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F. JOSEPH DIAB, with the law firm of Nexsen Pruet, PLLC, concentrates his practice in the areas of general corporate and international commercial law. He also serves as a consultant to corporate management, providing counsel, training and executive coaching in the areas of negotiation skills, conflict resolution and effective communication. His clients include executives and training departments of Fortune 500 companies in the pharmaceutical, technology and communications industries operating both domestically and internationally. Mr. Diab is also a North Carolina Superior Court mediator focusing on resolution of complex commercial disputes. He earned his law degree and master's degree in international law from Duke University where he served as a senior editor on the International Law Journal and interned with the legal departments of the United Nations and the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C. He received his training as a mediator from the Duke Private Adjudication Center and the program on negotiation at Harvard Law School. Mr. Diab is former chair of the North Carolina Bar Association Section on International Law and a member of the American Bar Association Section on Dispute Resolution. DAVID J. GARRETT is special counsel to the firm of Nexsen Pruet, PLLC, where he focuses on immigration-related matters and is a member of both the firm's employment and labor and immigration practice groups. Prior to joining Nexsen Pruet, Mr. Garrett worked for Sanford Holshouser LLP, where his practice areas focused on issues related to economic development, employment immigration and human resource issues, as well as real estate, zoning, annexation, corporate start-ups, mergers and acquisitions, commercial litigation and arbitration matters. Mr. Garrett's experience in the immigration field includes representing business professionals with non-immigrant visas, intra-company transfers, investor visas, and consular processing of visa petitions. He also assists businesses and individuals with immigrant visa and permanent residency matters, including labor certifications, national interest waivers, employment-based petitions, and investment-based petitions. Mr. Garrett assists multi-national companies with immigration matters for their international workforce to expedite the movement of workers and reduce costs to the companies. In addition to representing clients with immigration matters, he also assists businesses with immigration compliance matters such as I-9 programs, ICE inspections, and corporate immigration policies, immigration issues in mergers and acquisitions, and export licensing requirements for companies that hire foreign nationals. In addition to immigration matters, Mr. Garrett represents individuals and corporate clients in several regulated industries, including manufacturing, construction, trucking, pavement markings, the import/export of raw materials for manufacturing, and technology companies. His expertise includes Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issues for construction clients, State and United States Department of Transportation appeals of W/MBE determinations, and Department of Transportation construction contracts. He also regularly appears as a speaker regarding immigration compliance issues for the construction industry. Mr. Garrett earned his B.E. degree from The University of Toledo, his M.M. degree from Bowling Green State University and his J.D. degree from The University of Toledo. He is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. JOHN B. HARDAWAY is a member in the law firm of Nexsen Pruet, PLLC, where he practices in the intellectual property group. His practice areas include international, intellectual property, startups - innovation team, energy law, nuclear energy and alternative energy law. Mr. Hardaway's practice of intellectual property law was with government and/or industry until 1980 when he went into private practice. The Hardaway Law Firm, P.A. was started in 1980 and grew to nine IP attorneys before the firm joined Nexsen Pruet in 1999. He earned his B.S. degree from Clemson University, his M.S. degree from Iowa State University and his J.D. degree from Catholic University of America and University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Mr. Hardaway is a member of the American Bar Association, the International Trademark Association, the Japanese Patent Office Liaison Council of the United States Bar, the Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law Association of the Carolinas and the South Carolina Bar. ERNEST C. PEARSON is a member in the law firm of Nexsen Pruet, PLLC, where he practices in the banking and finance group, focusing on areas that include corporate law, international law, public finance, commercial real estate, and economic development. From 1989 to 1993, Mr. Pearson served as assistant secretary of economic development for the North Carolina Department of Commerce. In this position, he managed programs dealing with business and industry recruitment, international trade development, finance packages supporting new and expanded facilities, travel and tourism promotion, and small business development. In each of his four years with the department, the agency was recognized as the top state recruitment program in the country. During that period, North Carolina led the nation in recruiting large industries three times and twice led in recruiting international companies and R&D facilities. After leaving government, Mr. Pearson joined Sanford Holshouser LLP, where he focused his practice on legal matters dealing with economic development and site selection, including public finance, incentives, nonprofit organizations, and public-private partnerships. He is especially well suited to work with companies considering new business locations, expansions, restructuring financing, and international business dealings. Mr. Pearson earned his B.A. degree, with high honors, from North Carolina State University and his J.D. degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill.
DAVID S. ROBINSON is special counsel with Nexsen Pruet, PLLC's employment and labor law group. His practice is focused in the areas of international, corporate, employment, immigration, and commercial law. Mr. Robinson has experience in cross-border movement of companies, goods, services and personnel; start-up financing and establishment of United States and International subsidiaries and branches; mergers and acquisitions and joint venture arrangements; contract drafting and negotiation; site selection and lease negotiation; state and federal regulation; immigration and human resources; employee recruitment and training and international trade guidance and facilitation. Mr. Robinson lived in Tokyo, Japan for 8 years and traveled to more than 40 countries as a lecturer and consultant on business start-up issues, international immigration, trade and finance, and corporate organization. He has served clients in the European Union, Japan, China, Singapore, Australia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, India, the former Soviet Union, South America, and Mexico. He earned his B.S. degree from Georgetown University, studied international law at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, and earned his J.D. degree from George Washington National Law Center. Mr. Robinson is a member of the International Bar Association, the 10th Judicial District Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He is the past chair of the International Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association, serves on the Board of Advisors of the North Carolina Japan Center, and is the former director of the North Carolina China Center Steering Committee. Mr. Robinson also serves on the Wake Tech Business and Industry Services Advisory Committee and the Wake Tech Community College where he is an ethics instructor for the leadership program. In addition, he is a visiting professor of international business at Campbell University and serves as lecturer and program planner for North Carolina Export Outreach Program. Mr. Robinson is the former president of the Nippon Club.
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