Press Release

Firm's representation on the list increases for 9th consecutive year

Public Relations contacts: Russell Thomas, (202) 857-4517
Bruce Buchanan, (336) 728-7027

WINSTON-SALEM, NC-Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC, today announced that 106 attorneys firm-wide have ranked highly on Woodward/White Inc.'s The Best Lawyers in America rankings.

The total number of Womble Carlyle attorneys appearing on the list has increased for the ninth consecutive time, from 102 attorneys in the 2009 rankings to 106 in the 2010 rankings.

The 2010 edition is the sixteenth edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Best Lawyers is based on a peer-review survey in which thousands of top leading attorneys throughout the country cast votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their specialties. The current edition is based on more than 1.8 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

Womble Carlyle ranked #1 overall in North Carolina, and ranked #1 in 15 other state-level categories. The list below highlights those rankings.

Ranked #1 in North Carolina with 83 attorneys.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Bet-the-Company Litigation with 5 attorneys.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Commercial Litigation with 17 attorneys.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Environmental Law with 4 attorneys.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Health Care Law with 6 attorneys.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Insurance Law with 3 attorneys.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Mass Tort Litigation with 3 attorneys.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Municipal Law with 1 attorney.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Non-Profit/Charities Law with 1 attorney.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Personal Injury Litigation with 8 attorneys.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Product Liability Litigation with 6 attorneys.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Professional Malpractice Law with 2 attorneys.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Technology Law with 1 attorney.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Timber Law with 2 attorneys.
Ranked #1 in North Carolina in Trust & Estates with 6 attorneys.
Ranked #1 in Georgia in Technology Law with 1 attorney.
Ranked #1 in Winston-Salem, NC, with 42 attorneys.

The following is a list of the Womble Carlyle attorneys who rank among the country's best, along with a link to each of their bios. Attorneys marked with an asterisk (*) are first-time selections to the Best Lawyers list. Lawyers marked with (10) have been on the Best Lawyers list for at least 10 years. Those marked with (20) have been listed in Best Lawyers for at least 20 years, while those marked with (25) have been on the Best Lawyers list for at least 25 years:

Atlanta
Steven S. Dunlevie, Banking Law
William M. Ragland, Jr., Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property Law, Technology Law
Michael J. Sullivan, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation
* James F. Vaughan, Intellectual Property Litigation
Richard H. Vincent, Health Care Law

Baltimore
John Parker Sweeney, Product Liability Litigation
T. Sky Woodward, Product Liability Litigation

Charlotte
Garza Baldwin III (10), Corporate Governance and Compliance Law, Corporate Law, Securities Law
Timothy G. Barber, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation
G. Michael Barnhill, Administrative Law, Commercial Litigation
Cornelius W. Coghill III, Trusts and Estates
Jim D. Cooley, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Education Law
James P. Cooney III, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Medical Malpractice Law, Non-White-Collar Criminal Defense, Personal Injury Litigation, White-Collar Criminal Defense
James E. Daniel, Employee Benefits Law
Bradford A. De Vore, Environmental Law
Robert M. Donlon, Mergers & Acquisitions Law
J. Carlton Fleming (20), Corporate Law
Debbie Weston Harden, Commercial Litigation
Jeffrey S. Hay, Corporate Law, Venture Capital Law, Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law, Mergers & Acquisitions Law
Mark J. Horoschak, Antitrust Law, Health Care Law
Cyrus M. Johnson, Jr., Corporate Law
* Jane Jeffries Jones, Securities Law
Donald C. Lampe, Banking Law, Corporate Law
Richard E. Morton, Environmental Law
Thomas A. Price, Venture Capital Law
Richard L. Rainey, Labor and Employment Law
William C. Raper (20), Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation
Raboteau T. Wilder, Jr., Health Care Law

Greensboro
Frank W. Bullock, Jr., Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appellate Law
Jack B. Hicks, Intellectual Property Law
James M. Powell (10), Labor and Employment Law
C. Robert Rhodes, Intellectual Property Law
Thomas S. Stukes (10), Health Care Law

Greenville
Larry D. Estridge (10), Real Estate Law
R. Howard Grubbs (10), Environmental Law
D. Allen Grumbine, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law, Corporate Law
Sandra Louise Weikel Miller, Health Care Law
Samuel W. Outten, Commercial Litigation
W. Lindsay Smith (10), Real Estate Law
Elizabeth O. Temple, Securities Law
Rory D. Whelehan, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law

