Practice Areas

Arnold & Smith, PLLC is a civil and criminal litigation firm in Charlotte, North Carolina serving the Queen City and surrounding areas in multiple practice areas. Our attorneys practice in criminal defense and expungement, DUI/DWI defense, traffic citation defense, family law and divorce, personal injury, workers’ compensation, business and civil litigation, and landlord tenant law.

Find more detail about our main practice areas below.

Arnold & Smith, PLLC is dedicated to having one of the strongest, most experienced family law practices in North Carolina. Although separation and divorce are the most common types of family law cases, this area of practice refers to a wide range of legal matters. The issues surrounding family law can be very overwhelming and stressful, involving the most difficult and personal facets of a person’s life. Our attorneys understand this pressure and have experience helping clients through these situations.

The experienced trial attorneys in our family law practice area focus on divorce, child custody, child support, equitable distribution of debt and assets, alimony and post separation support, and a variety of other matrimonial law matters.

The family law attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC take a case by case approach to give each client’s unique case the utmost specified attention. We are prepared to tailor a plan for each client’s particular circumstances. Although our attorneys are known for their aggressive approach to litigation, in many cases the best solution for our clients may be to try to negotiate an agreement with their spouse out of court. Litigation can become very time consuming, expensive and emotionally taxing. Our family law attorneys have a great deal of experience in negotiation and mediation in order to help find clients reach their best solution.

However, in other cases litigation can be the best option. Our attorneys are just as prepared to fight for your rights in court. From divorce and equitable distribution to child custody and support, our attorneys have a wealth of experience in the family law courts to advocate your case in any proceeding.

When Brad Smith and Matthew Arnold established their law practice at Arnold & Smith, PLLC, they chose to focus largely on criminal defense and civil litigation because these two areas of law often go hand in hand. When a potential client goes through the emotional process of a custody battle or divorce, it is not unusual to have a criminal matter arise. Our firm’s organizational structure allows our clients to access the breadth of criminal and civil knowledge and experience that our attorneys and staff provide.

Arnold & Smith, PLLC’s experienced criminal defense attorneys provide zealous defense for clients on a number of different traffic and criminal issues, from misdemeanors to serious felony charges at both the state and federal levels. Our criminal law practice area is led by Brad Smith, one of Arnold & Smith’s founding members. Mr. Smith has dedicated his career to defending the rights of those involved in criminal matters with skill, nonjudgment and experience. For several years now The National Trial Lawyers Association ranked him as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in North Carolina and in 2013, 2014, and 2015 was named for the Charlotte Observer’s Reader’s Choice Best Lawyer in Charlotte.

Potential issues our clients could be facing include driver’s license privilege matters (license suspended/revoked, license violations, license restoration, DMV hearings); drug charges (paraphernalia, drug charges, marijuana possession, drug sale and trafficking); gun permit denials and weapon offenses; MAR (Motion for Appropriate Relief); expungements; DWI/DUI (driving while impaired, boating while impaired); and traffic citations (speeding tickets, passing a school bus, running a red light).

Some other criminal-related legal issues that our clients could be facing are domestic violence charges (domestic violence defense, 50B Protective Order hearings or violations); property crimes (theft, breaking and entering, robbery, burglary, larceny, embezzlement, employee theft, white collar crimes); sexually related offenses (indecent exposure, public masturbation, sexual assault, sodomy/crimes against nature, removal from the sex offender registry); vehicle seizures; and violent crime charges (assault, manslaughter, homicide, murder).

A serious injury can have a lasting detrimental impact on a person’s life, and the lives of their loved ones. Under North Carolina law, an injured victim has the right to seek compensation through the civil court system from the person who caused the injury. Victims have the ability to have their case heard at trial, although in many cases personal injury cases may also be settled through negotiation, saving time and expense for the victim.

The experienced legal professionals at Arnold & Smith, PLLC can first help a victim determine the strength of their claims and develop a corresponding case strategy. Our attorneys are capable of representing clients on a variety of different personal injury matters including slip and fall injury, motor vehicle injury, product liability, wrongful death, medical negligence and wrongful death. Our personal injury attorneys are skilled in mediation and negotiation techniques, but also stand at the ready to aggressively litigate on our clients’ behalf in court when necessary. They usually operate on a contingent fee basis, meaning that there is no upfront charge for attorney services and you do not have to pay attorney’s fees unless you win your case.

In addition to personal injury cases, our attorneys also handle workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation provides medical coverage, rehabilitation therapy and wage replacement benefits for employees injured on the job through accident or occupational illness. Our workers’ comp attorneys have a wide breadth of experience handling the North Carolina Industrial Commission, insurance companies and employers so that the injured employee does not have to and can instead focus on their recovery.

The injured party in personal injury and workers’ comp cases can be uniquely vulnerable to the complicated legal system, bullying insurance companies and evasive tactics of the party at fault. Having an experienced and tough local Charlotte attorney in your corner to fight for your rights can be the difference between winning and losing.