Five Offit Kurman Attorneys Named to Business North Carolina's Legal Elite 2021 List

For Immediate Release
Charlotte, North Carolina | January 11, 2021

Offit Kurman is pleased to announce that five of the firm's North Carolina attorneys have been selected for their inclusion in Business North Carolina's Legal Elite: Create Quarantine list. Paul Baynard has been chosen for Bankruptcy; Anna Gray LeBlanc, Elizabeth 'Beth' T. Hodges, and Elizabeth' Libby' James have all been selected for Family Law; and Kyle Frost (also Family Law) has been selected as a Young Gun.

Each year, BNC invites active members of the N.C. State Bar to vote for their most-esteemed peers, and this year is the 20^th Legal Elite Class. Attorneys may not vote for themselves or other members of the Legal Elite Hall of Fame; votes for lawyers from another firm are weighted more heavily than votes for one's colleague at the same firm. This year, 982 lawyers were selected as Legal Elite, representing fewer than 4% of the state's 28,000 active attorneys.

At Offit Kurman, Paul Baynard represents business entities in the roles of interim general counsel, outside general counsel, and corporate counsel in a broad range of general corporate services. Mr. Baynard, utilizing both his law degree and his MBA, consistently obtains favorable outcomes for business clients in various types of legal matters. He has represented debtors and creditors (secured and unsecured) in corporate workouts, financial reorganizations, and business bankruptcies under Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.

Anna Gray LeBlanc's practice is dedicated to family law, representing clients for matters such as child custody, child support, equitable distribution, post-separation support, alimony, contempt, breach of contract/specific performance, separation agreements and premarital agreements. As a North Carolina board-certified specialist in family law, Mrs. LeBlanc works diligently with clients to make sure they obtain the best possible settlement and is a keen believer that family law issues should be resolved by ensuring that the client has control over the outcome. Mrs. LeBlanc encourages clients to work hard to resolve issues through mediation, collaborative law sessions, and settlement meetings, but she diligently litigates cases that cannot be settled.

Beth Hodges' practice is devoted exclusively to family law. Ms. Hodges' cases involve the litigation, negotiation, and settlement of simple as well as complex financial and non-financial issues and disputes. In her family law practice, Ms. Hodges handles equitable distribution, alimony, child support, and child custody cases, among others. Her cases also include drafting of premarital agreements, separation agreements, postnuptial agreements, parenting agreements and property settlement agreements. She has settled numerous cases through mediation and arbitration, in addition to resolving cases through litigation. Ms. Hodges is a fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, as well as certified as a family law specialist by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization.

Since 2005, Libby James has dedicated herself to assisting individuals with delicate, personal legal matters. Ms. James practices family law with an emphasis on alimony, post-separation support, equitable distribution, separation agreements, premarital agreements, child support, child custody, contempt motions, qualified domestic relations orders, name changes and domestic violence protective orders and appeals. In addition to being certified as a family law specialist by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, Ms. James is also certified by the Cooperative Parenting Institute as a Parent Coordinator.

Kyle Frost is certified as a family law specialist by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, with emphasis on equitable distribution, child custody, child support, alimony, post-separation support, stepparent adoptions, and post-judgment practice, including contempt proceedings. His practice encompasses Mecklenburg, Gaston, Union, Iredell, Cabarrus and the surrounding North Carolina counties.

For more information regarding Offit Kurman's Charlotte attorneys, visit offitkurman.com.