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Fred M. Wood Jr.

Office Managing Shareholder

Fred Wood is the managing shareholder of Baker Donelson's Charlotte office and focuses his practice on complex class action and business, commercial, and financial services litigation.

Professional Biography


Fred is a seasoned litigator with more than 30 years of experience representing clients throughout state and federal courts in North Carolina. He serves as a trusted advisor to businesses across various industries with a focus on financial institutions, including banks, investment advisors, and professional service firms. Fred defends clients in matters such as unfair and deceptive trade practices, competition disputes, trade secret protection, contractual disputes, shareholder disputes, professional liability, fraud, and financial services litigation. He also guides his clients through complex, high-stakes class action lawsuits.

In addition, Fred regularly represents clients in complex arbitrations, the North Carolina Business Court, the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the North Carolina Supreme Court, and all state and federal courts in between. He has also represented clients in front of the Office of Administrative Hearings in contested cases.

Fred is committed to improving the legal process management experience for clients as a certified Legal Lean Sigma® Yellow Belt. This certification focuses on problem solving, process improvement, and project management to provide efficient case management.

  • Represented a major reinsurance company in putative bad faith litigation and treaty disputes with other reinsurers.

  • Represented ILECs in litigation arising out of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, including interconnection agreement (ICA) disputes involving local and nonlocal ISP-bound traffic, VoIP and "enhanced" traffic, and the applicability of switched access charges to various traffic.

  • Represented a company prosecuting claims for unfair and deceptive trade practices, breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract, and fraud related to a competitor's theft of a client's inventions, patents, patent applications, and proprietary technology.

  • Defended a client against claims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and fraud, as well as defense in prosecution of claims against members of LLC and third-parties defendants for defamation, breach of contract, unfair and deceptive trade practices, fraud, and contribution related to the winding down of hedge funds and private equity funds.

  • Represented a client in prosecution of trade secret misappropriation claims related to the manufacture of battery separators.

  • Tried a case to verdict involving the defense of a breach of guaranty agreement for a commercial lease.

  • Defended a national chain restaurant against claims for breach of lease, negligence, and unfair and deceptive trade practices related to the closing of a location.

  • Represented a client in prosecution of claims for investment losses suffered in a structured investment vehicle in a securities lending program.

  • Represented a client in the prosecution of an injunction action of an airline against a pilots' union.

  • Represented a client in the prosecution of claims for breach of contract and defense of counterclaims arising out of the termination of an agreement to provide on-campus food and catering services.

  • Defended class action lawsuits and issues arising out of class certification related to securities matters.

  • Defended one of the largest hosiery manufacturers in Europe in a breach of contract and Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices action in which the plaintiff claimed damages in excess of $600 million regarding the client's acquisition and purchase of the third largest textile manufacturer in the United States.

  • Represented a national petroleum producer in a putative class action alleging contamination to air, soil, and groundwater.

  • Represented a client in the prosecution of claims in arbitration on behalf of an investment banking firm over a contract dispute.

  • Defended a client in the prosecution of arbitration awards regarding commercial contract disputes on behalf of a national vendor in states across the Southeast.

  • Defended a national grocery chain in numerous commercial lease disputes, including "continuous operations" clause disputes with landlords.

  • Member – American Bar Association
  • Member – North Carolina Bar Association
  • Member – Mecklenburg County Bar
  • Member – DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar
  • Member – North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys
  • Facilitator – Orientation for the Mecklenburg Country Bar
  • Certified Legal Lean Sigma® Yellow Belt
  • Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for Commercial Litigation (2018 – 2025), Litigation – Banking and Finance (2018 – 2023)
  • Selected to North Carolina Super Lawyers, Business Litigation (2014 – 2024)
  • Listed in Chambers USA as a leading Litigation (2009) and Litigation: General Commercial (2010 – 2024) lawyer in North Carolina
  • Business North Carolina's Legal Elite, Litigation (2008 – 2012)
  • N.C. Pro Bono Honor Society, N.C. Pro Bono Resource Center (2019 – 2023)
  • AV® PreeminentTM Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Honoree for pro bono services to assist individuals and families in September 11 victim compensation, The Association of Trial Lawyers of America
  • Speaker – "Personal Jurisdiction in the North Carolina Business Court," North Carolina Bar Association (October 2022)
  • Moderator – "Alternative Fee Arrangements, Are They Right for You?," Association of Corporate Counsel, Charlotte Chapter (October 2020)
  • Moderator – "Keeping Your Trade Secrets Secret and What to Do When They are Misappropriated," Association of Corporate Counsel, Charlotte Chapter (October 2019)

Education

  • Wake Forest University Babcock Graduate School of Management, MBA, 1991
  • Wake Forest School of Law, J.D., 1991
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A., 1986

Admissions

  • North Carolina, 1991
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of North Carolina
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • North Carolina Business Court

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