JAMES (JAY)
HOLLAND
ATTORNEY
3414 WRIGHTSVILLE AVENUE
WILMINGTON NC 28403
PO BOX 4548
WILMINGTON NC 28406
Office: 910.399.3447
Direct: 910.444.5544
Mobile: 919.219.8524
jay@leekaess.com

Civil Litigation
Estate Litigation
Real Estate Litigation

Education
University of North Carolina School of Law
JD, 2002
Order of Barristers
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
BA, with distinction, 1992
Admissions
2002, North Carolina
2002, US District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina
2004, US District Court, Middle District of North Carolina
2014, US Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Achievements & Superlatives
2015 - 2020 Rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell®
2017 - 2020 Included in Judicial Edition by Martindale-Hubbell®
2017 - 2020 “America’s Most Honored Lawyers” (Top 1%) by Martindale-Hubbell® and The American Registry®
2019 “Lawyer of the Year” for Litigation – Insurance in Wilmington, NC - Best Lawyers in America®
23rd – 27th Editions of the Best Lawyers in America® (2017 – 2020)
Named “Rising Star” by SuperLawyers® (2012)
North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society (2017)
Memberships
North Carolina Bar Association
Litigation Section
Real Estate Section
Trusts and Estates Section
Beaufort County Bar Association
Judicial District 3A Bar
Community Involvement
Attends Harvest Church in Washington, NC
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Visitors
Recreation Advisory Committee for City of Washington, NC
Beaufort County Crime Stoppers Board
James "Jay" Holland is a commercial litigator with nearly twenty years of experience. Jay left partnership from a large Southeastern law firm to practice in his native Eastern North Carolina. Jay rejoins some of his long-time colleagues at Lee Kaess, and brings a wealth of litigation experience and insight to our growing firm.
Prior to attending law school, Jay gained significant experience in the insurance industry as a property and casualty, and medical malpractice claims representative for major insurers.
Jay Holland has extensive experience in personal injury litigation, including matters involving automobile accidents, slip and falls, product liability injuries, and medical malpractice claims.
Jay has represented clients in will contests, claims against estates, breach of fiduciary duty cases, and trust modifications.
He has handled a wide variety of real estate matters, including title insurance claims, boundary disputes and partition actions, reformations of title instruments, disputes as to priority of security instruments, contested foreclosures, evictions and ejectments, landlord-tenant actions, disputes over restrictive covenants and easements, and other land use and zoning matters.
Jay has also litigated matters involving disputes over commercial contracts and negotiable instruments, the collection of debts, the recovery of collateral under security agreements, and insurance policies.
In the employment law context, Jay has represented employers and employees in numerous employment law matters, including cases over non-compete and non-disclosure agreements, trade secrets, and wrongful discharge claims.