General Information
Overview
Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP is a business law firm providing comprehensive strategic counsel and innovative solutions to our clients. Our lawyers have expertise in all facets of business law.
Brooks Pierce clients are leading organizations and successful individuals throughout the United States and the world. We are well known for our abiding commitment to clients and our service ethic, both on a professional and personal level.
We are also a firm committed to understanding and empathizing, on a personal level, with the people who manage the companies we represent. This approach allows us to be responsive to the professional needs of our clients.
Further, we also approach our own lawyers and professional staff in the same way. We strive to maintain a family atmosphere within the firm and foster a culture that nurtures both personal and professional growth and fulfillment.
Only lawyers with a demonstrated record of professional excellence and the highest standards of personal integrity become part of our firm.
Since our firm's beginning in 1897, we have grown to over 100 lawyers and serve clients from three offices.
Guiding PrinciplesBrooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP, is a comprehensive (national, regional and local) business law firm serving the needs of businesses, individuals, government, and non-profit institutions. The firm's expertise extends to every aspect of business law, including antitrust, mergers and acquisitions, start-up and publicly traded companies, banking, corporate finance, labor, securities, environmental, real estate, trade associations, education, foundations, public utilities, employee benefits, legislative, media, regulatory compliance, complex business litigation, and trusts and estates. Members of our firm regularly represent clients before the judicial, executive and legislative branches of government.
To broaden the scope and quality of the advice and assistance we provide to clients, we also have attorneys who devote substantial time to public service. These attorneys include present or former state officials, political campaign managers, military officers, regulatory commissioners, and law and accounting professors.
Our attorneys embrace the highest standards of professional and personal excellence. Our firm's goal is to provide an unsurpassed level of expertise and service to clients. To accomplish this goal, we hold ourselves to the highest professional and personal standards. Our attorneys exhibit intelligence, integrity, leadership, a demonstrated record of professional excellence, and a commitment to the law as a profession and a calling. Our attorneys have excelled in the nation's leading law schools, including Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, University of Chicago, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Virginia, University of Texas, Wake Forest, Washington and Lee, William and Mary, and Yale.
Brooks Pierce differs from many firms of comparable size in that it has no formal departments or practice groups. Our firm has a long-standing philosophy: encourage young lawyers to explore different practice areas, experience different aspects of the law, and eventually narrow their practice focus as they become more experienced. Even our most senior and highly skilled attorneys do not confine their practice to a single, narrow area of the law. Our atmosphere is collaborative and collegial; our attorneys work closely with one another and exchange ideas on legal issues and complex matters, thus maximizing the scope and quality of the service provided to our clients.
Firm News
Rankings
Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP is metro ranked in 50 practice areas. Best Law Firms rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process.
Read how Best Law Firms ranks firmsMetro Rankings
About Our Clients
For more than a century, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP has had the pleasure of working with many fine individuals and companies. For your reference, we have listed below a representative listing of a few of our clients.
- ABC, Inc.
- ABC-TV Network Affiliates Association
- Associated Press
- Bank of New York Mellon
- Biscuitville
- Capitol Broadcasting
- Cisco Systems, Inc.
- City of Greensboro
- Curtis Media
- Deloitte & Touche LLP
- Domtar Paper Company
- Duke Corporate Education
- Electronic News Directors Association
- Fisher Broadcasting
- Gateway University Research Park, Inc.
- Geneva Corporation
- The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
- Greensboro College
- Guilford County Board of Education
- The Hearst Corporation
- Hearst Television, Inc.
- High Point Market Authority
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Infrastructure Corporation of America
- KPMG, LLP
- Leggett & Platt, Incorporated
- Lexington Furniture Industries
- Lorillard Tobacco Co.
- McGraw-Hill Broadcasting
- MCNC, Inc.
- National Association of Broadcasters
- NewBridge Bancorp
- NC Association of Broadcasters
- NC Association of Petroleum & Convenience Marketers
- NC Bankers Association
- NC Cable Telecommunications Association
- NC Technology Association
- NetJets, Inc.
- The New York Times Co.
- Northstar Travel Media, LLC
- Office Depot, Inc.
- PCS Phosphate Company, Inc.
- Performance, Inc.
- Piedmont Triad Airport Authority
- Primland Ltd.
- Red Hat, Inc.
- Replacements, Ltd.
- TIMCO Aviation Services, Inc.
- United Guaranty Corporation
- United Healthcare Services, Inc.
- University of North Carolina
- US Greenfiber, LLC
- Village of Bald Head Island
- Volvo Group North America, Inc.
- Wake Forest University
- Weyerhaeuser Co.
Select Clients
- ABC-TV Network Affiliates Association
- Biscuitville
- Cape Fear Public Utility Authority
- Cisco Systems, Inc.
- Concord Hospitality Enterprises Company
- Duke Corporate Education
- Gateway University Research Park
- High Point Market Authority
- ITG Brands
- National Association of Broadcasters
- The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
- The Hearst Corporation
Highlighted Client Comments
Rankings
Regional Rankings
Practice Areas
- Administrative / Regulatory Law
- Administrative/Regulatory
- Antitrust
- Antitrust Law
- Appellate
- Appellate Practice
- Arbitration and Mediation
- Banking and Finance Law
- Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
- Bet-the-Company Litigation
- Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
- Class Actions
- Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law
- Commercial Finance Law
- Commercial Litigation
- Commercial Transactions / UCC Law
- Communications Law
- Complex Litigation
- Construction Law
- Copyright Law
- Corporate Compliance Law
- Corporate Governance Law
- Corporate Law
- COVID-19
- Criminal Defense: White-Collar
- Economic Development Law
- Education Law
- Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law
- Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
- Employment Law - Management
- Energy Regulatory Law
- Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television
- Entertainment Law - Music
- Environmental Law
- Environmental Permitting
- Financial Services Regulation Law
- First Amendment Law
- Franchise Law
- Government Relations Practice
- Health Care Law
- Intellectual Property
- International Trade and Finance Law
- Labor Law - Management
- Land Use and Zoning Law
- Legal Malpractice Law - Defendants
- Litigation
- Litigation - Antitrust
- Litigation - Banking and Finance
- Litigation - Bankruptcy
- Litigation - Construction
- Litigation - Environmental
- Litigation - First Amendment
- Litigation - Intellectual Property
- Litigation - Labor and Employment
- Litigation - Patent
- Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy)
- Litigation - Securities
- Litigation and Controversy - Tax
- Media
- Media Law
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Mergers and Acquisitions Law
- Mining Law
- Natural Resources Law
- Nonprofit / Charities Law
- Patent Law
- Privacy and Data Security Law
- Professional Malpractice Law - Defendants
- Real Estate Law
- Securities
- Securities / Capital Markets Law
- Tax Law
- Title VII Litigation
- Trade Secrets Law
- Trademark
- Trademark Law
- Trusts and Estates
- Utilities Law
- Venture Capital Law
- Water Law
Individuals Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America®
Client Comments
Awards
- Pro Bono Firm of the Year - South
- Benchmark Litigation "North Carolina Firm of the Year" (2016-2019)