McGuire, Wood & Bissette Attorneys Named To The 2014 NC Rising Stars List
(Asheville, NC) – McGuire, Wood & Bissette, P.A. is pleased to announce that attorneys Rick Jackson, Jeffrey Owen, Sabrina Presnell Rockoff and Starling Underwood have been named to the 2014 North Carolina Rising Stars list released annually by Super Lawyers rating service. The Rising Stars program recognizes top up-and-coming attorneys in North Carolina who are 40 years old or younger, or who have been practicing for ten years or less. Attorneys are nominated by their peers and researched by Super Lawyers before being selected to the Rising Stars list. No more than 2.5 percent of lawyers in the state are included in this listing.
Rick Jackson, who joined McGuire, Wood & Bissette in 2008, works primarily with small to mid-size businesses: medical and dental practices; technology and manufacturing companies; restaurants, breweries and other food and beverage businesses; real estate developers and property managers; and nonprofits. Prior to professional school, Rick was a business consultant in the technology, banking and financial, and healthcare industries in Atlanta, Raleigh, and Boston. Jackson is a LEED AP, a distinction he earned through the Green Building Certification Institute and the first attorney in WNC to earn this distinction. In the community, Jackson serves on the Board of Directors of the Asheville Downtown Association, Asheville Independent Restaurant Association, NC Natural Products Association, and the City of Asheville’s Business Improvement District.
Jeffrey Owen began with the law firm in 2001 and works primarily with small business and nonprofit clients, assisting them with increasing tax efficiency in the structuring of transactions and operations, as well as minimizing liability exposure. Owen assists to form business organizations and subsidiaries and advises on federal, state, and local tax planning, corporate and partnership transactions. In the community Owen serves on the Board of Directors of the Asheville Downtown Association, the Financial Planning Association of WNC, and the North Carolina Natural Products Association. He is a Board Member of the Country Club of Asheville Board of Governors, the Central United Methodist Church Administrative Board, Brooks-Howell United Methodist Home and WNC Communities.
Sabrina Presnell Rockoff returned to her native Asheville in 2012 after practicing for large international firms in New Jersey and Raleigh. As Chair of McGuire, Wood & Bissette’ s Employment & Labor Law Term, Rockoff focuses her practice on advising on employee relations issues, developing human resources practices and policies, defending employment discrimination lawsuits, and representing employers in union matters. Rockoff is a member of Leadership of Asheville and sits on the Board of Directors for NC Stage Company.
Starling Underwood, an associate in the firm’s Litigation Practice Group since 2009, assists clients with legal matters related to contractual disputes and debt collection. Underwood serves on the Board of Trustees at Carolina Day School and is its first graduate ever elected to serve on the Board. He serves on the Board of Trustees for the Asheville Design Center and on the Pro Bono Committee for the 28th Judicial Bar. He was recently appointed as an advisory member to the NC State Bar Grievance and Authorized to Practice Committees. He is also a member of the NAACP in Asheville.
McGuire, Wood & Bissette, P.A. is the oldest law firm in Asheville, North Carolina continuously in the practice of law since 1894 and is comprised of 21 attorneys. Since its inception, the firm has engaged in a general civil practice geared toward commerce and industry. McGuire, Wood & Bissette, P.A. is committed to serving its clients’ best interests with effective legal services of the highest quality at a reasonable cost, while adhering to the highest ethical standards and contributing to the well-being of the community.
