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Best Lawyers® Honors 14 Waldrep Wall Attorneys for 2026

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Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC is pleased to announce that 14 of its attorneys have been included in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. Attorneys on The Best Lawyers in America list are divided by geographic region and practice areas. They are reviewed by their peers based on professional expertise and undergo an authentication process to make sure they are in current practice and in good standing. 

Waldrep Wall would like to congratulate the following attorneys named to 2026 The Best Lawyers in America list: 

  • John W. Babcock – Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), Commercial Finance Law, Commercial Transactions / UCC Law, Corporate Law, Health Care Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, and Tax Law 
  • J. Dennis Bailey – Commercial Litigation, Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, and Product Liability Litigation – Defendants 
  • Kelly A. Cameron – Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Intellectual Property, and Litigation – Labor and Employment 
  • Joseph T. Carruthers III – Commercial Litigation, Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants, and Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants 
  • Michael L. Drye – Mergers and Acquisitions Law 
  • Chris Haaf – Commercial Litigation 
  • Diana Santos Johnson – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law 
  • James Lanik – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation – Bankruptcy, and Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law 
  • Jennifer Lyday – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation – Bankruptcy 
  • Ciara L. Rogers – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation – Bankruptcy 
  • Kevin Sink – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation – Bankruptcy 
  • Thomas W. Waldrep, Jr. – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law 
  • James D. Wall – Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), Corporate Law, and Health Care Law 
  • Jan E. Yarborough – Health Care Law 

Waldrep Wall Sponsors 30th Anniversary ABI Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop

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Partners Jim Lanik and Jennifer Lyday attended the 2025 Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop, held July 24-27, 2025, at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island in Florida. The workshop brings together bankruptcy practitioners and judges for education and networking. 

The event featured sessions on business, consumer, and skills topics with continuing legal education from judges, academics, and practitioners. Sessions covered current developments in bankruptcy law, practical guidance on case management, and updates on recent court decisions and legislative changes. 

This year marked the workshop’s 30th anniversary. The American Bankruptcy Institute hosts the annual conference, which draws attendees from across the Southeast region. Waldrep Wall served as a sponsor of the event. 

Partner Tom Waldrep Featured on AHLA’s Speaking of Health Law Podcast

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Waldrep Wall partner Tom Waldrep recently appeared on the American Health Law Association’s Speaking of Health Law podcast, where he shared his experience with the financial and operational pressures facing rural healthcare institutions. The episode, sponsored by Stroudwater Associates, featured a discussion with Jeff Sommer, Managing Director at Stroudwater Associates.

Drawing on his extensive background as a former United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina, Waldrep addressed the critical intersection of financial distress and strategic planning in the rural hospital sector. The conversation explored how healthcare organizations can identify early indicators of financial trouble and the various restructuring pathways available to distressed facilities.

The discussion highlighted Waldrep’s deep understanding of both bankruptcy law and healthcare industry dynamics, positioning him as a valuable resource for rural hospitals navigating complex financial decisions. His insights covered the strategic considerations that hospital leadership must weigh when evaluating partnership opportunities, restructuring options, and other alternatives to traditional bankruptcy proceedings.

“You don’t care who owns the hospital. You don’t care how much it sells for. What you care about is having an operating hospital that will serve the healthcare needs of your community for decades and generations to come,” Waldrep emphasized during the podcast, underscoring the critical importance of focusing on long-term community benefit rather than short-term financial considerations.

This industry recognition underscores Waldrep Wall’s commitment to providing sophisticated legal counsel to healthcare clients facing today’s challenging operating environment.

For more information about our healthcare practice or to speak with Tom Waldrep about rural hospital restructuring matters, contact twaldrep@waldrepwall.com.

You can listen to the full episode, “Rural Hospital Partnerships: Addressing Distress and Strategic Drift,” here or view the recording below.

Waldrep Wall and Eight Attorneys Ranked in Chambers USA 2025 Legal Guide

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Chambers and Partners released its USA 2025 Legal Guide, and Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC was ranked as a leading firm, Band 2 in Bankruptcy/Restructuring and Band 3 in Healthcare. Eight Waldrep Wall attorneys were also individually ranked.

Chambers and Partners is the leading independent professional legal research company operating across 200 jurisdictions. It delivers detailed rankings and insight into the world’s leading lawyers and law firms based on in-depth interviews and objective research.

