Essex Richards, P.A. is pleased to announce that attorneys Woody Connette, Bree Laughrun, Lauren Lewis, Natalie Potter, Caitlin Walton, and Jon Windham have been named among Business North Carolina magazine’s Legal Elite for 2025. Each year, practicing North Carolina attorneys have a chance to vote on who is recognized, resulting in a list the magazine describes as “the state’s best practitioners in their fields.” Approximately 4% of all practicing attorneys in the state were selected for 2025.
In addition to those named to Legal Elite this year, 4 Essex Richards attorneys have previously been named to the Hall of Fame including: retired partner Lou Lesesne (Employment, 2007), Rob Blair (Family Law, 2016), John Woodman (Bankruptcy, 2021), and Natalie Potter (Environmental, 2024). An attorney is included in the Legal Elite Hall of Fame when he or she receives the greatest number of votes from attorneys statewide in a practice area. Those included in the Hall of Fame are no longer eligible to receive the award annually.
The complete list of the 2025 Essex Richards Legal Elite include the following:
Employment
Woody Connette
Family
L. Bree Laughrun
Lauren V. Lewis
Tax and Estate Planning
Young Guns
Hall of Fame
Lou Lesesne (Employment, 2007), retired
Rob Blair (Family Law, 2016)
John Woodman (Bankruptcy, 2021)
Natalie Potter (Environmental, 2024)
Read the full story from Business North Carolina, here.