by The City of King filed a motion of an extension today which was granted. They were the last of the defendants to request and be granted an extension. They will have until August 17th to respond to the complaint. Governor Perdue and Secretary Young have until August 15th and Stokes County has until August 12th for their response.
With the filing by the City of King, we now know all the legal players in this contest.
Plaintiffs
Alan Gura needs no introduction after winning both the Heller case and the McDonald case. He will be appearing as a pro hac vice attorney. This means he is appearing with the permission of the court as he is not licensed in North Carolina.
Kearns Davis, a partner in the law firm of Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey and Leonard is the lead North Carolina attorney for the plaintiffs. Brooks, Pierce is a mid-size law firm with offices in both Greensboro and Raleigh, NC. He is a 1995 graduate of the University of North Carolina Law School where he was the managing editor of the law review. He has been listed in “The Best Lawyers in America” for 2010 and is listed as a “North Carolina Super Lawyer”.
Davis is being assisted by Andrew Tripp of Brooks, Pierce. Tripp is a 2004 graduate of Duke Law where he was managing editor of the Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law. After graduation, he served as a clerk for District Court Judge Terrence Boyle of the Eastern District of North Carolina. Interestingly enough, Alan Gura served as a clerk for Judge Boyle a few years earlier.
Defendants
Mark Davis, Special Deputy Attorney General for the State of North Carolina, will be representing Bev Perdue and Reuben Young as they have been sued in their roles as Governor and Secretary of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety respectively. According to Martindale-Hubbell, Davis is a 1991 graduate of the University of North Carolina Law School. Davis serves in the Special Litigation Section of the NC Department of Justice. A quick Google search seems to indicate he handles many Federal and appellate level cases for the Attorney Generals office.
Representing Stokes County are Henry Jones, Jr. and Lori Jones of the law firm Jordan, Price, Wall, Gray, Jones, and Carlton in Raleigh. Mr. Jones is a 1978 graduate of the University of Richmond Law School. Among his past activities was serving as Chairman of the Wake County Democratic Party from 1987 through 1991. He is AV Peer Review rated by the Martindale-Hubbell.
Lori Jones is an associate in Jordan, Price and is a 2004 graduate of the University of North Carolina Law School. According to the Jordan Price web site, her practice focuses on general civil litigation matters. All the filings submitted by Stokes County have been signed by her to date.
Finally, Kevin Williams of Bell, Davis, and Pitt in Winston-Salem represents the City of King. Williams is a 1998 graduate of Wake Forest University Law School where he made law review. He is listed in “Best Lawyers in America” for 2010 under Commercial Litigation. He is also listed as a “Rising Star” in the North Carolina Super Lawyers.
So there you have it. By mid-August we should start seeing the responses from the defendants and will get some idea of how hard they plan to fight.
