MVA Litigation

   While it is difficult to find the right words to say, I want to say something to honor my friend who recently passed away.  Judge Christopher M. Collier was far too young and taken too suddenly for me to have been prepared to reflect on his life and the impact he had made on the world and those around him.  I have had a couple of weeks since his passing for the loss to sink in.  We are incredibly fortunate to have been touched by Chris Collier while he was with us. 

    I first became friends with Chris when we were undergraduate students at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Our paths continued to cross as we both went on to practice law, remained involved in the community and gathered periodically with friends from our college days.  I had the opportunity to watch a talented young lawyer develop into a sharp legal mind and leader on the bench.  His accomplishments at just 48 years old:  Iredell County Senior Resident Superior Court Judge (appointed 2001, elected since 2002); Assistant District Attorney. 

    It is a testament to the extraordinary character of Chris Collier that at the end of his journey he remained a man of integrity, and notwithstanding spending over a decade on the bench, has been described as a “good, kind man” and “a “gentle soul and a kind spirit.”  There is little I can say to fill the void left by Judge Collier’s absence.  He will be remembered fondly and greatly missed.