Tonya Powell

Tonya Powell is a Shareholder in the Firm's Raleigh office, where she focuses her practice on commercial real estate matters, as well as banking and finance and corporate law. Prior to joining the Firm, Tonya worked at a regional Firm in addition to a boutique Firm, where she represented commercial real estate developers in all aspects of real estate transactions, including acquisitions, rezoning and land use, financing, leasing, and disposition of assets, and lenders in making both real estate and non-real estate loans. Tonya also has extensive experience representing landlords and tenants in retail, office, industrial, and mixed-use properties in lease negotiations. Tonya gained valuable experience as general counsel for a regional real estate developer, where she was involved in all aspects of development, financing, leasing, and disposition of office, retail and mixed-use projects. 

Tonya is a board-certified specialist in commercial real property law: business, commercial and industrial transactions. She previously served as Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association's Real Property Section. There Tonya was responsible for working with real estate attorneys throughout the state to:

• Draft, monitor, and comment upon state and federal proposed legislation and regulations affecting real property practice
• Monitor and comment upon State Bar ethics inquiries
• Sponsor and participate in pro bono projects
• Conduct an aggressive consumer protection/authorized practice program
• Implement programs and plan continuing legal education programs for members of the Bar Association's largest practice section

Community & Professional

• American Bar Association - Member
• North Carolina Bar Association - Member
• Real Property Section- Member and Past Chair
• International Council of Shopping Centers - Member, 2005-Present
• National Association of Office and Industrial Properties (NAIOP) - Member
• North Carolina Courts Commission  - 2012-Present
• American College of Real Estate Lawyers

• Named among North Carolina's "Legal Elite" by Business North Carolina Magazine - 2023 - 2024
• Fellow American College of Real Estate Lawyers
• Board Certified Specialist in Commercial Real Estate Property Law, Business, Commercial and Industrial Transitions
• 2012 Leaders in the Law Award
• Business North Carolina's "Legal Elite" by Business North Carolina magazine, Real Estate and Corporate Counsel Categories, 2005-2010, 2012-2015, 2016-2018, 2021, 2022
• AV Peer Review Rating (preeminent) Martindale Hubbell International Law Directory
• Listed in Best Lawyers in America for Litigation - Real Estate and Real Estate Law (2021 - Present) and Banking and Finance Law (2025)