2022 in Review: Another Year of Excellence
Smith Anderson appreciates that while the days are long, the years are short, and as the Triangle’s largest business and litigation law firm, we look forward to a stellar 2023 while pausing to reflect on 2022 by highlighting some of the recognition, honors and appointments the firm and its attorneys received.
Smith Anderson hit two major milestones in 2022 – our 110th anniversary and a record year in attorney hiring. Beyond that, leading legal ranking organizations consistently honored our attorneys as among the best regionally and nationally, and our firm continued its long tradition of excellence and service to clients and the community.
Our work captured positive attention that further cements our reputation as an award-winning law firm that continually strives to provide the highest standards of professionalism, legal acumen and excellence. Here’s a look back:
January
2022 began with Business North Carolina (BNC) magazine naming a number of our attorneys among the state’s legal elite, and Triangle Business Journal (TBJ) honoring Amy Batten, chair of the firm’s Management Committee, with its Women in Business Award. North Carolina Super Lawyers honored 32 Smith Anderson attorneys, including naming 15 of our attorneys to its Rising Star list, our largest class in recent history.
February
Chambers Global gave kudos to our AgTech practice as one of only seven law firms in the world to be recognized in Agribusiness.
March
Benchmark Litigation named us North Carolina’s Litigation Firm of the Year for the third year in a row.
April
North Carolina Lawyers Weekly named our managing partner Byron Kirkland a North Carolina Leader in the Law, and The Diversity Movement, a D&I consulting firm, told the world that the firm was “doing it right” with our D&I Initiatives.
May
Byron continued his winning streak, with Business North Carolina naming him one of the state’s most influential leaders, and North Carolina Lawyers Weekly named us one of the state’s largest law firms.
June
Law360 ranked us one of the U.S. Top 300 law firms and Chris Kiger was installed as president-elect North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys.
We continued to shine in the 2022 Chambers USA guide, which featured 32 of our attorneys and gave 13 of our practice areas its highest rankings. Smith Anderson also had more lawyers recognized in the Corporate/Mergers & Acquisitions category than any other North Carolina-based law firm and rankings in the following practice categories: Banking & Finance; Construction; Corporate/Mergers & Acquisitions; Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation; Environment; Health Care; Intellectual Property; Labor & Employment; Litigation: General Commercial; Real Estate; and Tax.
July
The North Carolina Bar Association honored Andrew Atkins for his professionalism and service, and the TBJ again confirmed our reputation as one of the Triangle’s Best Places to Work for the third year in a row.
Chambers spotlighted our Private Wealth practice, along with Walter Rogers and Kim Swintosky, in its 2022 High Net Worth Guide.
August
For the first time, Smith Anderson ranked as a Top 20 most prestigious law firm in the South Atlantic by Vault Law. A presentation Taylor Dewberry and Shameka Rolla created for NC State football players about knowing their rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments brought home a national Public Service award for the North Carolina Bar Association.
Best Lawyers® recognized 98 of our attorneys, including nine “Lawyers of the Year” for Raleigh, our D&I initiatives led to a Leaders in Diversity award from TBJ and Kerry Shad and Addie Ries were named to Benchmark Litigation’s International Top 250 Women in Litigation guide.
September
The American Bar Association elected Taylor Dewberry as the North Carolina representative for its Young Lawyers Division (YLD), with one of her primary duties being leading the ABA YLD’s Disaster Legal Services program.
October
Benchmark Litigation recognized 12 of our litigators as North Carolina "Litigation Stars" and awarded our Litigation practice a "Highly Recommended" rating for North Carolina, the highest possible rating. Isaac Linnartz maintained his position in the "40 and Under List.”
November
LMG Life Sciences recognized our Life Sciences group in Licensing & Collaboration, with John Therien and Jason Brege named Life Sciences Stars.
U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers® ranked 46 of our practice areas as among of the best in the region and gave us national ratings in Land Use and Zoning and Venture Capital.
December
The Eastern N.C. American Board of Trial Advocates elected Kirk Warner its president.
Smith Anderson thanks our attorneys, staff and, most importantly, our loyal clients who helped make 2022 such a success!