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Kristen Rigsby Smith is a member of The Van Winkle Law Firm’s Business practice, where she focuses on creditors’ rights and commercial lending. She represents lenders, banks, other financial institutions, and investors in a broad range of transactions, including, without limitation, foreclosures, collections, reformations, title claims, loan workouts, modifications, landlord/tenant issues, fraudulent transfers, partitions, bankruptcy, lender-liability, and general civil litigation matters. In addition, she provides lender counsel for commercial and complex financing transactions. She also represents taxing authorities in a variety of matters, including collections.. Smith has a wide variety of statewide foreclosure experience, including appeals, defending suits for injunction, and trials. She typically represents the lender in foreclosure, but also has significant experience representing and serving as substitute trustee. Smith has extensive experience negotiating and preparing agreements for out-of-court restructuring and workouts prior to or during the collection process, including, without limitation, negotiating and drafting forbearance agreements, settlement agreements, and deeds in lieu of foreclosure.. She represents numerous types of creditors, both secured and unsecured, in consumer and business bankruptcy proceedings statewide. Smith is admitted in the Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts of North Carolina and represents clients in Chapter 7, 11, 12, and 13 bankruptcy cases.. While in law school, Smith was a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and received the Dean’s “Pro Bono Service Award” for her extensive community service work.

Ryan Coffield is a member of The Van Winkle Law Firm’s Business Practice, where he works with small and mid-size businesses on all phases of corporate life, including entity choice, formation, ongoing operations, reorganizations and owner transition strategies. Coffield’s expertise in the areas of corporate and non-profit taxation allows him to provide a valuable, unique perspective on his clients’ legal issues.. Prior to joining the firm in 2013, Coffield worked as a general practitioner in the Triangle.