John D. Noor

John Noor is a litigation attorney focusing on environmental law, complex business litigation, governmental affairs, and public policy. John joined the firm in 2013, after serving for two years as a law clerk to the Honorable Calvin E. Murphy on the North Carolina Business Court. Prior to his clerkship, John was a summer clerk to the Honorable Robert C. Hunter, Jr. on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and, before attending law school, worked for UNC President Erskine Bowles.

John has been involved in cases concerning a broad range of companies, from multi-billion-dollar financial institutions, to small, closely-held family businesses. In his environmental practice, John has worked on Brownfields Redevelopment, permitting under the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act, nuisance actions, administrative rulemaking, oil and natural gas leasing, and energy performance contracting. While with the Business Court, John worked on cases involving shareholder rights disputes, corporate mergers and acquisitions, trade secrets, employment covenants, unfair and deceptive trade practices, international discovery, and other business torts. John also has experience with government taxation of internet commerce, municipal negotiations and litigation over utility pole attachment rates, condemnation, and environmental sustainability.

John, a North Carolina native, serves the Asheville community as a volunteer domestic violence attorney with Pisgah Legal Services and is a member of UNC Asheville’s National Alumni Council. John and his wife, Caroline, currently reside in Asheville.

Professional

• Adjunct Professor of Law, UNC Asheville
• North Carolina Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division
• 28th Judicial District Bar Association

Awards and Accolades

• The Best Lawyers in America: Commercial Litigation, 2021-present; Environmental Law, 2025, Land Use and Zoning Law, 2024-Present
• Business North Carolina magazine’s Legal Elite: Litigation, 2017, 2021; Antitrust, 2017; Environmental, 2017; Young Guns, 2017, 2021
• North Carolina Super Lawyers: Rising Stars, 2019-present

Presentations Include

• Presenter, “The NC Business Court and the 2014 Modernization Act” at the 28th Judicial Bar District’s CLE, 2015
• Presenter, “An Attorney’s Guide to the North Carolina Business Court: Navigating North Carolina’s Specialized Forum for Complex Civil Litigation,” Mecklenburg County Bar Association, 2013.

Publications Include

• John Noor, North Carolina’s Natural Gas Reserves: Are We Ready For The Boom? Independent Study, 2010.
• John Noor, Herding Cats: What To Do When States Get In The Way Of National Energy Policy, 11 N.C. J.L. & TECH. 145, 2009.
• John Noor, North Carolina’s New Water Quality Law: Improvements in the Stormwater Management of North Carolina’s Coastal Counties, UNC Environmental Law Symposium, 2009.

Accomplishments

• Special Counsel to the United States Judiciary Committee, Professor Michael Gerhardt, Research Assistant, 2009–2011
• The Honorable Robert C. Hunter, Jr., North Carolina Court of Appeals, Summer Law Clerk, 2010
• University of North Carolina General Administration, President Erskine Bowles Presidential Intern, 2007-2008
  • Co-authored, with Dr. Dennis Grady and Norma Houston, the Environmental Sustainability section of the UNC Tomorrow Commission’s Final Report and Recommendations to the UNC Board of Governors.
  • Spearheaded the development of the first UNC Environmental Sustainability Policy that regulates the University’s $180 million utilities budget.