Raleigh
Paul H. Billow, Public Finance Law
Kenneth G. Carroll, Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions Law
Donald A. Donadio (10), Real Estate Law
Robert E. Fields III, Mass Tort Litigation
Marilyn R. Forbes, Mass Tort Litigation
Garth A. Gersten, Insurance Law
G. Thomas Lee, Public Finance Law
Johnny M. Loper, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation
William C. Matthews, Jr., Real Estate Law
Pressly M. Millen, Antitrust Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation
Burley B. Mitchell, Jr., Appellate Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation
Frederick W. Rom, Product Liability Litigation
Alexander P. Sands III, Government Relations Law

Research Triangle Park
Leslie E. Browder (20), Real Estate Law
Kenneth N. Shelton, Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law, Private Funds Law, Timber Law

Washington
Richard G. David, Real Estate Law
Diane J. Fuchs, Employee Benefits Law
John D. Hagner, Real Estate Law
Randall A. Hanson, Mergers & Acquisition Law
* Pamela V. Rothenberg, Real Estate Law
Jeffrey L. Tarkenton, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law

Wilmington
Gerard M. O'Rourke, Intellectual Property Law
George Pazuniak, Intellectual Property Law

Winston-Salem
Alfred G. Adams (20), Real Estate Law
Jean Taylor Adams, Trusts and Estates
Reid C. Adams, Jr., Insurance Law, Personal Injury Litigation
* Elizabeth K. Arias, Trusts & Estates
H. Grady Barnhill, Jr. (25), Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation
Jimmy H. Barnhill (10), Family Law
Anthony H. Brett (10), Health Care Law
Peter S. Brunstetter, Corporate Law, Health Care Law
Karen E. Carey, Construction Law
Keith A. Clinard, Commercial Litigation
W. Andrew Copenhaver (10), Antitrust Law, Commercial Litigation
* Mary Nell Craven, Family Law
Linwood L. Davis (25), Corporate Law, Non-Profit/Charities Law
Ronald R. Davis, Commercial Litigation
Michael L. Drye, Mergers & Acquisitions Law
Charles A. Edwards, Labor and Employment Law
Gusti W. Frankel, Municipal Law, Personal Injury Litigation
Allan R. Gitter (20), Personal Injury Litigation, Professional Malpractice Law
Stanley B. Green, Environmental Law
Ellen M. Gregg, Commercial Litigation
Michael D. Gunter (10), Corporate Law, Employee Benefits Law, Mergers & Acquisitions Law
Hardin G. Halsey, Real Estate Law, Timber Law
Hada de Varona Haulsee, Product Liability Litigation
Lori Privette Hinnant, Environmental Law
Jeffrey C. Howland (10), Corporate Law, Securities Law, Technology Law, Venture Capital Law
Jeffrey T. Lawyer, Tax Law
Christopher E. Leon, Banking Law
R. Michael Leonard, Mass Tort Litigation
James R. Morgan, Jr., Labor and Employment Law
Kenneth A. Moser (10), Banking Law, Real Estate Law
Elizabeth L. Quick (20), Trusts and Estates
George A. Ragland (10), Trusts and Estates
Michael E. Ray, Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property Law
Richard T. Rice (10), Insurance Law, Personal Injury Litigation, Product Liability Litigation, Professional Malpractice Law
Greg L. Smith (10), Corporate Law, Health Care Law, Tax Law
Kimberly H. Stogner, Trusts & Estates
William B. Sullivan (10), Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law
Keith W. Vaughan (10), Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation, Product Liability Litigation
William R. Whitehurst, Employee Benefits Law
C. Mark Wiley (10), Tax Law
Erna A. P. Womble, Product Liability Litigation
William F. Womble, Jr. (10), Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation, Product Liability Litigation

Womble Carlyle - Innovators at Law
A full-service business law firm, Womble Carlyle ranks among American Lawyer magazine's list of the 100 leading firms in the country and is a top law firm for companies doing business in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states.

The firm is a recipient of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Corporate Leadership Award, making Womble Carlyle the first law firm ever to receive the highest honor given to a business organization in recognition of its support of the Fund and its 45 member educational institutions.

The firm also is the first law firm to be awarded the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Freedom Award, which is the highest recognition given by the U.S. government to employers for their support of employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve.

Founded in 1876, Womble Carlyle operates in six states and the District of Columbia with more than 500 attorneys in eleven offices located in Atlanta, GA; Greenville, SC; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, and Winston-Salem, NC; Washington, DC; Tysons Corner, VA; Baltimore, MD; and Wilmington, DE. Womble Carlyle is located in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions, and serves clients nationally and globally.