News Archive

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Corporate Associate Cowden Rayburn was recognized by The MVA Public Service Committee for his contributions within the community and his outstanding commitment to service. Cowden has been helpful in presenting to the Boost Pad cohort over the past several months.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Litigation Associate Precious McLaughlin served as a guest speaker for a Southern Politics class at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC on Monday, November 21.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Bankruptcy & Restructuring Member Hillary Crabtree has been invited to speak on a panel discussing Subchapter V of the Bankruptcy Code (governing small business reorganizations in chapter 11) at the annual Caribbean Insolvency Symposium presented by the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), the nation’s largest association of insolvency professionals. Hillary’s co-panelists include a prominent bankruptcy judge from the Southern District of Florida, and other leading bankruptcy practitioners. 

The MVA Black Attorney Resource Group (BARG) recently hosted a Black Professionals Networking Mixer to connect and re-connect with Black Professionals across the Charlotte community. Over 30 guests gathered for the event at the Grand Bohemian for cocktails and conversations among attendees.

Moore & Van Allen PLLC (MVA) is pleased to announce that the firm received national rankings for seven practice areas in the 2023 edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms." In addition, the firm garnered 39 Tier 1 rankings among its 53 metropolitan rankings for multiple practices.

MVA is pleased to formally announce the naming of its Civil Rights & Racial Equity Assessments Practice dedicated to conducting public-facing racial equity and other civil rights audits and related confidential, privileged assessments for entities in this evolving arena.

MVA Corporate Associate Tyler Carpenter was recipient of the October Pro Bono Monthly Award by the MVA Public Service Committee for his contributions within the community and his outstanding commitment to service. MVA recently launched its newest pro bono project called the Charlotte Legal Initiative to Mobilize Businesses (CLIMB) which offers transactional legal services to entrepreneurs and small businesses in historically under-resourced communities of Charlotte, especially BIPOC, female, LGBTQ+, veteran, and disabled entrepreneurs. In addition to providing direct legal services, CLIMB offers legal education seminars to its community referral partners that includes the Boost Pad small business incubator.  

Moore & Van Allen Member Ed O’Keefe and Senior Counsel John Stoker were quoted in the Global Data Review on October 19 titled, “CFPB lawsuit could limit regulatory power over algorithms”.  The article discusses how a lawsuit challenging the CFPB’s recent broad-ranging approach to claims and reviews of discrimination could whittle the agency’s focus on algorithms leveraged for financial products.

Moore & Van Allen’s client CCP Capital Strategies, a private equity investment firm, and its newly formed CCP affiliate has acquired 100 percent of the equity of Wireless Maritime Services, LLC (“WMS”) from AT&T and Anuvu on October 17.  The primary MVA attorneys assisting in the representation of CCP Capital Strategies on this matter were Members John Evans and Brian Mesibov and Associates Zach Ainsztein, Kathy Clark, Samuel Gilleran, and Natalie Hilmandolar.

Moore & Van Allen PLLC (MVA) is pleased to announce that the Charlotte Triage Pro Bono Partnership (Charlotte Triage) — developed to expand pro bono services for low-income Charlotte residents — marked its fourth anniversary with CLE training sessions attended by 272 legal and other professionals who learned about Charlotte Triage and participated in training to assist pro bono- clients.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) is pleased to announce that it has been ranked as a “highly recommended” firm for Dispute Resolution and a “recommended” firm for Labor & Employment in North Carolina in the 2023 edition of Benchmark Litigation. This is the 14th consecutive year in which MVA has earned Benchmark recognitions.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Co-head of Litigation and White Collar, Regulatory Defense & Investigations John Fagg was named to Lawdragon’s list of the nation’s “500 Leading Litigators in America.”

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Litigation Member Jim McLoughlin was named to Lawdragon’s list of the nation’s “500 Leading Litigators in America.”

Moore & Van Allen PLLC (MVA) is pleased to announce that Sarah Dohoney Byrne, senior counsel in the firm’s Charlotte office and leader of MVA’s Human Trafficking Prevention & Compliance practice, has been named to The American Lawyer magazine’s 2022 list of South Trailblazers.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Firm Chair & Managing Partner Tom Mitchell was quoted in the Charlotte Business Journal article titled, “Return to Office? How Cushman, Crescent and other local employers are meeting challenges, opportunities of workplace changes” which was published on September 23. 

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Financial Regulatory Advice & Response Senior Counsel Sarah Byrne was engaged by the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research and the Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking (FAST) Initiative to provide a review and recommendations for the Survivor Inclusion Initiative. The results of that project were released in “Lessons from the Survivor Inclusion Initiative (SII) in the UK, US, and Canada.” The SII is a financial access project launched in September 2019 in the UK, US, and Canada by the Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking (FAST) Initiative. It is a global financial sector initiative intended to provide support and remedy to survivors of human trafficking.

