6 Attorneys Named Among NC's "Legal Elite"

GREENSBORO, NC – Business North Carolina magazine has named six attorneys from Nexsen Pruet Adams Kleemeier’s Greensboro office to its “Legal Elite” listing, an honor bestowed by the publication on less than 5 percent of the state’s lawyers.

The seven, who will be recognized in the publication’s January 2007 issue, include:

• M. Jay DeVaney, a Partner in Greensboro, for real estate law;
• R. Harper Heckman, a Partner in Greensboro, for construction law;
• Benjamin A. Kahn, a Partner in Greensboro, for bankruptcy law;
• Christine L. Myatt, a Partner in Greensboro, for bankruptcy law;
• Peter G. Pappas, a Partner in Greensboro, for employment law;
• David A. Senter, a Partner in Greensboro, for construction law; and 

In developing the list, the publication sent more than 17,000 ballots to every licensed lawyer living in the state, asking each to name the state’s best practitioners in a number of business -related fields. Fewer than 600 earned “elite” status.

Jay DeVaney is a Board Certified Specialist in Real Property Law - Business, Commercial, and Industrial Transactions by the North Carolina State Bar.  He focuses his practice in the areas of commercial real estate, land-use litigation, and legal malpractice defense. DeVaney is a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers Board of Governors and a fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys. He is also a former chair of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Real Property Section and a former member of the Board of Governors.  He is listed in Best Lawyers in America for real estate law; was named a North Carolina “Super Lawyer” in a Law & Politics survey; and is a member of Outstanding Lawyers of America.

Harper Heckman practices in the areas of lien, bond, construction law, and civil litigation. He is a former chair of the North Carolina Bar’s Construction Law Section and is the current chair of the Contract Documents Steering Committee of the American Bar Association's Forum on the Construction Industry.  Additionally, he has been included in the Triad Business Journal's "40 Leaders Under Forty" and was named a North Carolina “Super Lawyer” in a Law & Politics survey.

Ben Kahn is a Certified Specialist in Business and Consumer Bankruptcy Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the North Carolina State Bar.  He focuses his practice is the areas of bankruptcy law and commercial litigation. He has represented creditors' committees, individual secured and unsecured creditors, guarantors, lessors, debtors, trustees, and others in numerous bankruptcy cases under Chapters 7, 11, 12 and 13 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Christy Myatt chairs the firm’s bankruptcy and creditor rights group. She is a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the North Carolina Bar and in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Bankruptcy Board of Certification. She is a former chair of the North Carolina Bar’s Bankruptcy Section; is a former chair of the Bar's Board of Legal Specialization; currently serves as a member of the ABA Committee on Legal Specialization; and was named a North Carolina “Super Lawyer” in a Law & Politics survey.

Peter Pappas practices in the areas of business and commercial litigation, labor and employment law, insurance litigation, ERISA litigation, and fidelity and surety. He is a former chair of the Bench/Bar Liaison Committee, Litigation Section, and Young Lawyers Division of the North Carolina Bar Association. He clerked for the Honorable W. Earl Britt, United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina.     

David Senter chairs the firm’s construction practice group.  He concentrates his practice in the areas of construction and surety, commercial litigation, and commercial collections. He is a member of the Governing Committee of the American Bar Association’s Construction Forum and is a past member of the council of the North Carolina Bar’s Construction Law Section.  He is also a member of the Forum on the Construction Industry, the Tort and Insurance Practice Section, and the Litigation Section of the ABA, and is listed in Best Lawyers in America for construction law and was named a North Carolina “Super Lawyer” in a Law & Politics survey.

Nexsen Pruet Adams Kleemeier, PLLC is one of the largest law firms in the Carolinas, with more than 180 attorneys and offices in Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C. and in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Hilton Head, and Myrtle Beach, S.C. Nexsen Pruet Adams Kleemeier provides a broad range of legal services to the business community and represents companies and other entities in local, state, national, and international venues.