Troy Shelton
Clients hire Troy to protect their vital interests when cases are appealed.
Setting the stage for a successful appeal often means hiring an appellate attorney while the case is still at trial. Troy works alongside trial counsel, collaborating on critical motions to ensure that clients are well positioned on appeal. Once a judgment is entered, clients rely on Troy either to defend their judgment or find creative paths to reversal.
In 2024, Troy was voted the state’s top appellate lawyer by Business North Carolina. Troy has also been certified by the North Carolina State Bar as an appellate specialist. He has a wide variety of trial and appellate experience involving class actions, antitrust, employment, land use, and family law cases. He also litigates commercial disputes in federal and North Carolina Business courts.
Before joining the firm, Troy was a partner at one of the nation’s 100 largest law firms, where he handled appeals in courts across the country. Before that, Troy was a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder of the Middle District of North Carolina. During law school, Troy was an intern to the Honorable Justice Mark Martin of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. He also interned with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina and externed with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina. In addition, Troy served as the North Carolina Law Review’s articles editor.
Representative Matters
Troy frequently represents clients in precedent-setting cases. For example, in 2021, he persuaded the Supreme Court of North Carolina to unanimously recognize that children have a right, under the state constitution, to a learning environment free from abuse. Before then, lower courts had for a decade refused to recognize such a right.
Troy has also prevailed on appeal for large corporations, such as Wal-Mart, state agencies and counties like the North Carolina Board of Physical Therapy Examiners and Harnett County, as well as many individuals and small businesses.
Pro Bono Work
Clerkships
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Law Clerk to United States District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder, Middle District of North Carolina, 2014-2015
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Extern to Associate Justice Mark Martin, North Carolina Supreme Court, 2012
Education
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University of North Carolina School of Law, J.D., 2014, magna cum laude; Order of the Coif; Articles editor, North Carolina Law Review
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Duke University, B.A., 2011, magna cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa
Admissions
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North Carolina
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U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, and Eleventh Circuits
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U.S. District Court for the Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts of North Carolina
Professional and Civic Activities
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President, Triangle Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society
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Member, Appellate Rules Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association
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Former co-chair and council member, Appellate Practice Section, North Carolina Bar Association
Recognition and Honors
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Legal Elite Hall of Fame for Appellate Law, Business North Carolina
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Selected to the “Ones to Watch” list for Appellate Practice and Commercial Litigation in Raleigh, NC by Best Lawyers (2021-2024)
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Selected to the “Super Lawyers Rising Stars” list for Business Litigation (2019-2021) and Appellate (2022-2024) in North Carolina by Super Lawyers
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Received North Carolina Bar Association’s Young Lawyer Pro Bono Service Award (2023)