Ranked Practice Areas

Bankruptcy/Restructuring (Band 2 in North Carolina)

Led by Tom Waldrep, a former United States Bankruptcy Judge, the Firm’s bankruptcy practice provides solutions to debtors, creditors, creditors’ committees, distressed businesses, trustees, and receivers. Waldrep Wall attorneys guide clients in all types of business bankruptcies, corporate restructurings, insolvencies, workouts, and related issues. The firm regularly represents companies in distress, both in out-of-court workouts and as debtors in the Chapter 11 process. The firm also helps companies regarding receiverships, plans of arrangement, loan forbearance and extension agreements, deeds in lieu, guaranty and foreclosure litigation, and other non-bankruptcy workouts and restructurings. The firm routinely represents official committees of unsecured creditors in Chapter 11 bankruptcies, and the bankruptcy partners often serve as trustees and as general and special council to Chapter 11, Chapter 7, and plan trustees.

“Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey stands out in the industry due to its combination of deep legal expertise, personalized client service and innovative problem-solving.” Bankruptcy/Restructuring Client Feedback Chambers USA 2025

Healthcare (Band 3 in North Carolina)

Waldrep Wall works to keep physicians, dentists, medical practices, management companies and clinical research entities compliant. The firm also assists providers and managed care entities in negotiating managed care agreements and related regulatory compliance. Its healthcare lawyers typically represent hospitals and physician practices in managed care disputes. They also have broad experience with practice acquisition, provider licensure, and in representing carriers and insurers with respect to North Carolina insurance regulatory matters. The firm routinely assists clients in matters relating to regulatory compliance, physician employment agreements, healthcare contracts, licensure board investigations, healthcare restructuring and insolvency, corporate practice of medicine, and long-term care and senior housing. In healthcare, the firm is led by Jim Wall, who has provided healthcare legal guidance for decades.

“The team bounces things off of each other, giving clients expert advice across many areas of law and business.” Healthcare Client Feedback Chambers USA 2025

Ranked Attorneys

Bankruptcy/Restructuring

Corporate/M&A

Healthcare

Diana Santos Johnson and Jennifer Lyday Recognized as Board Certified Specialists in Bankruptcy Law

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Waldrep Wall is pleased to announce that attorneys Diana Santos Johnson and Jennifer Lyday have been recognized by the North Carolina State Bar as Board Certified Specialists in Bankruptcy Law. Diana and Jennifer qualified for specialization in consumer bankruptcy and business bankruptcy, respectively. 

 

The Board of Legal Specialization within the North Carolina State Bar identifies lawyers to the public who have demonstrated special knowledge, skill, and proficiency in a specific field. The board currently certifies lawyers in the areas of appellate practice, bankruptcy law, child welfare, criminal law (including juvenile delinquency), elder law, estate planning and probate law, family law, immigration law, privacy and information security law, real property law, social security disability law, trademark law, utilities law and workers’ compensation law. 

Applicants for certification must meet the following minimum requirements:

  • The applicant must be licensed in a jurisdiction of the United States for at least five years immediately preceding his or her application and must be licensed in North Carolina for at least three years immediately preceding his or her application. The applicant must also be in good standing to practice law in North Carolina and the applicant’s disciplinary record with the courts, the North Carolina State Bar, and any other government licensing agency must support qualification in the specialty;
  • The applicant must be substantially involved in the practice area, usually for a minimum of five years;
  • The applicant must take a certain number of continuing legal education credits in the specialty area during the three years prior to application;
  • The applicant must make a satisfactory showing of qualification in the specialty through peer review;
  • The applicant must achieve a satisfactory score on a written examination in the practice area.

Waldrep Wall Partner Ciara L. Rogers Featured by the American Bankruptcy Institute

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Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC is proud to announce that partner Ciara L. Rogers has been profiled by the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) in an article authored by Rachel Kinzer of Moore Colson. The profile titled “Ciara L. Rogers: A Legacy of Service, Empathy and Entrepreneurial Spirit” highlights Ciara’s journey and her impactful work in bankruptcy law.

A first-generation attorney with deep personal ties to the entrepreneurial spirit, Ciara brings a unique perspective to the practice of bankruptcy law. Her journey—from helping her father run a food truck in central Virginia to representing complex corporate debtors—is a testament to her compassion, skill, and commitment to service.

