Edward G. "Woody" Connette III - Lawyer in Charlotte, NC

Woody Connette has practiced law for over thirty years. He finished Davidson College in 1974 and graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1977.

Woody represents those who have suffered catastrophic personal injuries, loss of family members by wrongful death, Long Term Disability benefit claims, and denial of health benefit coverage for needed medical procedures. He is familiar with ERISA and other federal and state laws and regulations in the retirement, disability health care area. Woody has also participated in class action litigation for over twenty-five years, including consumer, employment, shareholder and civil rights class actions.

Woody has been recognized as one of the North Carolina Legal Elite, the Best Lawyers in America, North Carolina Super Lawyers, and other listings. He is a frequent speaker and teacher at various continuing education programs. He has taught trial practice skills for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and has spoken on a wide range of topics for bar and community groups, including national ERISA conferences at Loyola University School of Law in Chicago, North Carolina and South Carolina Bar Associations, the American Advocates for Justice, the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, and the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys.

Connette's publications include an article on depositions that was published in the American Bar Association's Litigation Section journal and an article on health care advocacy for the North Carolina Medical Journal. He is a past member of the Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism. He also is a member of the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Bar Association. In 2010, the North Carolina Bar Association gave its H. Brent McKnight professionalism award to Woody.

Among his volunteer and community activities, Woody serves on the national Board of Trustees for United Cerebral Palsy, based in Washington, D.C. and is its past president. He also serves on the Board of Directors and as past president of Easter Seals/UCP of North Carolina. He recently completed a two-year term as the volunteer Executive Board Chair for the Patient Advocate Foundation. In the past, he has been a member and Chair of the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of Charlotte. He has a served on the boards of the Mecklenburg Medical Society's Bioethics Resource Group, Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, Carolina Legal Assistance, The Council on Adolescent Pregnancy, Bare Bones Theater Group, and other nonprofit organizations.

Woody enjoys surfing and running. He has completed the Ironman World Triathalon in Hawaii. He sometimes swims in the Hudson River with the Manhattan Island Foundation, and has completed the 60 kilometer Kepler Challenge in New Zealand. Woody is married to Jane Harper, a retired state court judge and private mediator.