Areas of Experience & Expertise:
Shareholder and director disputes, healthcare, employment, construction, personal injury, malpractice, contract, complex business cases, hardware and software contracts, franchises, homeowner association hospital disputes, environmental issues, intellectual property, condemnation, Uniform Commercial Code, EEOC, manufacturing processes, telecommunications, trademark, non-competes, real estate, business torts, franchise cases, taxi cabs, non-compete, estates and probate, securities, construction, DEHNR, FINRA, securities employment, workers compensation, FCRA, TIL, domestic, patent, shareholder, attorney, and accounting matters.
Background Summary:
Chase Saunders is a Charlotte native, married, children and grandchildren. He attended Charlotte schools, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Central Piedmont Community College, and most recently, the Mingle Real Estate School. He studied law and served as an Assistant District Attorney, Chief District Court Judge, and Superior Court Judge prior before entering the private practice of law with a the McNair Law Firm located in both Carolinas. His practice includes a general business practice, mediation and arbitration. He is active in civic affairs including The Rotary Club of Charlotte, the Global Vision Group, World Trade Association, World Affairs Council, and the Mecklenburg County Bar Association. Community regional and global business development is a primary interest.
The two Carolinas are the home of over 1000 international companies paying good wages and exporting goods as part of the international supply chain. No one knows this better than South Carolina. More international companies are moving into the Carolinas as the national imperative to manufacture and export is realized. When there are business problems, the international community uses arbitration. Today, Miami, New York City, Atlanta, and Europe are the sites of most arbitration activity. Carolina-based international employers have to arbitrate in other venues, many of them foreign. There is no reason a closer venue should not be chosen. The purpose of the Charlotte International Arbitration society is to promote the use of Charlotte as a more convenient and economical venue than some other city or country. See www.cltglobal.com .
As the Carolinas become an important part of the global supply chain and enter international trade, Carolina based businesses should be able to handle all of their legal matters domestically. Attorneys serving international companies should promote a convenient and economical location in which to resolve international corporate disputes. Charlotte, as a major air hub, located centrally on the border of both Carolinas is a practical choice. See www.charlottearbitrationsociety.org .
Education:
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University Prep: Eastover; A. G. Junior High, Myers Park
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University: The University of North Carolina; BA in History-English
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Graduate: The University of North Carolina; JD in Law
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Post Graduate: Central Piedmont Community College; AA in Accounting
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Queens University Certified Financial Planning course study
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2014 graduate of the Mingle School of Real Estate: Licensed NC Real Estate Broker
Employment History:
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2000 to present. The McNair Law Firm, P.A. SPECIAL COUNSEL
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1999 Dozier Miller Law Firm OF COUNSEL
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1998-1999 Principal in Chasemediates a mediation-arbitration service
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1997 appointed Emergency Superior Court Judge
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1997 retired as Senior Resident Superior Court Judge 26th Judicial District
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1984 elected and 1994 re-elected to the Superior Court Bench
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1982 appointed Superior Court Judge by Governor James B. Hunt
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1977 appointed Chief District Court Judge by Justice Susie Sharp
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1976 elected and 1980 re-elected District Court Judge
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1972-1976 appointed Assistant District Attorney by Thomas F. Moore, Jr.
Summary of Dispute Resolution Experience:
Mediation. He has experience in over 1200 cases involving shareholder and director disputes, healthcare, employment, construction, personal injury, malpractice, contract, complex business cases, hardware and software contracts, franchises, homeowner association hospital disputes, environmental issues, intellectual property, condemnation, Uniform Commercial Code, EEOC, manufacturing processes, telecommunications, trademark, non-competes, real estate, business torts, franchise cases, taxi cabs, non-compete, estates and probate, securities, construction, DEHNR, FINRA, securities employment, workers compensation, FCRA, TIL, domestic, patent, shareholder, attorney, and accounting matters. He is familiar with mediation matters and has mediated cases with the subject matters noted in the Arbitration section. He has been engaged by universities to consult on faculty and town and gown disputes in 2000 and 2001 with the design of dispute resolution systems, mediation of faculty peer to peer matters. See the website www.chasesaunders.com .
