Founded in 1957, the Charlotte office of K&L Gates is one of the city’s largest law offices serving clients across a broad range of disciplines.

Our Charlotte office was awarded 28 Tier 1 practice rankings by the 2013 U.S. News-Best Lawyers® survey, including in the following categories: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Construction Law, Copyright Law, Corporate Compliance Law, Corporate Governance Law, Corporate Law, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, Employment Law – Management, Environmental Law, Labor Law – Management, Land Use & Zoning Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Patent Law, Private Equity Law, Real Estate Law, Securities/Capital Markets Law, Securities Regulation, Tax Law, Trademark Law, and Venture Capital Law. Our Charlotte office was also awarded Tier 1 rankings in the following litigation practice areas: Bankruptcy, Commercial, Construction, Eminent Domain & Condemnation, Environmental, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, and Patent.

The Charlotte office has established one of the premier real estate groups in the Southeast. Our attorneys represent national, regional and local clients in all areas of real estate, including development, finance, leasing, joint ventures, public/private developments, environmental, and land use, as well as acquisitions, equity investments and mixed-use/planned development matters. We have handled high-profile matters for clients on development projects such as the Charlotte Bobcats Arena, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and the $125 million museum and related cultural facilities developed by Wells Fargo and the City of Charlotte. Our real estate attorneys represent clients not only in the Southeast but also in other major markets across the United States. We have 16 LEED-AP certified attorneys in the Charlotte office.

Our corporate lawyers provide comprehensive legal services to clients of all sizes at all stages of development and in many industry sectors. In our mergers and acquisitions practice, we help clients buy and sell businesses in a wide range of transactions, from sales of family businesses to mergers involving public companies. Our private equity and mezzanine finance practice is one of the most active in the Southeast, and our clients include firms and funds based throughout the United States. Our securities lawyers have a wide range of experience in securities and capital market transactions. We represent banks and other lenders as well as borrowers in a broad range of commercial finance transactions. We also represent leading underwriters in Ginnie Mae, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae mortgage-based securities issuances.

The litigators in the Charlotte office handle complex litigation in state and federal courts, as well as arbitration, mediation, and other alternative dispute resolution. The office's litigation group has extensive experience in financial services litigation, complex business disputes, intellectual property matters, and real estate disputes. They have successfully represented clients in class action litigation, products liability litigation, ERISA litigation, securities litigation, lender liability litigation, construction litigation and environmental litigation. Our litigators also regularly conduct internal investigations and handle energy-related litigation, including utility rate proceedings and disputes regarding the siting, construction and operation of energy production facilities.

Lawyers in our Charlotte office represent large employers in the region and across the country, helping them design, document, and administer all types of qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, deferred compensation plans, incentive and equity compensation plans, and medical, disability and severance plans. We provide advice in connection with mergers and acquisitions, executive agreements, IRS, DOL, PBGC, SEC and CMS regulatory matters as well as ERISA matters. Our employee benefits lawyers also work with companies to freeze or terminate defined benefit plans and implement consumer-driven health care plans.

The Charlotte office's financial restructuring practice is predominantly a creditor-oriented practice, involving restructuring and workout transactions, and representation of creditors in bankruptcy cases. Charlotte restructuring lawyers are engaged in a wide range of restructuring activities involving senior and mezzanine debt, equity investments, and other financing transactions. Our lawyers regularly represent landlords with tenants in bankruptcy and clients in bankruptcy M&A transactions.

Our Charlotte intellectual property lawyers are registered to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office and provide patent, trademark and copyright services to a broad range of clients. These lawyers also negotiate complex technology transactions and licensing arrangements and provide legal counsel regarding e-commerce and Internet issues.

Our tax lawyers in Charlotte support our other practices and serve clients with specific tax issues, including tax controversies. Our estate lawyers assist our clients in planning for and implementing wealth transfers as well as in connection with estate administration. They also provide counsel on tax-exempt organizations and charitable giving.