Congratulations to the following 25 Moore & Van Allen attorneys who have completed 50 or more hours of pro bono legal services in 2021 and are members of the 2021 NC Pro Bono Honor Society.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Litigation Associate Sarah Sheridan served as a guest speaker for a virtual panel to a group of 1L Duke Law students on September 9. Sarah discussed values-driven decision-making, which is a new program designed to help 1L students inventory their core values and make decisions both inside and outside the classroom that are aligned with their values.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) has been ranked at number one on the Triad Business Journal’s Largest N.C. Metro-Area Law Firms list published September 9. MVA is number one with 339 attorneys. Information on The List was supplied by individual firms through questionnaires, emails and phone calls and could not be independently verified by Triad Business Journal.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) is pleased to announce that the following individuals have been ranked in the 32nd edition of IFLR1000 United States. MVA chairman Tom Mitchell was rated as a “highly regarded” banking & finance lawyer in North Carolina, and member Steve Hope was rated as a “highly regarded” M&A lawyer in North Carolina. Member Carolyn Meade was rated as a “notable practitioner” M&A lawyer in North Carolina and counsel Ed Ivey was rated as a “rising star” capital markets: derivatives and capital markets: structured finance and securitisation.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Financial Regulatory Advice & Response Associate John Lightbourne has been named to The National Law Journal’s 2022 list of Cryptocurrency/Blockchain/Fintech Trailblazers. The National Law Journal’s Trailblazers supplements recognizes professionals who have moved the needle in the legal industry. The legal professionals on this list have made significant contributions in the cryptocurrency, blockchain and fintech industries.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Corporate Member Carolyn Meade provided deal advisory services and legal representation of FranDevCo in the transaction partnership with ABACO, a premier lower middle market private equity firm led by Michael Abdy, with backing from Noah Lowy of the Lowy Family Group. Additionally, MVA Tax Consultant Laura Gray provided tax advice on the transaction.

We at Moore & Van Allen grieve the loss of our friend and partner Ronald S. Melamed, who passed away on August 4, 2022, after living for seven years with pancreatic cancer. Ron carried on with grace and humor. He will be remembered for his inexhaustible spirit and his unwavering positivity in the face of adversity. In this, as in many things, Ron was an example to us all.

The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), the nation’s largest association of insolvency professionals, has appointed MVA Bankruptcy & Restructuring Member Luis Lluberas to serve on the Advisory Board for ABI’s annual Caribbean Insolvency Symposium (CIS). The CIS is a longstanding, broadly publicized conference featuring prominent restructuring professionals and judges, focusing on national insolvency issues as well as issues specific to the Caribbean region. The CIS, which alternates yearly between Puerto Rico and Grand Cayman, will take place February 6 – 8, 2023 at the Westin Grand Cayman.  For more information, please visit:  https://www.abi.org/caribbean-insolvency-symposium-7

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Employment & Labor Member John Zaloom was quoted in the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) article titled, “Distinctions Among Class, Collective and Representative Actions Make a Difference” which was published on August 23.

Moore & Van Allen PLLC (MVA) is pleased to announce that the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America© has listed 104 MVA attorneys who were highly recommended by their peers. In addition, 11 firm attorneys were named Best Lawyers® “Lawyer of the Year” and 34 MVA attorneys were selected as Best Lawyers® “Ones to Watch.”

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Co-head of Privacy & Data Security Member Karin McGinnis and Financial Regulatory Advice & Response Counsel Jonathan Prytherch were interviewed for the Citywire article titled, “How advisors should prepare for new cybersecurity rules” which was published on August 18.

Moore & Van Allen PLLC (MVA) is pleased to announce the arrival of Tracey Easton as senior counsel and a member of the firm’s Commercial Real Estate (CRE) group, based in the Charleston office.

MVA Public Affairs Counsel Leslie Pedernales and Intellectual Property Counsel Ellen Andelman served as presenters for the ACC CLE titled, “Advertising, Copyright, Trademark and Avoiding Trouble,” which was held on August 4. Approximately 95 attendees joined for the discussion on how to spot issues in their marketing team’s efforts, and ultimately help them get to “yes” for the exciting creative they are developing for your company. 

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) has again been ranked as a top legal adviser on syndicated loans. The firm's Finance team ranked in the top tier of Refinitiv Loan Pricing Corporation’s (LPC) first half of 2022 U.S. Law Firm League Tables for representing Lead Arrangers on syndicated loan transactions. For the first half of this year, MVA has advised on 80 syndicated loan transactions, which generated over $61 billion in aggregate gross proceeds and earned the firm a second place position on the league table for all syndicated loans based on number of deals. As further evidence of MVA's ongoing distinction in the secured/leveraged lending market, MVA advised on 40 syndicated leveraged loan transactions, which generated more than $21 billion in aggregate gross proceeds, earning the firm a second place position on the league table specifically for syndicated leveraged loans based on number of deals.

