Moore & Van Allen Attorney Kimberly Zirkle Named North Carolina Lawyers Weekly’s 2022 ‘Lawyer of the Year’
Moore & Van Allen PLLC (MVA) is pleased to announce that North Carolina Lawyers Weekly (NCLW) has named MVA Member Kimberly Easter Zirkle its 2022 “Lawyer of the Year.”
According to NCLW, the state’s weekly legal industry trade publication, “Minority and underserved populations in Charlotte have a straighter path to justice and prosperity thanks to the efforts of Kimberly Zirkle,” who serves as co-chair of MVA’s Pro Bono and Public Service Committee in addition to her work as a financial services attorney.
The Lawyer of the Year recognition is part of the annual North Carolina Leaders in the Law awards. The awards honor influential members of the North Carolina legal industry who have gone above and beyond in their profession and their community.
“We are tremendously proud of Kimberly’s contributions to our firm and the Charlotte legal community, and we congratulate her on this much deserved recognition as the North Carolina Lawyers Weekly’s ‘Lawyer of the Year,’ ” said Thomas L. Mitchell, MVA’s managing partner and chair of the firm’s Management Committee. “Not only is Kimberly an outstanding financial services attorney, but she is a champion of giving back and an inspiration to all of us in her role as co-leader of our firm’s pro bono and public service initiatives.”
As co-chair of the firm’s Pro Bono and Public Service Committee, Zirkle has helped to drive the firm’s efforts to provide legal representation to individuals who could not otherwise afford hiring an attorney. Zirkle, who began embracing pro bono work during law school, regularly represents victims of domestic violence on a pro bono basis in custody, support and divorce proceedings.
At MVA, Zirkle has worked to include more firm attorneys and better integrate the Pro Bono and Public Service Committee within different practice groups of the firm, and has fostered client partnerships on pro bono matters. MVA’s participation in the Charlotte Pro Bono Triage under Zirkle’s leadership and her push to expand access to justice through innovative collaborations has led to a 60 percent increase in volunteers within the Human Trafficking Pro Bono Project.
In 2021, Zirkle and others at MVA worked with the Robinson Bradshaw law firm to form CLIMB (Charlotte Legal Initiative to Mobilize Businesses), a collaborative effort that provides eligible entrepreneurs and small business owners full-service representation on non-litigation business law matters.
In her practice, Zirkle represents a variety of lenders, private equity portfolio companies, and private companies in corporate finance and acquisition transactions.
Zirkle is actively involved with the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance, serving within the organization’s Systemic Racism Legal Inventory (SRLI) Banking Working Group, which tackles issues within minority communities and access to capital and banking services.
Zirkle received her J.D. (with honors) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Tennessee.
About Moore & Van Allen
Moore & Van Allen PLLC (www.mvalaw.com), founded in 1945, has nearly 400 attorneys and professionals serving clients in over 75 areas of focus. The attorneys at Moore & Van Allen provide sophisticated legal services within nationally recognized Litigation, Corporate, Financial Services, Intellectual Property, Bankruptcy, and Commercial Real Estate law practices for international banks and financial services companies, domestic and global manufacturers, retailers, individuals, and healthcare and technology organizations. The firm is ranked in the prestigious “Am Law Global 200” list, and U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers have recognized Moore & Van Allen in their 2022 “Best Law Firms” rankings, both regionally and nationally.