In the ABI article, Ciara reflects on how her upbringing and life experiences help her connect with clients facing financial distress:

“There are certain clients I’m able to connect with because we have certain things in our background in common that make it easier for them to talk to me about the difficulties they’ve had or what could be perceived as failures,” she said.

That empathy, coupled with her legal acumen, has led to meaningful, long-term impact. In one memorable case, Ciara helped a struggling company restructure just in time to avoid holiday-season layoffs. Years later, the business is still thriving.

“It felt good to see the name still on the building,” she shared.

Beyond her legal practice, Ciara also serves as the director of the Stubbs Bankruptcy Clinic at Campbell University School of Law, where she mentors law students providing pro bono legal services to low-income individuals. Her leadership has inspired students to pursue clerkships and careers in bankruptcy law.

Ciara is certified as a Business Bankruptcy Law Specialist by the North Carolina State Bar and is licensed to practice in all Federal and State Courts in North Carolina and Virginia, as well as the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a member of the North Carolina and Virginia State Bars and has been recognized by various organizations for her contributions to the field.

The full article is available for ABI members here.

Waldrep Wall Attorneys Present at the 2025 Plaintiffs Asbestos Litigation Seminar

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Waldrep Wall attorneys Tom Waldrep, Jennifer Lyday, and Chris Haaf attended the Plaintiffs Asbestos Litigation Seminar (PALS) in Las Vegas, NV, on May 15, 2025. Tom and Chris presented a session titled “Bankruptcy Update and Review,” an overview of recent Chapter 11 bankruptcies that attempt to limit the asbestos liability of large companies, to an audience of lawyers who represent asbestos victims in the tort system and whose clients are often thwarted by these bankruptcies as they seek compensation for injury or death.

Waldrep Wall Attorneys Present at the 45th Annual Middle District Bankruptcy Seminar

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Waldrep Wall attorneys Jennifer Lyday, Diana Santos Johnson, and Cassidy Willard attended the 45th annual Middle District Bankruptcy Seminar, which took place May 2–3, 2025, in Aberdeen, N.C. Jennifer and Diana gave presentations with assistance from Cassidy throughout the seminar. Waldrep Wall is a proud sponsor of the seminar.

On May 2, Jennifer, along with Vicki Parrott of Northen Blue LLP, presented a session titled “Fourth Circuit Gone Wild.” Jennifer is a member of the board of Chapter 11 Subchapter V Trustees for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.

On May 3, Diana and Brooks Pierce attorney Jamey Lowdermilk presented “Bankruptcy Rules Jeopardy.” Diana and Jamey co-chair the Bankruptcy Section Pro Bono Committee for the North Carolina Bar Association.

Waldrep Wall Sponsors “Over The Edge” in Support of The Arc of High Point

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On March 15, 2025, Waldrep Wall attorneys Jim Lanik and Josh Plummer went “Over The Edge” to support The Arc of High Point‘s mission to ensure that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities have the opportunity to choose and achieve their goals for learning, living, working, and recreation. The event was held at Embassy Suites by Hilton Greensboro Airport, and going “Over The Edge” entailed the once-in-a-lifetime experience of rappelling down the seven-story facade of the hotel.

The Arc of High Point has been in existence since September 30, 1957. The Arc of High Point supports the rights of each individual with a disability to achieve the highest possible level of personal growth and independence and supports full integration in the community for all individuals with disabilities. The programs supported by The Arc of High Point are designed and operated to teach the skills necessary to help a person reach his or her potential.

Walrep Wall is a proud sponsor of The Arc of High Point and its mission. Fundraising efforts for the organization are ongoing.

Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC Attorneys Recognized as 2025 North Carolina Super Lawyers®

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Waldrep Wall Babcock and Bailey PLLC is pleased to announce that Super Lawyers® has selected nine Waldrep Wall attorneys for its 2025 annual list for North Carolina.

Super Lawyers honors outstanding attorneys in each state in various practice areas and firm sizes through a proprietary selection process that combines independent research with peer evaluations. Candidates are assessed based on 12 factors reflecting peer recognition and professional accomplishments. Each year, only 5% of attorneys are selected to Super Lawyers.

Waldrep Wall would like to congratulate the following attorneys selected to Super Lawyers for 2025:

Appellate

Bankruptcy: Business

Business/Corporate

Healthcare

Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Defense