News
Wyrick Robbins Announces Six New Partners
Wyrick Robbins is pleased to welcome six attorneys to firm partnership effective January 1, 2026:
Sophia Blair is a member of the firm’s Commercial Litigation and Government Contracting practice groups and has successfully litigated multiple cases through trial. Sophia litigates in federal and state courts, the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Her experience includes representing businesses in diverse industries in complex commercial disputes involving contracts, torts, and fraudulent transfers, and government contractors in federal and state bid protest litigation. Sophia also regularly advises healthcare companies on beneficiary appeals, billing disputes, and Medicaid administration.
Jennifer Hall practices in the area of commercial real estate, helping clients navigate all phases of commercial real estate transactions, from acquisition and financing to development, leasing, and disposition. She also has substantial experience advising on real estate issues in M&A transactions, seamlessly integrating real estate considerations into broader corporate strategies. Jennifer has successfully represented clients across diverse industries, including life sciences, telecommunications, retail, environmental services, and finance.
Maria Hawkins is a seasoned family law attorney with over a decade of litigation experience in Wake County and throughout North Carolina. She is a North Carolina Board Certified Specialist in Family Law and a North Carolina Certified Parenting Coordinator. Since graduating from Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law in 2012, Maria has dedicated her practice exclusively to family law litigation. At Wyrick, she handles matters involving separation and divorce, spousal contracts, child custody, child support, equitable distribution, spousal support, and domestic violence.
Jim Hoch is the leader of the firm’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation practice group. He advises clients from a wide range of industries on complex executive compensation and employee benefits matters. Jim plays a key role in supporting the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions practice group, advising private and public company buyers and sellers through an assortment of issues in connection with corporate transactions. His practice also includes advising private investment funds related to the plan asset regulations and the formation and operation of venture capital operating companies (VCOCs).
Michael Kohagen is a member of the firm’s M&A practice group. His practice is focused on transactional work, including mergers, stock and asset acquisitions, and corporate restructurings. He also assists clients—from emerging growth businesses to public companies and investment firms—with general corporate matters and commercial contract negotiation. Michael has experience representing parties in a range of industries, including education, software and technology, biotech, transportation, construction, waste management, packaging, and fintech.
Meryl Murtagh advises institutional investors and asset managers on the full lifecycle of private market investments. She focuses on investor-side allocations to private equity, private credit, rated feeder vehicles, venture capital, secondaries, real assets, and other private market strategies, as well as advising venture capital and private equity fund sponsors in their formation and investment activities. She combines deep market fluency with a pragmatic, solutions-oriented approach to structuring, negotiating, and executing complex investments across the capital stack. On the investor side, she represents insurance companies, pension plans, endowments, family offices, non-profits, and fund-of-funds in primary commitments, co-investments, separately managed accounts, and continuation vehicles.
Managing Partner Todd Eveson shared his congratulations, “On behalf of the firm, I applaud each of our new partners on this significant career milestone. They bring deep experience across a range of practice areas and have demonstrated meaningful commitment to our clients and to the firm.”