THE HARPER LAW FIRM - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Professional Staff
Josh Harper represents injured workers in workers' compensation cases and car wreck victims in personal injury lawsuits. He joined his family's law firm in 2018 after beginning his legal career at one of North Carolina's largest law firms.
Since joining the family firm, Josh has successfully represented workers' compensation clients at hearings before the North Carolina Industrial Commission and in appeals to the Full Commission. He has also represented personal injury plaintiffs in lawsuits in both state and federal court.
Josh has helped write amicus briefs on behalf of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice in important workers' compensation cases, including in Sturdivant v. State Dep't of Pub. Safety, 288 N.C. App. 470, 887 S.E.2d 85 (2023).
In 2023, Josh was appointed by Senator Phil Berger, President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate, to the Disciplinary Hearing Commission of the State Bar.
In 2024, Josh was named to the Super Lawyers: Rising Stars list for North Carolina, with a practice area of Workers' Compensation.* He was listed in Best Lawyers in America for Personal Injury-Plaintiffs in 2022, 2023, and 2024.*
Josh earned his law degree, magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, from the Wake Forest University School of Law. During law school, he served as a Notes & Comments Editor of the Wake Forest Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree, with distinction, from UNC-Chapel Hill, where he was named to the Dean's List every semester.
Prior to law school, Josh served in the U.S. Army from 2008 to 2013. He participated in more than twenty parachute jumps while stationed at Fort Bragg. In 2012, he deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan as the intelligence officer for a military police battalion. After returning from Afghanistan, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal (Meritorious).
Outside of work, Josh enjoys spending time with his wife and 5 kids, lifting weights, and watching and playing sports with his oldest son.
Josh Harper joined the family firm after beginning his legal career as a litigation associate at one of North Carolina's largest law firms.
Josh now focuses his practice on representing claimants in workers' compensation matters, as well as assisting plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits.
Patti Owen Harper began practicing law in 1981. In recent years her practice has focused on workers' compensation, while she has previous experience in wills and estates. She also serves as the firm's office manager.
Patti earned her law degree, cum laude, from the Campbell University School of Law. During law school, she served as an Articles Editor for the Campbell Law Review, was a member of the Moot Court team, and finished with the fourth highest academic rank in her graduating class.
She received her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and was named to the Dean's List.
Patti grew up around the law, as her father (Lester W. Owen) was a longtime attorney in North Carolina. She has been married to her husband and law partner, Richard B. Harper, for more than forty years. They are the parents of four adult children (Jill, Josh, David, and Chad). In her spare time, Patti is active in her church and local women's Bible study, volunteers in the chaplain's program for the Jackson County Detention Center, and enjoys spending time with her grandchildren.
Richard Harper has been practicing law since 1981 and has owned his own law practice in Sylva since 1993. His practice focuses on representing injured workers in the workers' compensation system and others with personal injuries.
Richard was honored by Best Lawyers as the Asheville area 2019 and 2016 "Lawyer of the Year" in the category of "Workers' Compensation-Claimants."
He has regularly been selected by his peers for inclusion in the prestigious Best Lawyers list (2007-2019) and Super Lawyers (2008 - 2012, 2016 - 2017, 2019).
He has been board certified as a Workers' Compensation Specialist by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization since 2000. He was one of the first ten lawyers in North Carolina inducted into the national College of Workers' Compensation Lawyers. He is currently serving on the board of the national organization Workplace Injury Litigation Group (WILG).
A frequent contributor at continuing legal education seminars sponsored by the North Carolina Advocates for Justice (NCAJ), he has authored a chapter on medical compensation in one of the leading books on North Carolina workers' compensation law. Richard is an active member of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice and served two terms as the chair of the Workers' Compensation section. He has been formally honored by the section for his representation of injured workers and has also served on the NCAJ's Executive Committee and on the Legislative Committee. In addition to the formal positions he has held with the NCAJ, Richard has represented the interests of injured workers in legislation drafting sessions at the General Assembly in Raleigh.
Richard served as a Deputy Commissioner with the North Carolina Industrial Commission for two years before he began practicing in Sylva. He has also worked in general civil litigation practices where he successfully represented land owners in condemnation cases.
Richard graduated from the University of North Carolina with a B.A. in History. He received his law degree from the Campbell University School of Law, where he was a published member of the Campbell Law Review, was a member of the Holderness Moot Court team, and received the Howard Christian Citizenship Award.
Richard has been married to his wife and law partner, Patti, for more than forty years. Now that his four children are grown, he has retired from serving as a youth sports coach and spends his spare time cheering on the UNC Tarheels, hiking with his boxer "Pepper," playing with his grandchildren, and being active in his church.
TaLani Sumner is a certified paralegal and has worked for the Harpers since 1998. She is primarily responsible for scheduling mediations and depositions, gathering clients' medical records, and assisting with litigation preparation. TaLani has an associate's degree in Paralegal Studies from Manatee Community College in Bradenton, Florida and is certified as a paralegal by the State Bar of North Carolina.