O.E. Starnes is an Asheville native, now working part-time in a general practice. This follows a period of 45 years in an active litigation practice, largely in the area of insurance defense. During this period, O.E. also served as corporate counsel to the City of Asheville from 1957 until 1967. O.E.'s current practice consists of service to a number of individual clients, and for many years up to and including the present, as attorney for the Town of Biltmore Forest.

Practice Highlights

• Served as corporation counsel for the City of Asheville and defeated an aggressive lawsuit seeking to prevent fluoridation of the public water supply.
• Successfully defended local physicians, dentists, chiropractors, architects, etc. from former patients or clients seeking to collect substantial damages on allegations of professional malpractice.
• Successfully represented a large mining and engineering corporation in Western North Carolina when neighbors filed a civil action alleging damages to their property from air pollution, and further sought a court order to shut down the plant.

Professional Affiliations

• 28th Judicial and North Carolina State Bar
• American College of Trial Lawyers, 1973-present
  • State Chair, 1979-1980
• Buncombe County Bar Association
  • President, 1972-1973
• North Carolina Bar Association
  • Senior Law Division, 2001
  • General Practice Hall of Fame, 2002
  • Board of Governors, 1973-1976
• North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys