Young Morphis Bach & Taylor LLP is a full-service law firm located in the First Lawyers Building in downtown Hickory, North Carolina. Established in 1949, the firm presently consists of 10 lawyers and an experienced staff of legal professionals. The lawyers of Young Morphis Bach & Taylor offer a diverse panoply of legal services to Catawba County and western North Carolina.

The attorneys in the firm are Charles R. Young, Sr., Wayne M. Bach, Terry M. Taylor, Paul E. Culpepper, Kevin C. McIntosh, Jimmy R. Summerlin, Jr., Timothy D. Swanson, and Henry S. Morphis.

The firm’s practice areas may be divided into three broad categories: business-organizations law, estates law, and litigation.

The business-organizations category includes:

Corporate law

Business and commercial law

Real estate law

Contract law

Transactions

Municipal law

Tax matters

Bankruptcy law

The estates-law category includes:

Estate planning

Estate administration

Wills and trusts

Estate taxation

The litigation category includes:

Commercial and business law

Construction law

Employment law

Personal injury and wrongful death

Negligence

Traffic/DWI Defense

Criminal Misdemeanor Defense

Corporate, Business, and Real Estate

The firm’s Corporate, Business, and Real Estate Group consists of Charles R. Young, Sr., Wayne M. Bach, Terry M. Taylor, Kevin C. McIntosh, Jimmy R. Summerlin, Jr. and Henry S. Morphis. The lawyers in the firm’s Corporate, Business, and Real Estate Group are well versed in all aspects of this area of the law and offer entrepreneurial insight, more than a century of combined legal experience, and an unparalleled knowledge of the Catawba County and western North Carolina business and real-property markets.

Charles R. Young, Sr., has practiced law with the firm for 42 years. Mr. Young was a charter member of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Real Property Council and was designated as among North Carolina’s "legal elite" in the area of real-property law by Business North Carolina magazine (2004) and "Super Lawyer" in Business and Corporate Law (2007 and 2008).

Terry M. Taylor is a North Carolina State Bar-certified specialist in residential as well as commercial and industrial transactions. Ms. Taylor also holds a master’s degree in regional and community planning and has extensive experience with municipal and county land-use planning issues such as zoning.

The lawyers of Young Morphis Bach & Taylor recognize that taxes are an inevitable component of nearly all business and real estate transactions. Wayne M. Bach earned a Master of Laws degree in taxation from the College of William and Mary and is a former senior trial lawyer for the Internal Revenue Service. His extensive tax experience helps ensure that tax issues are considered and addressed with every corporate, business, and real estate client of the firm. Bach also handles complex estate administration and estate planning and helps clients address the tax issues that arise with respect to these areas of the law.

Kevin C. McIntosh’s practice consists of transactional law involving corporations, partnerships, and secured transactions, as well as real estate, contract law, and elder law. Kevin has helped hundreds of businesses and individuals throughout Catawba County and western North Carolina form corporate entities that are right for their needs. Kevin also has extensive experience with drafting corporate and business agreements for small businesses and expansive corporate entities.

Jimmy R. Summerlin, Jr. joined the firm in January 2003 after receiving his law degree from the University of Tennessee. Summerlin also holds a doctorate degree from the University of Tennessee. He has built a practice around bankruptcy law, commercial law, and business organizations law.

Henry S. Morphis joined the firm as an associate in August 2006, and is a native of Hickory. Mr. Morphis received a bachelor or science degree in wood products from North Carolina State Universtiy in 1995. He was awarded his law degree from Campbell University's Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law in 2006. Prior to receiving his law degree, Mr. Morphis worked in the furniture industry in engineering and management. Mr. Morphis will focus on business and commercial law, franchise law, taxation, estate planning and administration, and business litigation.

Litigation and Trials

The Litigation and Trial Group of Young Morphis Bach & Taylor acts as the perfect complement to the business and real-property group. It consists of Paul E. Culpepper and Timothy D. Swanson..

The Litigation and Trial Group is prepared to institute or defend legal action in nearly every area of the law, including construction law, employment law, commercial law (including business, corporate, and real estate law as well as the Uniform Commercial Code), personal-injury and wrongful-death law, and insurance defense. The firm’s litigation group also handles state and federal appeals.

Paul Culpepper, who joined the firm in 1993, maintains a civil-litigation practice consisting primarily of workers’ compensation law, construction law, business law, employment law, and personal-injury law. Mr. Culpepper is a member of all state and federal courts in North Carolina, including the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.

Timothy D. Swanson joined the firm in 2006. A native of Hickory, Mr. Swanson graduated magna cum laude from Lenoir-Rhyne College with a degree in political science. He earned his law degree from Campbell University's Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law in 2006. Mr. Swanson maintains a wide-ranging civil and criminal litigation practice which includes corporate and contract litigation, real estate litigation, collection matters, traffic/DWI defense, and criminal misdemeanor defense. Mr. Swanson also represents multiple homeowner associations throughout the district and assists them with both transactional work and litigation.

Representative Clients

Young Morphis Bach & Taylor provides legal counseling and services to clients throughout Catawba County, Caldwell County, Burke County, and Alexander County. Some of our clients include the Town of Sawmills, First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, Branch Banking & Trust Company, Capital Bank, Peoples Bank, Hospitality Group of Hickory, Inc., Hickory Metro Convention Center, Greenway Transit, The Rock Barn Club of Golf, Inc., The Reserve at Sugar Mountain, LLC, Cripple Creek Investments, LLC, Donald C. Beaver, Hickory Baseball, Inc., Graystone Ophthalmology Associates, P.A., W.M. Cramer Lumber Co., City of Hickory Public Housing Authority, Pepsi, Hickory Brands, Inc., DeFeet International, Inc., National Circuit Incorporated, Carolina Specialty Tools, Inc., Lutheran Services for the Aging, Inc., David E. Looper & Company, Inc. and Auto Owners Insurance, among others. In addition, the firm’s lawyers are approved attorneys for all title insurance companies and other financial institutions.

400 2^nd Avenue, NW, Hickory, North Carolina 28601  •  (828) 322-4663  •  lawyers@hickorylaw.com