Tharrington Smith

What Tharrington Smith does

Tharrington Smith is a Raleigh, North Carolina-based law firm founded in 1964 by Harold Tharrington and Wade Smith. The firm operates a single-office model headquartered at 150 Fayetteville Street and employs 35+ attorneys organized across five practice areas: Criminal Defense, Civil Litigation, Criminal Tax Defense, Family Law, and Education Law. Education Law is the firm's largest and most strategically central practice, with 20 attorneys serving as counsel to North Carolina public school systems — including Wake County Public School System since 1985 and additional county school boards — and holding the North Carolina School Boards Association (NCSBA) Legal Service Provider designation. The firm's revenue model is traditional legal services billing — predominantly hourly engagements against institutional and individual clients — with no disclosed subscription, fixed-fee, or alternative-fee structures. Notable matters include a $1.3 billion tax fraud defense case that demonstrates the criminal tax practice's reach beyond the regional school-board core.

Governance is exercised through two co-managing partners. The most recent transition in 2024 placed Russell Babb and Evan Horwitz in the co-managing partner roles, succeeding Fred Morelock (who had held the managing partner position since 2008). The firm has been continuously recognized by Best Lawyers for more than 40 years, and its attorneys collectively cite 200+ years of courtroom experience, board-certified specialists, three former judges, and NCSBA-certified education law specialists as differentiating credentials. The firm's value proposition rests on deep institutional knowledge of North Carolina courts, school law, and education governance rather than on technology-enabled service delivery or scale advantages.

Name

Tharrington Smith

Legal name

Tharrington Smith, LLP

Website

https://tharringtonsmith.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1964

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Tharrington Smith is a Raleigh, North Carolina law firm founded in 1964 with 35+ attorneys practicing criminal defense, civil litigation, criminal tax defense, family law, and education law, with education law serving NC public school systems as its largest practice.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Criminal Defense (BPAHAAAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Family & Private Client (Trusts & Estates) Law (BPAHAAAK)

Keywords

• Legal services
• Criminal defense law
• Education law
• Family law practice
• Civil litigation

Headquarters

HQ city

Raleigh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Hourly Billing: Standard hourly rate billing for legal services with attorneys billing by the hour for case work, consultations, and representation.
2. Legal Services - Flat Fees: Fixed fee arrangements for certain defined legal services providing clients with cost certainty for specific matters.
3. Legal Services - Contingent Fees: Contingency fee arrangements available for applicable cases where clients pay based on successful outcome.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Tharrington Smith is a full-service North Carolina law firm delivering legal representation across five practice areas: Criminal Defense, Civil Litigation, Criminal Tax Defense, Family Law, and Education Law. The firm operates as a single-office partnership in Raleigh, with its largest practice being Education Law, serving as general counsel to numerous NC public school systems. Additional engagements span criminal defense representation (including high-profile felony, federal, and white-collar matters), civil disputes, family law matters, and criminal tax investigations and defense.

Product overview

Tharrington Smith is a full-service law firm offering legal representation across five core practice areas: Criminal Defense, Civil Litigation, Criminal Tax Defense, Family Law, and Education Law. The firm operates as a single-office model in Raleigh, North Carolina, providing comprehensive legal services to individuals, businesses, and public school systems throughout the state. The firm's largest practice area is Education Law, with 20 full-time education law attorneys serving as general counsel to numerous North Carolina public school systems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Criminal Defense Criminal defense legal services covering white-collar crimes, DUI/DWI, felonies, misdemeanors, homicides, domestic violence, drug offenses, and federal crimes throughout North Carolina.
• Civil Litigation Civil litigation services handling high-stakes disputes, bet-the-company cases, business torts, contracts, intellectual property, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and professional licensing defense.
• Criminal Tax Defense Criminal tax defense legal services defending individuals and businesses against tax fraud, evasion, and related federal and state charges, working with forensic accountants and former IRS agents.
• Family Law Family law services including divorce, child custody, asset division, spousal support, alimony, separation agreements, and mediation.
• Education Law Education law services providing comprehensive legal counsel to public schools and school boards, including special education, student rights, personnel matters, public records compliance, and school construction.

Quantifiable outcome

• $1.3 billion tax fraud case resulting in favorable outcome
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• North Carolina School Boards AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTharrington Smith serves as legal counsel to the North Carolina School Boards Association and numerous county school boards across North Carolina, including Edgecombe, Durham, Person, and Hertford counties. This represents a core strategic relationship spanning over 40 years.
• Wake County Board of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing client representing Wake County Board of Education with education law matters since the 1980s. Firm gained the board as client through George Rogister's addition to the firm.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights1 record

Direct peers

• Smith Anderson: Smith Anderson is a full-service Raleigh, NC-based law firm of comparable size with similarly diverse practice areas including litigation, education law, and corporate work — the closest head-to-head competitor for institutional Triangle-region clients.
• Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog: Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog is a Raleigh-based litigation and insurance defense firm with overlapping civil litigation and education law practices serving similar NC institutional clients.
• Nexsen Pruet: Nexsen Pruet is a Carolinas-based full-service firm with offices across NC and SC; its litigation and government services practices compete with Tharrington Smith for regional institutional work.
• Wyrick Robbins: Wyrick Robbins is a Raleigh-based firm with strong litigation and commercial practices, competing for the same Triangle-area corporate and institutional client base.
• Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein: Parker Poe is a Carolinas-based full-service firm with offices in Raleigh and Charlotte; its litigation and public-sector practices overlap materially with Tharrington Smith's education and civil litigation work.
• Poyner Spruill: Poyner Spruill is a Raleigh-headquartered full-service firm with comparable education law and litigation capabilities, competing for the same NC public school and institutional clients.
• Brooks Pierce: Brooks Pierce is a Raleigh-based full-service firm with strong litigation, education law, and regulatory practices, directly competing with Tharrington Smith for NC institutional and public-sector clients.

Broad incumbents

• Hunton Andrews Kurth: Hunton Andrews Kurth is a national firm with an established Raleigh presence and litigation, white-collar, and regulatory capabilities comparable to Tharrington Smith's practice mix.
• Ogletree Deakins: Ogletree Deakins is a national employment and labor law powerhouse; its education-law-adjacent employment practice competes directly with Tharrington Smith's K-12 personnel and labor work for school board clients.
• McGuireWoods: McGuireWoods is a national full-service firm with a Raleigh office and strong litigation, white-collar, and education law practices that overlap with Tharrington Smith's core offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/tharringtonsmith
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tharrington-smith
• Instagraminstagram.com/tharrington_smith

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tharrington Smith