News Article

From the Charlotte Observer, January 5, 2008

Mecklenburg County officials, fearing a lawsuit over the controversy-filled effort to select a new sheriff, have hired Womble Carlyle attorneys Jim Cooney and Mike Barnhill to defend the county should the sheriff's selection process winds up in court.

Click here to read the article on Charlotte.com, the Charlotte Observer web site. 

Womble Carlyle County and Municipality Litigation Experience

Womble Carlyle represents several of the state's prominent cities including Charlotte, Raleigh and Winston-Salem regarding a number of issues including telecommunications, education, and economic development.

Mecklenburg County v. Time-Warner Entertainment – Advance/Newhouse Partnership— Represented county in claims for breach of cable franchise agreement.

Boring v. Buncombe County Board of Education—Affirmed the right of a local board of education to discipline teachers for teaching outside the prescribed curriculum; decision upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Hayes, et al. v. City of Charlotte—Litigation involving an equal protection challenge to the Charlotte Police Department's affirmative action program.

Maready v. City of Winston-Salem, et al.—Sucessfully argued before the N.C. Supreme Court the constitutionality of governmental use of economic incentives to attract new business. The Court's ruling overturned a ban on incentives, which had threatened North Carolina’s ability to compete economically with other states in recruiting new businesses.

Friedland v. Snider, et al., and Friedland v. City of Charlotte, et al.—Summary judgment granted to City and its police officers in claims of malicious prosecution and violation of constitutional rights by physician accused of killing wife. Case featured on ABC's 20/20.