Maynard M. Brown

Maynard Brown is the firm's appellate practice leader and one of the most accomplished defense attorneys in the region, with experience arguing before the highest courts in the nation. A 1979 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a 1987 graduate of Wake Forest University School of Law, Mr. Brown brings scholarly rigor and appellate mastery to every matter he handles.

Mr. Brown's bar admissions tell the story of his career trajectory: admitted to the North Carolina State Bar and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina in 1987, the United States Supreme Court in 1991, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 2001. Few attorneys in southeastern North Carolina hold admission to practice before the nation's highest court.

Mr. Brown has been counsel of record in cases before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, the North Carolina Supreme Court, and the North Carolina Court of Appeals. This breadth of appellate experience at every level of the American judicial system is a rare and valuable asset for clients facing complex litigation with significant stakes.

His primary practice areas — insurance defense, insurance coverage, construction law, and appellate practice — reflect his analytical depth and his ability to identify and preserve issues for appellate review from the outset of litigation. Mr. Brown's coverage analysis work is particularly valued by insurance carriers navigating complex policy interpretation questions.

In 2018, the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys selected Mr. Brown and partner Stephen Baynard to prepare an Amicus Brief on behalf of the organization — recognition of their expertise and standing within the defense bar. This is a distinction reserved for attorneys whose legal analysis the NCADA trusts to represent the interests of the entire defense community.

Mr. Brown's reported cases span decades and demonstrate his effectiveness at every judicial level, including cases where he obtained discretionary review denials from the North Carolina Supreme Court and a cert denial from the United States Supreme Court — outcomes that preserved favorable lower court decisions for his clients.