News

Doug Tate Nominated for William L. Thorp Pro Bono Service Award

At the 28th Judicial District Bar’s April 11th luncheon, Attorney Douglas J. Tate was nominated for the William L. Thorp Pro Bono Service Award for his outstanding service to the Mountain Area Volunteer Lawyer Program (MAVLP). Doug has been an active member of the MAVLP since November of 2005. During that time he has closed eight cases for the landlord/tenant team, including a 2011 case in which he volunteered 69 hours for a Pisgah Legal Services client with a housing matter. He has also served on the 28th Judicial District Pro Bono Committee.

Pisgah Legal Services operates the MAVLP as a referral panel of pro bono attorneys to assist low-income residents of Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, Polk, Rutherford, and Transylvania Counties in the areas of housing, health care, safety/domestic violence, consumer protection, and public benefits.

Doug currently serves as the President of the 28th Judicial District Bar and as the at-large member of the executive committee of Pisgah Legal Services. He is a former member of OnTrack Financial, Education and Counseling’s executive committee. He currently serves on the board of Hope for Horses and the N.C. Horse Counsel. He has served on the United Way Campaign Cabinet for the legal division. He is also a volunteer judge for Buncombe County Teen Court, a diversion program for first time offenders.

Doug is a shareholder at McGuire, Wood & Bissette, P.A. where he concentrates in the area of Creditor’s Rights. Specifically, he handles matters in the fields of general business litigation and negotiation, landlord-tenant law, including evictions, debt collection, foreclosure and creditor-side bankruptcy. Doug also practices in the area of Animal Law, representing dog and horse owners in various disputes involving their companion animals.

Southeast Land & Real Estate Conference

McGuire, Wood & Bissette attorneys Susan Strayhorn Barbour and Rick Jackson of the firm's Real Estate and Development Legal Teams, respectively, attended the Southeast Land & Real Estate Conference on February 24, 2012. Presented by Beverly-Hanks & Associates, the event featured educational sessions on progressive design, real estate, home building, regional economics and sustainable land development.

McGuire, Wood & Bissette Attorneys named in Business North Carolina magazine's 2012 Legal Elite

McGuire, Wood & Bissette, P.A. is pleased to announce that attorneys Joseph P. McGuire and Susan Strayhorn Barbour have been named to Business North Carolina magazine’s Legal Elite list of top lawyers for 2012. McGuire is named in the Litigation category and Barbour in the Real Estate category. The Legal Elite recognizes the best lawyers in the state in specific practice areas as voted by their peers; fewer than 3% of the state’s attorneys are awarded this distinction.

The late Richard A. Wood, Jr. was recently paid tribute by Givens Estates.

The Givens Estates' 2011 Annual Report, The Vine, recognizes Wood as "A Builder of the Dream": "Under Dick's tenure, Givens Estates grew from just a dream into one of the most vibrant and inclusive continuing care retirement communities in our country." A former Managing Partner at McGuire, Wood & Bissette, Mr. Wood served as corporate legal counsel to Givens Estates for more than thirty years and as Givens Board Chair for twenty-four years. In 1998 the Wood Assisted Living Center was named in his honor.

Attorneys Joseph P. McGuire And Douglas O. Thigpen Selected As 2012 Super Lawyers For North Carolina

The Asheville law firm of McGuire, Wood & Bissette, P.A. is pleased to announce that attorneys Joseph P. McGuire and Douglas O. Thigpen have been selected as 2012 Super Lawyers by Super Lawyers magazine. McGuire is honored in the area of Business Litigation, and Thigpen in the area of Real Estate.

Super Lawyers magazine is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Published in all 50 states, Super Lawyers magazine, featuring articles about attorneys named to the Super Lawyers list, is distributed to all attorneys in the state and region, the lead corporate counsel of Russell 3000 companies, and the ABA-approved law school libraries. The magazine also serves as a special supplement in leading newspapers and city and regional magazines across the country.

McGuire, Wood & Bissette, P.A. is pleased to announce that attorney Susan Strayhorn Barbour was recently appointed as 2012 Chair of the Education Committee for the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys (NCAWA). As chair of the Education Committee Susan will be responsible for organizing the Annual Conference for the NCAWA. Held each year in different locations throughout North Carolina, the 2012 Annual Conference will take place in Asheville. Each year the Conference provides an opportunity for NCAWA members to gather and share experiences and training as well as to conduct the NCAWA annual business meeting and determine legislative resolutions for the upcoming year. An attorney with McGuire, Wood & Bissette since 2000, Susan chairs the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group and is a member of the Real Property Section of the North Carolina Bar Association.

W. Louis Bissette, Jr. Named To U.S. News & World Report's 2012 "Best Lawyers"

McGuire, Wood & Bissette, P.A., is pleased to announce that firm president W. Louis Bissette, Jr. was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT’S Best Lawyers in America® 2012 (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.), in the fields of Administrative/Regulatory Law, Commercial Litigation, and Land Use and Zoning Law. Best Lawyers compiles lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. In the U.S., Best Lawyers publishes an annual referral guide, The Best Lawyers in America, which includes attorneys in 126 practice areas, covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

President of McGuire, Wood & Bissette, P.A. since 1999, Bissette has practiced law with the firm since 1976. His extensive civic and community service include two terms as Mayor of the City of Asheville, from 1985 to 1989. He currently serves on the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, is the vice chairman of the Wake Forest University Board of Trustees and is a past trustee of Western Carolina University. He has served as chairman of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, the I-26 Corridor Association, the North Carolina Arboretum Society, and the Grove Arcade Public Market Foundation, and as vice chairman of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and the Buncombe County Economic Development Commission, as well as on numerous other boards and foundations. He has helped the YMCA, Red Cross, Helpmate, Pisgah Legal Services, United Way, Habitat for Humanity, Industries for the Blind and other non-profit organizations raise funds for much needed services.

Attorney Thomas Grella Selected For Three American Bar Association Leadership Positions

McGuire, Wood & Bissette, P.A. is pleased to announce that attorney Thomas C. Grella has been selected to serve in three national legal leadership positions. Grella has been appointed Chair of the Technology and Communications Committee of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) House of Delegates. This standing committee of the ABA House of Delegates examines how to improve communications among delegates, between delegates and their constituencies, and between the House of Delegates and other entities within the ABA and outside of the ABA.

Grella was also named as the Columns Editor of the ABA Law Practice Management Section’s Law Practice Magazine. The general membership of the ABA Law Practice Management Section, at its annual meeting, also elected Grella to a second three-year term as Section Delegate to represent and serve the Section in the ABA House of Delegates.

Attorney Douglas J. Tate Elected President Of The 28th Judicial District Bar

McGuire, Wood & Bissette, P.A. is pleased to announce that attorney Douglas J. Tate is the new President of the 28th Judicial District Bar, serving a one year term from July 2011 through June 2012. Tate specializes in the areas of civil litigation, debt collection, landlord tenant, foreclosure and bankruptcy, and animal law. He serves as a board member for Pisgah Legal Services, OnTrack Financial Services, and Hope for Horses, and as a member of the board of trustees for the Haw Creek Volunteer Fire Department.