process smooth and worry-free. I approach each case with honesty and integrity and will work diligently to achieve a favorable outcome for each client.

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.

Nathaniel “Nat” Smith heads up the firm’s civil litigation practice. He handles serious personal injury and workers’ compensation cases in addition to business litigation, trust and estate litigation cases. He also works on civil appeals on behalf of the firm’s clients. Mr. Smith grew up in Raleigh, where he was a member of Broughton High School’s 50th graduating class in 1979. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics. He graduated with honors from UNC School of Law in 1993. While in law school, he clerked...

Valerie A. Johnson graduated from the University of North Carolina and from the UNC School of Law in 1994, with honors Before entering law school, Valerie was an elementary school teacher.

Valerie is a specialist in workers' compensation law. She teaches trial advocacy at the University of North Carolina School of Law. Valerie also has taught workers' compensation law at Wake Forest University's School of Law.

Valerie serves on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice and chaired the workers’ compensation committee. She is a former board member of the Lawyers Coordinating Committee...

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...

A North Carolina native, David was born and raised in a commercial fishing family on the Outer Banks. He decided to attend law school while he was at North Carolina State University earning dual BAs in Economics and Business Management. Even then, he knew that “fighting for the little guy” was his destiny. After 20 years, he and his partners continue to stand for the same principles.

An avid Top Dragster racer (with an IHRA Class B license), David has written articles on the importance of adequate insurance coverage and appropriate legal representation for several racing industry publications.

He spent years dedicated...

Buxton Reed Bailey is a practicing attorney in Raleigh, N.C. He represents clients in North Carolina and other states, including Maryland, Delaware, Georgia and Pennsylvania. His law firm, Buxton R. Bailey, P.C., focuses on a general practice of law with a special focus on Immigration and Nationality Law. Bailey, a native English speaker, is also fluent in Spanish. Immigration law is a unique area of law without boundaries and Attorney Bailey represents corporate and individual clients locally and globally. Attorney Bailey represents his clients before the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, The...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Jeff brings 25 years of business and legal experience to his business/corporate transactional and general civil practice. Earning his Juris Doctorate from Valparaiso University School of Law and his MBA from North Carolina State University, Jeff specializes in commercial transactions (contracts, vendor relationships/negotiations, M&A due diligence) and enjoys the art of the deal. Jeff’s popular Software Licensing Handbook is consistently reviewed as the bible for technology licensing instruction and he’s frequently sought as a recognized expert in negotiation by publications such as Inc, CBS and MSNBC. Jeff is licensed in both North Carolina and Indiana and is admitted to...

For Joey DeMartin, officially joining the team at Hardison & Cochran, Attorneys at Law feels like a homecoming. He worked at the law firm, writing motions and assisting in the call center while attending Campbell Law School in Raleigh. DeMartin graduated from the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University in 2018 and passed the North Carolina Bar Exam in 2019. The Washington, N.C., native is the first attorney in his family. “My grandfather was pretty happy with that,” DeMartin said, noting that the law had interested him from a young age. “I was definitely the family debater. … I...

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...

Kelly A. Stevens is a co-founder and managing member of the law firm of Hemmings & Stevens, P.L.L.C. and has been practicing as an attorney since 1994. She grew up in the mid-west and graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. While in college she was elected President of her pre-law fraternity, Phi Alpha Delta. She attended law school at the University of Missouri-Columbia and graduated in 1994. While in law school she performed an internship at the Attorney General's Office for the State of Missouri and later clerked for...

Attorney J. Wallace Pierce was born in the Republic of South Africa. In the course of his tenure as a scholar, he spent much of his time studying, exploring and grasping the complexity that surrounds South Africa's race relations. In early 2001, Attorney Wallace Pierce relocated to Durham, North Carolina with his family. Attorney J. Wallace Pierce acquired his Bachelors in History, Concentration in African American History, from North Carolina Central University in 2006. Attorney Pierce finished this four yearlong program in only three years. His determination and enthusiasm to furthering his involvement in the local community grew as...

Attorney Rebecca A. Olla was raised in Austin, Texas. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and her Law Degree from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. Before joining The Bishop Law Firm, Rebecca worked for the Texas State Office of the Attorney General and the U.S. District Court of Southern New York. After working for the government (by the people), Rebecca refocused her practice to represent clients in federal appeals in U.S. District Court (for the people). Through her prior legal experience, Rebecca has learned that lawyers are needed to ensure positive outcomes for their...

I’m a North Carolina native and a graduate of the CUNY Law School class of 2017. Prior to law school, I worked at an international reproductive rights and health organization and founded a local nonprofit to help people in North Carolina access medical care.

My legal interests include remedying the collateral consequences of having a criminal record and ensuring civil rights. Outside of the legal profession, I enjoy playing roller derby and trying new foods in the Triangle area.

Carter Whittington concentrates his practice in North Carolina workers’ compensation law, helping injured workers seek the benefits they need and deserve after sustaining a job related injury. Whittington started working at Hardison & Cochran while he was a third-year student at Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. After graduating cum laude and receiving his J.D. in 2016, he joined Hardison & Cochran as a full-time attorney. A North Carolina native, Whittington grew up in Winston-Salem and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received a B.A. in political science in 2012. In law school, Whittington was...