Judson A. "Judd" Welborn

Judson A. Welborn, a member of Manning Fulton's litigation section, concentrates his practice in the areas of real property litigation, construction litigation and business litigation. He has extensive experience representing clients in the state and federal courts of North Carolina, as well as administrative agencies and arbitration forums, in a variety of litigation matters involving real property and title insurance disputes, construction disputes, franchise, taxation and other business disputes.

Judd also has experience representing landowners in condemnation proceedings involving the State of North Carolina, local municipalities and private condemnors, as well as representing taxpayers in property tax appeals before County Boards of Equalization and Review, the North Carolina Property Tax Commission and the appellate courts of North Carolina.

Selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in the areas of Real Estate Litigation (2013, 2014, 2015), Commercial Litigation (2013, 2014, 2015), Land Use and Zoning Litigation (2013, 2014, 2015), Construction (2015) and Construction Litigation (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015), Judd is also recognized byBusiness North Carolina Magazine as one of North Carolina's Legal Elite in the areas of Construction Law (2006, 2008-2015), Business Litigation (2007-2009), Litigation (2013, 2014), and as one of North Carolina's best lawyers under the age of 40 (Young Guns 2007-2012, 2014). He is also listed in North Carolina Super Lawyers (2009-2015) as a Rising Star and in Benchmark Litigation (2010-2014), the nation's only publication of its kind that focuses exclusively on the practice of litigation. In addition, Judd holds Martindale-Hubbell's highest "AV" peer review rating.

Judd currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Follow the Child Montessori School, and is a former member of the North Carolina Rules Review Commission and the Board of Directors of Carolina Ballet.

Specific Matters

• Lead trial counsel for an out of state financial institution in a $15 million lender liability lawsuit that was tried to jury verdict in the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina resulting in a finding of no liability on any of the counts asserted against the financial institution
• Lead counsel for former executive in a breach of fiduciary duty and unfair and deceptive trade practices claim in which former business partner sought damages in excess of $30 million which resulted in summary judgment in favor of the former executive
• Represented former executive in a bankruptcy matter alleging corporate malfeasance and breach of fiduciary duty in which Bankruptcy Trustee sought to recover damages in excess of $30 million from former officers and directors of bankrupt company
• Lead counsel for developer/owner of hotel in a construction defect claim involving more than 20 parties and more than $2 million in damages resulting from defective construction
• Lead counsel for an out of state financial institution in a $4 million lender liability lawsuit resulting in a dismissal of claims asserted against the financial institution
• Lead counsel for owner of a hotel in a Letter of Intent dispute with general contractor where general contractor sought to recover more than $1.5 million from the owner
• Represented numerous owners, lenders, sellers, purchasers, developers, general contractors and subcontractors in a variety of real property and construction litigation matters across North Carolina with amounts in controversy ranging from a few thousand dollars to more than $50 million
• Represented some of the nation’s largest providers of title insurance services in a variety of litigation matters involving, among other things, lien priority disputes, deed reformation actions, boundary line disputes, undisclosed/missing heirs disputes, inheritance disputes and forgery actions
• Represented restaurant franchisee against multinational franchisor in franchise dispute resulting in settlement in excess of $10 million
• Lead counsel for international real estate investment group with more than $48 billion in assets in contract dispute and workout negotiation involving claims by commercial tenant valued at more than $1 million
• Represented multiple land owners and tenants in condemnation/eminent domain proceedings involving the State of North Carolina, local municipalities and private condemnors in connection with highway improvement projects, airport expansion projects, and utility service construction/expansion projects across North Carolina
• Represented second largest technology company in the world in multiple appeals before multiple North Carolina County Boards of Equalization and Review, the North Carolina Property Tax Commission and the North Carolina Appellate Courts in appeals establishing principles governing valuation of computer equipment in North Carolina involving computer equipment valued at over $5 billion and resulting in tax refunds in excess of $8 million
• North Carolina counsel for the largest tobacco company in the United States in a dispute with State of North Carolina over "non-participating manufacturer" adjustments to payment obligations under the Master Settlement Agreement between tobacco companies and 46 states
• Lead counsel for developer of affordable housing communities across North Carolina in a lawsuit against a municipality involving claims arising under the Fair Housing Act
• Represented real estate investment trust in a lawsuit arising from a major acquisition of other corporations, properties and assets that involved claims in excess of $10 million based on alleged fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, wrongful interference with contractual relations, civil conspiracy and commercial real estate broker compensation
• Represented purchaser of industrial equipment in breach of warranty action against equipment manufacturer with claims in excess of $8 million
• Coordinate and manage construction litigation prevention techniques on North Carolina construction projects for national general contractor
• Lead counsel for software developer in a lawsuit alleging fraud, breach of contract, breach of warranties under the Uniform Commercial Code and unfair and deceptive trade practices
• Lead counsel for restaurant franchisee in numerous complex commercial contract disputes, misappropriation of trade secrets claims and anti-competitive trade practices actions
• Represented real estate salespersons and brokers in disciplinary actions before the North Carolina Real Estate Commission
• Represented regional grocery store chain in licensing matters before the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission and North Carolina Board of Pharmacy
• Represented corporate taxpayer in improper garnishment and attachment proceeding resulting in consent judgment requiring taxing authority to refund over $700,000 to taxpayer plus interest
• Represented legal professionals in various lawsuits alleging legal malpractice arising from real estate transactions across North Carolina.
• Represented insurance professionals and insurance carriers in claims relating to insurance procurement, insurance policy interpretation and insurance coverage claims
• Represented commercial factor in dispute arising under Uniform Commercial Code about rights of factor and defenses of account debtors in connection with over $2.5 million in factored receivables
• Lead counsel for North Carolina based corporation in Business Software Alliance software licensing violations investigation
• Lead counsel for software developer in a lawsuit alleging fraud, breach of contract, breach of warranties under the Uniform Commercial Code and unfair and deceptive trade practices
• Lead counsel for non-profit corporation and its Board of Directors in significant number of claims for malfeasance, breach of fiduciary duty and negligence