Denise W. Branch

Denise is the former Chief Legal Officer to a privately held dealer group with twenty-one rooftops in two states, employing over 1300 individuals. She provided guidance on all areas of operations including compliance, employment, corporate structure, planned growth and technology. She negotiated and managed garagekeepers, liability, workers’ compensation and health insurance lines. She also successfully defended the organization in administrative actions, manufacturer disputes and oversaw all litigation matters. Denise’s ability to manage operational and insurance costs led to repeated, annual seven figure savings and her successful defense of the company in consumer, employment and general litigation matters prevented millions of dollars in losses.

In her prior role, Denise also conducted risk management assessments to detect areas of potential liability, waste or wrongdoing. She conducted internal investigations of employee conduct to ensure compliance with company Policies and Procedures and industry and governmental regulations.

In addition to her in-house role, Denise regularly reviewed fraud concerns for a network of dealer groups and trained sales and management personnel on fraud detection by providing education and best practices to identify and prevent fraudulent purchases. Law enforcement in multiple states continue to seek Denise’s involvement in identity theft and synthetic fraud investigations.

As a former federal prosecutor and defense attorney who practiced in both state and federal court, Denise has successfully tried and defended both jury and bench trials. With this unique, dual sided perspective, she can provide protective guidance to both individual and corporate clients as they navigate internal, state, federal and administrative investigations.

Denise received her Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Political Science and English as well as her law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Denise is admitted to practice before the Fourth Circuit and several federal District Courts. She is an active member of the North Carolina State Bar. As a Native American, Denise serves on the Bar’s Diversity Committee and is a longstanding appointee to the Bench-Bar Committee, having been first appointed to the Committee at the conclusion of her federal clerkship in 2006 by The Honorable Louise W. Flanagan, United States District Court Judge.