Bar Admissions

North Carolina

District of Columbia

Louisiana

Education

Duke University, J.D., with high honors, 1987; Notes Editor, Alaska Law Review, 1986-87 

Duke University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1984, Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholar

Profile

Rob Harrington litigates complex business disputes. He represents corporate clients in a broad range of contract, trade practice and other business matters. Rob has served as lead counsel in cases in various jurisdictions, including the North Carolina Business Court and other state and federal courts in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana. He has represented and counseled clients in litigation and business matters across various industries, including financial services, manufacturing, agribusiness, telecommunications, sports and entertainment, health care and education.

Rob co-chairs the firm's Litigation Department. He served as president of the Mecklenburg County Bar, was appointed by the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court to the North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice, and served as a member of the board of governors of the North Carolina Bar Association. For his professional work and civic engagement, North Carolina Lawyers Weekly recognized Rob as Lawyer of the Year in 2017 and Business North Carolina included him in its Power lists for 2020-23 and its inaugural Dynamic Diversity list in 2021.

Honors & Awards

  • North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, Lawyer of the Year, 2017
  • Chambers USA, litigation, 2022-23
  • Business North Carolina, Legal Elite, litigation, 2023
  • The Best Lawyers in America, bet-the-company litigation, commercial litigation, litigation - banking and finance, 2010-24; Charlotte Litigation - Banking and Finance Lawyer of the Year, 2016, 2019
  • North Carolina Super Lawyers, business litigation, 2006-23; Top 100 North Carolina Super Lawyer, 2016-23; Top 25 Charlotte Super Lawyer, 2016-23
  • Business North Carolina, Power List, 2020-23
  • Pride Magazine, Best of the Best, 2022
  • Business North Carolina, Dynamic Diversity List, 2021
  • The Charlotte Ledger, 40 Over 40 Awards, 2020
  • The Mecklenburg Times Icons & Phenoms Awards, Icon, 2019
  • Mecklenburg County Bar, Julius L. Chambers Diversity Champion Award, 2015
  • Thurgood Marshall College Fund Award of Excellence, 2013
  • Duke Law Alumni Association, Charles S. Murphy Award for Achievement in Public Service, 2012
  • Uptown Magazine, Charlotte Catalyst Award, 2012
  • North Carolina Bar Association, Citizen Lawyer Award, 2009
  • Charlotte Business Journal, Diversity in Business Catalyst, 2004
  • NAACP-National Office Pro Bono Legal Services Award, 1999
  • Martindale-Hubbell, AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated

Clerkships

  • Law Clerk, The Honorable Martin L.C. Feldman, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, 1987-88

Experience

Experience

  • Litigation 

  • Successfully argued appeal reversing trial court’s COVID-19-related order requiring depositions to be taken by remote videoconferencing and preventing counsel from being physically present with their own witnesses or clients. Hall v. Wilmington Health, PLLC, 282 N.C. App. 463, 872 S.E.2d 347 (2022).

  • Obtained the dismissal of certain defendants from multiple lawsuits filed by former students of a professional school in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina and the North Carolina Business Court. Krebs v. Charlotte School of Law, LLC, 2017 WL 3202 831 (W.D.N.C. July 27, 2017); Herrera v. Charlotte School of Law, LLC, 2018 WL 944396 (N.C. Bus. Ct. Feb. 14, 2018) (multiple cases).

  • Represented major regional state-chartered bank in multiparty lawsuit involving breach of fiduciary duty and unfair and deceptive trade practices claims arising from the administration of a trust. Lawsuit was resolved during jury trial in the North Carolina Business Court. 

  • Served as co-counsel for major telecommunications company in lawsuit involving fraudulent transfer claims asserted by bankruptcy litigation trustees. The lawsuit was pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina and settled after two-week trial.

  • Obtained summary judgment for nonprofit organization and its executive director on claims relating to termination of parental rights. Successfully argued on behalf of all defendants, including public bodies, judges and other nonprofit organizations, to affirm the dismissal based on Rooker-Feldman and substantiality doctrines. Stratton v. Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, 2013 WL 2364587 (4th Cir. May 31, 2013).

  • Represented lender in putative class action alleging violations of the Truth-in-Lending Act. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted client's motion to stay and compel individual arbitration. Hopkins v. World Acceptance Corp., 798 F. Supp. 2d 1339 (N.D. Ga. 2011).

  • Obtained reversal of trial court's dismissal of fraudulent transfer action, convincing the North Carolina Court of Appeals in a matter of first impression to recognize claim of "reverse piercing" of the corporate veil. Fischer Investment Capital, Inc. v. Catawba Development Corporation, 689 S.E.2d 143 (N.C. App. 2009).

  • Filed amicus brief in two U.S. Supreme Court cases on behalf of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law urging the Court to rule that partisan gerrymandering is subject to judicial review and proposing constitutional standards for the Court to apply. Common Cause v. Rucho and Lamone v. Benisek.

  • Nonprofit Organizations and Foundations Matters

  • Advised major nonprofit health care system in obtaining non-objection letter from the North Carolina attorney general for the sale of substantially all of its assets to a publicly traded health care corporation.

  • Advised foundation on various governance matters and relationship with governmental agency.

  • Advised nonprofit organization regarding governance issues.

News & Events

News

Events

Insights

Affiliations

Professional Affiliations

  • Mecklenburg County Bar, President, 2012-13; Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Founding Co-Chair, 2004-05
  • North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice, Civil Justice Committee, 2015-16
  • North Carolina Bar Association, Board of Governors, and North Carolina Bar Foundation, Board of Directors, 2017-20
  • North Carolina Bar Foundation, Endowment Committee, 2020-present
  • North Carolina Bar Association, Task Force on Integration, Equity and Equal Justice, Chair, 2020-present
  • American Law Institute, Life Member, 2020-present; Elected Member, 1995-20; Restatement of the Law (Third) Agency, Advisor, 1997-2002
  • Duke Law School, Board of Visitors, 2006-present
  • Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Board of Directors, 1997-present; Co-Chair, 2005-07
  • Legal Aid of North Carolina, Board of Directors, 2013-19
  • U.S District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Merit Selection Panel, 2016-17
  • North Carolina Business Court, Advisory Rules Committee, 2015-16
  • American Bar Foundation Life Fellow
  • Litigation Counsel of America Senior Fellow

Community Affiliations

  • Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, Board of Trustees, 2013-23; Chair, 2018-20; Racial Equity Task Force, Chair, 2020-21; CommonSpark Campaign, Co-Chair, 2017-present
  • Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation, Board of Directors, 2023-present
  • Arts & Science Council of Charlotte/Mecklenburg, Board of Directors, 2012-20; Chair, 2017-18
  • Opera Carolina, Board of Directors, 2023-present
  • TreesCharlotte, Board of Directors, 2013-23; Vice Chair, 2021-23
  • Young Black Leadership Alliance, Board of Directors, 2022-present
  • University of North Carolina Press, Advancement Council, 2017-22
  • The Greater Charlotte Cultural Trust, Board of Directors, 2008-12; 2013-17
  • Levine Museum of the New South, Board of Directors, 2003-12; Chair, 2008-10
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