RALEIGH, N.C. – Poyner Spruill LLP announced today that Haywood A. Barnes has joined the firm as a partner in the Charlotte office and Steven B. Epstein has joined the firm as a partner in its Raleigh office.

Barnes joins the Financial Services practice area where he will continue his practice representing banks, commercial finance companies and factors in a wide variety of commercial lending and factoring transactions, as well as in the areas of creditors' rights, workouts, loan restructuring and bankruptcy. Barnes is an active member of the Commercial Finance committee of the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section, the Association of Commercial Finance Attorneys and the Turnaround Management Association.

Barnes received his JD and MBA degrees from Wake Forest University and his BS degree from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He was most recently a partner in the Banking & Finance and Lending Services practice areas at Hunton & Williams LLP. He can be reached at hbarnes@poynerspruill.com or (704) 342-5267.

Epstein's litigation practice will concentrate on product liability, trucking and vehicular accident defense, mass tort defense, plaintiff’s personal injury and wrongful death, complex business litigation and general civil litigation. He has defended clients in product liability cases in state and federal courts from New York to California and has obtained multiple multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements on behalf of injured plaintiffs. He has been recognized as a North Carolina “Super Lawyer” for litigation defense (2006-10), "Legal Elite" in litigation in Business North Carolina (2008-2009) and one of the “Top Lawyers in the Triangle” in Business Leader (2008). He is also a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America.

Epstein served as Chair of the Litigation Section of the North Carolina Bar Association from 2003-2004 and currently serves on the Association’s Strategic Planning and Emerging Trends and Continuing Legal Education Committees. He is also active in the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, presently serving as Vice-Chair of its Product Liability Committee.

Epstein received his BA and JD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, both with highest honors.  Prior to joining Poyner Spruill, he was a litigation partner at Hunton & Williams LLP. He can be reached at sepstein@poynerspruill.com or (919) 783.2846.