Checking In: February 21, 2023

Compiled by Jessica Junqueira

Craige Jenkins Liipfert & Walker LLP Elects New Partner

The firm announced that Crissy R. Dixon was elected to partner. Dixon focuses her practice on estate planning, estate administration, trust administration and taxation. She received a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 2016, where she served as the Editor in Chief of Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy and was honored with the Outstanding Female Law Graduate award. She holds a B.A. from Rutgers University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Cranfill Sumner LLP Welcomes New Associate

Elizabeth Leonard has joined the firm’s Charlotte office. Her practice is focused on construction law and civil litigation. She has prior experience practicing civil litigation with a focus on construction law, personal injury, and other liability matters. Before becoming an attorney, she was a writer and editor.  She received a J.D. from the William & Mary Law School, where she was a Review Articles Editor and Legal Practice Writing Fellow. Leonard holds a B.A. in psychology from Wesleyan University.

Hannah Sheridan & Cochran Adds New Attorney

Aaron Gavin has joined the firm. Gavin is a 2022 graduate of Wake Forest University School of Law. While in law school, he served as a research assistant for Alyse Bertenthal. Gavin has experience serving as a volunteer to veterans, children, the homeless and to his church community. He graduated from Auburn University with a double major in history and economics.

Latitude Opens New Office In Charlotte, Announces Goodman As Leading Partner

Latitude has opened a new office in Charlotte. The company provides national legal services and the new office is the fifth location that has opened since January 2022. The new location will serve legal departments and law firms across the United States.

Clark Goodman is the founder and leader of the new office. Goodman has practiced as a litigation attorney for nearly 30 years. He has represented publicly traded and large private corporations, public officials, governmental agencies, and individuals in state and federal courts (as well as domestic and international arbitrations) in a wide range of complex commercial disputes. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He holds a B.A. from Duke University.

The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin Selects New Partners

Paul Dickinson Jr. has been named a partner with the firm. Dickinson has more than 30 years of experience practicing law. Over the course of his career, he has litigated many large cases, such as the Blackwater Massacre case. Dickinson has extensive experience teaching both classes and seminars. He currently focuses on personal injury and litigation. He earned a J.D. from the South Texas College of Law and a B.A. in finance from the University of South Florida.

Miriah Millis Yanez, a personal injury attorney, was also named a partner. Yanez joined the firm in 2017. She represents clients who are victims of accidents, injured and disabled. She leads the Summer Associate Internship program for law students. Yanez graduated from the Duquesne School of Law in 2012. She holds a B.A. in psychology and pre-law, summa cum laude, from Gannon University.

Susan Vanderweert was also elevated to partner. Vanderweert focuses her practice on workers’ compensation law. She is a North Carolina State Bar Board Certified specialist in workers’ compensation law. Before joining the firm, she represented employers and insurance companies for 12 years. She graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 2002. She earned an M.A. in liberal studies from Duke University and dual degrees in political science and communication from the University of Minnesota.

Wood Rejoins Morningstar Law, Leads New National Practice

Swain Wood has rejoined Morningstar Law as a partner. He will chair a new national practice focusing on assisting clients with the complex legal and political challenges associated with government investigations, negotiation, and litigation, including matters involving state attorneys general and other government entities. Wood served as First Assistant Attorney General of North Carolina from 2017 to 2023. He supervised the civil, criminal, multistate, and appellate legal work of the Department of Justice under Josh Stein. During his tenure with the Department of Justice, he was lead national negotiator in the national opioid settlements with Fortune 50 companies. He earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. from Georgetown University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Cline Takes New Role As Assistant District Attorney for New Hanover County

Janelle Cline is now Assistant District Attorney for New Hanover County (Prosecutorial District 6). In this new role, she will handle felony financial crimes. Before becoming an attorney, Cline was a reporter and anchor for KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas. Cline earned a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law in 2019. She also holds an M.J. in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland and a B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Jeffrey Hart Rejoins Robinson Bradshaw As New Shareholder

Jeffrey Hart has rejoined the firm as a shareholder. He designs and documents complex capital and funding structures, governance and operational systems, and buy-sell mechanisms for investment sponsors, joint venture parties and other clients. He will practice in the firm’s Research Triangle office. In 1997, Hart joined Robinson Bradshaw, and in 2008, he opened the firm’s office located in the Research Triangle. He received a J.D. from Duke University and an undergraduate degree from Davidson College, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and as a Ken Kelley Scholar.

Williams Mullen Selects New Partner

Drew Shores is now a partner with the firm. He focuses his practice on intellectual property law with an emphasis on electrical and software patent prosecution, counseling and litigation. He also focuses on trademark prosecution and litigation. He has worked with patent and trademark examiners, and he has practiced before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), and in multiple federal district courts. He received a J.D. from Campbell Law School, an M.S. from Duke University and a B.S. from Rhodes College.

Young Moore Welcomes New Managing Partner

Dawn M. Dillon is now the firm’s managing partner. She is the first woman to hold this role. She will oversee operations and strategic planning at the firm. Dillon succeeds David M. Duke, who will continue to practice at Young Moore. Dillon is a shareholder with Young Moore and is the co-chair of the workers’ compensation and employment law group. She has also served on the firm’s Practice Management Committee and as operations shareholder since 2016. She has served as the chair of ALFA International Workers’ Compensation Practice Group, as well as a past president of the board of directors of the Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education. Dillon served as a judicial clerk for Judges Jack Cozort and Donald Smith of the N.C. Court of Appeals. She earned a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law and a B.A., magna cum laude, from Mary Washington College.