Checking In: September 19, 2023
Compiled by Jessica Junqueira
Edwards Beightol Adds New Attorneys
Lama Sinno has joined the firm as of counsel. She has practiced law for 22 years. She has experience representing clients in workers’ compensation, social security, and employment claims; parents in abuse, neglect, and dependency claims filed by the Department of Social Services; juveniles in delinquency claims; and clients who have been charged with committing crimes. She has served as a Guardian ad Litem, and she has volunteered with the Junior Women’s League of Smithfield, My Kids Club, and the Juvenile Crime Prevention Committee. She is a graduate of Campbell Law School (2001) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science.
Jennifer L. Crawford, a trial lawyer, is now an attorney with the firm. Crawford is a member of the firm’s team handling Camp Lejeune Justice Act Cases. She received a B.A. from Muskingum University, where she earned highest honors. Crawford graduated from Campbell Law School in 2001. While in law school, she was a member of the Trial Advocacy Team and received The Barrister’s Award. After graduating from law school, she practiced with a criminal defense firm. Then, she joined the Wake County District Attorney’s office on the prosecutorial side. She served on the Governor’s Task Force for Domestic Violence, and in 2007, she moved to the Wake County Magistrate’s Office. She volunteers at a local nursing home and at the With Love from Jesus food pantry.
Hannah, Sheridan, & Cochran Welcomes New Attorney
Carter Cole has joined the firm. Cole, a native of Cary, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from North Carolina State University. He is especially interested in wills, estates, wealth management, and trusts. He is a 2021 graduate of Campbell School of Law, where he served as a class representative for Campbell’s Student Bar Association and participated in the Advocacy Program. He was recognized as the recipient of the Book Award in his estate planning class. Cole also earned a Master of Trust and Wealth Management degree, summa cum laude, from Campbell University’s Lundy-Fetterman School of Business (2021).
Zeke Bridges joined Capital Ready Mix Concrete as Executive Vice President of HR and General Counsel. As an Executive Vice President, he develops and implements human resource strategies that align with the overall business objectives that support the company’s success. He is also the chief legal officer at Capital as general counsel. He provides strategic legal advice to the CEO and her leadership team, manages legal risks, ensures compliance, and protects the company’s interests across a broad spectrum of legal matters. Bridges served as Vice Dean at Campbell Law School (2020-2023) and Assistant Dean of Administration (2014-2020). He was an adjunct professor at Campbell (2015-2023). Bridges graduated from Campbell Law School and from the University of Georgia, where he double majored in political science and criminal justice.
Drew Heath has joined the firm as a partner. He practices with the government relationships team in Raleigh. Heath served with the North Carolina Supreme Court as the chief justice’s director of the Administrative Office of the Courts. He also worked as the state budget director on the North Carolina governor’s senior leadership team and as the secretary for the Council of State and chairman of the North Carolina Industrial Commission. He served as a Superior Court judge in Raleigh from 2017 to April 2023. He graduated from Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law. He received an L.L.M. from Nottingham Law School and a B.S. from the University of North Carolina Asheville.
In April, Jasmine McGhee was promoted to Senior Deputy Attorney General and Director of the Consumer Protection Division at the North Carolina Department of Justice. The division is responsible for consumer protection, antitrust, and economic justice enforcement and litigation, complaint mediation, and related policy issues. Prior to this role, she was Special Deputy Attorney General/Director of the Public Protection Section, where she directed public safety and civil rights policy at NCDOJ and served as lead counsel for the Governor’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, which in 2020, published 125 recommendations to improve fairness in the state’s criminal justice system. McGhee holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School. While in law school, she was a member of the Columbia Law Review and a Paul Robeson Scholar. She received her undergraduate degree in history from UNC, where she graduated with honors and distinction.