Arbitration. Served on cases involving (1) construction (a) AIA contracts; (b) residential property matters including construction defect, warranty breach, construction contract, punch list and construction contract breach cases, neighborhood association covenant breach cases, title disputes; (c) multi-family matters in a condominium complex setting involving EFIS issues; (d) architect and engineers matters including AIA contract disputes, site design services, contract breach; (e) condemnation of residential and commercial properties; (f) developers issues including disputes regarding site preparation, construction trespass, warranty breach, improper building location; (g) commercial cases including hotel owner, general contractor and subcontractor cases, (h) grading disputes with owners and state agencies, (i) letters of intent, (j) flagged hotel purchase and ownership disputes; (k) partitioning of tracts; (2) UM/UIM automobile liability and damages, (3) Personal injury cases; (a) wrongful death, (b) medical malpractice; (4) Common carrier; (5) Buy sell agreements; (6) CERCLA; (7) Public school employee removal; (8) Closely held corporation dissolution issues; (9) Franchise and license agreements; (10) Fire and water loss cases; (11) Medical; (a) medical product development disputes; (b) auditing of healthcare bills, (c) balance billing, (d) billing disputes, (e) bona fide wellness programs, (f) clean claims, (g) coverage claims, (h) dialysis payment, (i) discounting, (j) employee EEOC claims, (k) HIPAA PHI issues, (l) joint ventures, (m) master plan issues, (n) nurse practitioner contracts, (o) practice ownership disputes, (p) practice pension disputes, (q) reimbursement issues, (r) self-insured issues, (s) third party administration operations, (t) confidentiality and non-competition agreements, (13) Law firms, (a) dissolution and withdrawal, (b) accounting, (c) fee sharing, (d) ownership agreements, (12) accounting malpractice, (13) estate and probate, (a) family settlement agreements, (14) Commercial: (a) non-competition agreements, (b) unfair trade practices, (c) UCC, (d) general business and employment disputes, (d) TILA, (e) FCRA, (f) Federal Telecommunications Protection Act, (g) cramming, (k) taxi cab franchises, (l) automotive dealership, (m) flagged hotel and restaurant franchise contracts, (n) hospitality industry buy out agreements ; (15) trade secret issues, (16) securities disputes in both an individual and multi-panel arbitrator capacities on suitability, fraud, fiduciary, and trading ahead cases; and (17) DEHNR matters. See www.adr.org
Civic Activities:
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President, Charlotte International Arbitration Society.
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Organizing member, Charlotte Global Vision Group, an 80+ person regional-global development discussion group
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Charlotte Chamber of Commerce Legislative Committee
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Charlotte Chamber of Commerce Aviation Committee
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Member, Charlotte World Trade Association
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Member, Charlotte Council on World Affairs
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Past Chair and Board Member of the non-profit Justice Initiatives, a court-support entity See justiceinitiatives.org
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Member of The Rotary Club of Charlotte; Chair of Rotary International Strategic Initiative, Chair of Environmental Committee
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Member CPCC President’s Council
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Trail of History Board of Directors and incorporator of same
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Advisory Board of the May 20th Society and initiator of the Captain James Jack bronze stature build at the intersection of Kings Drive and Fourth Street
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Board and past Chair of the Mecklenburg Historical Association. See meckdec.org
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Member of the Board of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway Advisory Board
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Participant, Trees Charlotte
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2014 Member, Sons of the American Revolution
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Member, Bechtler Museum
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Member, NC Retired Government Employees association
Current Professional Activities:
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Mecklenburg County Bar Leadership Institute
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North Carolina Bar Association Judicial Performance Committee
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North Carolina Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section
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American Inns of Court – Justice Bobbitt Inn, Master
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CPCC Paralegal Advisory Board
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Notary Public since 2008
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Certified N.C. Superior Court Mediator
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American Arbitration Association Commercial and Healthcare Panels
Recognition:
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Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow
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NC Governor’s Order of the Long Leaf Pine
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Charlotte World Trade Association 2014 Recognition Award
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AV Pre-eminent Martindale Hubbell rating
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Best Lawyers in Dispute Resolution 2014
Recent speaking engagements, media & panel appearances, and seminar topics:
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Presentation on regional economic development at Quail Hollow to an investment group
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Going global regionally and the Charlotte International Arbitration Society
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Economic trends and technology
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Impact of the development of the Charlotte intermodal platform
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Regional global logistics trends
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History of Business in the Charlotte region
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Introduction to securities arbitration
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Regional competiveness and the workforce pipeline
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Your Financial Toolkit: an explanation of financial planning and its product lines
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The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence
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Justice Initiatives annual Courthouse fundraising event
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The 8 Courthouses of Mecklenburg County
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Appearances or articles on or in The Charlotte Observer, Greater Charlotte Biz, WTVI, WFAE,
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Mecklenburg County Bar Leadership Institute panelist
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Charlotte Regional Economic Development factors
Radio and television program links:
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WTVI televised show Job Ready with Dr. Tony Zeiss: (view link)
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WTVI televised show Great Ideas 2012: (view link)
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WFAE Mike Collins radio show 2013: (view link)
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WFAE Mike Collins radio show 2014: (view link)
Interests:
A gallery of NC and SC regional watercolors can be viewed at www.chasesaundersart.com
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