MVA Co-head of White Collar, Regulatory Defense & Investigations Valecia McDowell and Litigation Associate Elena Mitchell were quoted in a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) article titled, “Equity Audits Address Racism in the Workplace,” which was published on August 9.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) has been recognized by IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals, a unique guide that identifies the top patent professionals in key jurisdictions around the globe. MVA members Kate Cole, Jeffrey Gray, Chris Knors, Dick Lupo, Kevin Ransom, Nick Russell, Peter Stewart, Todd Taylor, and Mark Wilson were listed as recommended attorneys in their respective practice areas.

Moore & Van Allen PLLC (MVA) is pleased to announce that MVA attorneys Charles M. Jordan, Jr. and David B. Wheeler have been named to Charleston Business Magazine’s 2022 Legal Elite listing of top attorneys in the region as recognized by their peers.

Moore & Van Allen PLLC (MVA) is pleased to announce a major victory for its client, retired Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation CEO Bill Lovette, in a high-profile federal criminal antitrust case brought by the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division alleging a multi-year conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices in the national broiler chicken market in violation of the Sherman Act. 

Moore & Van Allen PLLC (MVA) is pleased to announce that MVA Member Frank E. Schall has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as among the leading litigators in the United States age 40 and under.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) attorneys John Fagg, Frank Schall, Jim McLoughlin, Kaitlin Price, and Fielding Huseth were named American Lawyer’s Runners Up for Litigators of the Week for having represented their client who went to trial for a third time on criminal antitrust charges in federal court in Denver.

Moore & Van Allen’s (MVA) Head of Wealth and Estate Planning Member Chris Jones and MVA’s Private Wealth Practice has been recognized in the 2022 Chambers High Net Worth directory.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) welcomes Barrett Morris to our Swaps, Derivatives and Structured Products group. Barrett has over seven years of experience working at Wall Street and other large US banks, and brings that experience to provide legal guidance on OTC and exchange trades swaps, options, futures and other derivatives, including related guidance on debt and capital market activities. Barrett leverages his past in-house and compliance experiences to strategically advise clients through regulatory investigations and exams. 

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Co-head of White Collar, Regulatory Defense & Investigations Valecia McDowell has been invited to serve as a member of the Duke University Law School’s Board of Visitors for the 2022-2025 term. 

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Co-head of Litigation Mark Nebrig successfully represented four PDQ executives in achieving dismissal of an ESOP shareholder class action suit. Nebrig was quoted in the recent Law360 article titled, “PDQ Execs Beat Worker Suit Over $12M Kwik Trip Sale Profits,” "Decisions like these from our federal judges, coupled with Congress' current legislative effort with the RISE and SHINE Act, go a long way in promoting ESOPs and the benefits of employee ownership.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Financial Regulatory Advice & Response Co-head Neil Bloomfield and Senior Counsel John Stoker served as panelists for the Strafford live webinar “Attorney-Client Privilege and Bank Examination Privilege for Financial Institutions” which took place June 28. 

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Co-Head of White Collar, Regulatory Defense & Investigations Valecia McDowell and Litigation Associate Elena Mitchell were featured in Episode 78 of The Financial Executive Podcast. The episode is entitled “Auditing a Company’s Civil Rights Record” and aired on June 22.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Public Affairs Counsel Leslie Pedernales was a featured speaker on Media and Advertising Law during a Marketing Legal Training Seminar for Apex Tool Group (ATG) that was held on June 28.  The training provided ATG’s Global team an overview of the legal issues to be on the lookout for as they design, develop, and implement ATG’s marketing strategies.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Member and Co-head of Financial Restructuring Zach Smith has been elected to the Arts+ Board of Directors, Class of 2023.  Arts+ is a well-known non-profit organization working to promote the transformative impact of arts education in every corner of the Charlotte region. 

Moore & Van Allen was presented with the “City Builders Award” from Charlotte Center City Partners at the 2022 Vision Awards on May 26. The firm was selected based on our work on the Center City Small Business Innovation Fund in which Tom Mitchell is a funding committee member. This award recognizes individuals and organizations that exemplify remarkable vision and make a difference in the City’s ongoing transformation. This initiative was designed to spur and support innovation by Charlotte’s small businesses as they adapt to the new economic realities caused by COVID-19. As a key partner for this program, Tom was able to accept the award on behalf of Moore & Van Allen.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) will serve as an Opening Reception Sponsor for the 27th Annual American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop taking place in Amelia Island, Florida from July 21-24. MVA Financial Restructuring Counsel Reid Dyer serves as an advisory board member for this year’s event. 

MVA celebrated its longstanding commitment to public service by hosting the 21st Annual Sally & Bill Van Allen Public Service Award luncheon presentation on June 8. This annual event serves as an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our employees and community partners who are making significant service contributions.

Moore & Van Allen (MVA) White Collar, Regulatory Defense & Investigations Member Frank Schall was profiled in the Law360 article, “Rising Star: Moore & Van Allen's Frank Schall” which was published June 14.

Moore & Van Allen PLLC (MVA) is pleased to announce that Member Frank E. Schall has been selected as one of Law360's 2022 “Rising Stars” in the White Collar category.