Jennings Law opened in Raleigh on April 1, 2023. Barry Jennings, owner of Jennings Law, is a Board Certified Specialist in North Carolina workers’ compensation law and a North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission Certified Mediator. Jennings has practiced law since 2003. He has represented insurance carriers and employers at Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garafaloe, LLP and individuals at The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin, where he was a partner. Jennings focuses his practice on mediation and believes that mediation is one of the most powerful tools available to parties in civil disputes and North Carolina workers’ compensation claims. He served as chair of the NCBA Workers’ Compensation Section from 2020-2021. Jennings graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law. He holds a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University.
Robin Tatum has joined the firm’s Raleigh office as a partner. Tatum is a land use, zoning, and municipal attorney. She served as the city attorney of Raleigh from 2018 to 2023 and as the city attorney of Asheville from 2014 to 2020. During her role as city attorney, she was the municipal representative on a drafting committee of four people. Tatum and fellow committee members revised the General Statues relating to land use and zoning, and their revisions have been enacted as N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160-D. Tatum received a J.D., summa cum laude, from North Carolina Central University School of Law. She holds a master’s and B.S. from North Carolina State University.
Brian Bernhardt has been named as a partner with the firm. Bernhardt practices in the firm’s Charlotte office. He is a taxation and wealth planning attorney. Bernhardt has represented clients on tax matters and has appeared before the IRS, the Department of Justice Tax Division, the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and multiple U.S. District Courts. He has extensive experience in appellate law and has argued cases before the Supreme Court of North Carolina and the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He holds a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School and an A.B. from Brown University.
Nichad Davis has joined the firm’s personal injury department. He is a personal injury and civil rights attorney. Davis received a J.D. from Campbell Law School. He was the recipient of the Janette Soles Nelson Public Service Scholarship. Before attending law school, Davis was an instructor with Teach for America for three years. He obtained a B.A. in psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and graduated with honors. As an undergraduate, he was the recipient of the Martin Luther King Service Award and the University Transition Opportunities Program Mentor of the Year Award.
Lucy Inman has joined the firm’s Raleigh office. She will focus on appellate cases. Inman earned a B.A. in English from North Carolina State University in 1984, and after obtaining her undergraduate degree, she became a newspaper reporter. Inman graduated with honors from The University of North Carolina School of Law in 1990. While in law school, she was an articles editor for The North Carolina Law Review. She clerked for Chief Justice Exum in the North Carolina Supreme Court.
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP announced that Leah M. Campbell has been elevated to counsel with the firm. Campbell practices in the Charlotte office. She specializes in the intersection of technology, regulation, securities law and financial services. She has represented financial services and insurance company clients in federal and state courts and before state regulators. She has provided intellectual property guidance in mergers and acquisitions and corporate structuring matters. Campbell holds a J.D., magna cum laude, from Tulane University Law School and a B.A. from The Evergreen State College.
The firm announced that attorney Britton Lewis has been selected as a director. Lewis practices in the Commercial Real Estate and Banking and Finance groups. He represents both developers and business owners and supports traditional and asset-based lenders. He is admitted to appear in federal courts in the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of North Carolina. Before joining the firm, Lewis was a clerk for the Honorable Patrick Flatley in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. Lewis earned a J.D., with honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law, and he holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Robert El-Jaouhari is now a partner with the firm. Based in Raleigh, El-Jaouhair focuses on real estate litigation and governmental regulation. He has experience working with clients on complex environmental regulatory matters related to new questions under federal and state law. He earned his J.D., with honors, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, and he also holds a master’s degree in philosophy from Duquesne University and a B.A. in philosophy and history from North Carolina State University.
Allison P. Tanner was elected to partner. Tanner works in the firm’s Charlotte office. She focuses her practice on tax and employee benefits and represents employers on employee benefit and executive compensation matters arising under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. She provides counsel to both public and private companies. Before becoming an attorney, she worked as a lead trial paralegal. She earned a J.D., with honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law, where she was the recipient of the Smith/Shaver Merit Scholarship and a staff member of the North Carolina Law Review. She also holds a B.S. in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.