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Three attorneys from North Carolina-based default services firm Hutchens Law Firm were recently recognized for their work, according to announcements from the firm.
Two of the attorneys were named to Thomson Reuters' 2015 North Carolina Super Lawyers lists. Terry Hutchens, the firm's founder and managing partner, was named one of North Carolina's Top 100 Super Lawyers, and partner Hilton T. "Hutch" Hutchens Jr. was named to the 2015 North Carolina Rising Stars list.
For Terry Hutchens, it was the ninth time in his 37-year law career that he
has been named to the Super Lawyers list. His areas of practice focus on default service and real estate matters, 
including development, finance, liquidation, and litigation. He founded Hutchens Law Firm in 1980 with a staff of seven; the firm now has more than 250 employees and operates with four offices in North Carolina and one in South Carolina.
This year marks the fourth consecutive year that Hilton Hutchens has been named to the Rising Stars list. His areas of practice focus on litigation, collections, and creditors' rights. Less than 2.5 percent of attorneys in North Carolina receive Rising Stars designation every year.
Super Lawyers is a rating service that recognizes outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Those recognized are chosen annually and come from more than 70 practice areas. A patented multiphase process, which includes peer reviews by practice area, an independent research evaluation, and a statewide survey of lawyers, is used to make the selections for the lists. The lists are published nationwide in Super Lawyers magazines and in city and regional magazines and newspapers in leading cities across the country.
Christopher D. Foster, an attorney with Hutchens Law Firm, has been named a 2015 Legal Elite in the areas of Tax Estate/Planning and Young Guns for Business North Carolina (BNC) magazine. Only lawyers whose peers believe they are among the state's best practitioners receive Legal Elite designation, and only those considered to be the state's best up and coming lawyers are named Young Guns.
Foster's areas of practice concentrate on wills, trust, estates, business/corporate law, tax exempt organizations, employee benefits, and tax controversies with the Internal Revenue Service and the North Carolina Department of Revenue. He works out of Hutchens' Law Firm's Fayetteville, North Carolina, office.
Foster was named one of BNC's Legal Elite Young Guns last year, one of only 56 attorneys to receive the honor. He received a bachelor's from Presbyterian College, where he graduated cum laude with honors in political science and was a Belk Scholar and a Taylor Stukes Scholar. The latter award is presented to the most promising student in each graduating class. Foster received a master's from the University of South Carolina's Moore School of Business, where he was the valedictorian of his class with a 4.0 GPA and received induction into the international honor society Beta Gamma Sigma. He graduated with a juris doctor from the University of South Carolina, where he served on the editorial staff of the Journal of International Law and Business and was a member of Phi Delta Phi, an international legal honor society. Foster also has a Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Florida, Levin College of Law.
BNC has recognized the top practitioners in the state across a variety of practice areas since 2002. Those who receive Legal Elite designation are chosen by peer review. More than 20,000 active members of the North Carolina State Bar participated in this year's selection process. Lawyers were not allowed to vote for themselves and could choose another partner or associate only if that partner or associate was with another firm and practiced the same category of law. The Legal Elite designation was given to less than three percent of lawyers in North Carolina this year.
