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Meet Our Professionals

Anthony Fox

Partner
Charlotte | 704.335.9841
Fax | 704.334.4706

Anthony Fox’s clients derive direct benefit from his vast knowledge of North Carolina’s state, municipal, and public-private partnership legal landscape. With more than 30 years’ experience representing municipalities in North Carolina both as an assistant city attorney and as a town attorney from Wilmington to Asheville and from his vast experience on state boards and commissions, Anthony knows how to solve his clients’ business problems. He advises municipalities, school boards, public sector clients, regulated industries, and corporate clients before administrative bodies and all levels of the North Carolina state court system, federal district courts, and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is also admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court.

As a former assistant city attorney, current town attorney, and as an attorney who handles municipalities’ overflow work, Anthony is actively involved in the issues facing cities and towns today, from defending their positions on complex legal matters like annexation, zoning, construction, and land use disputes, to shaping public-private developments or structuring municipal acquisitions. This work includes acquiring facilities, developing agreements and loan documents, getting environmental and engineering approvals, and securing funding. He also assists municipalities and regulated industries with eminent domain and land condemnation actions. Clients trust Anthony to handle their most sensitive internal investigations too. He is adept at shaping strategy to achieve positive results and skilled at effective messaging.

Because of his experience in the public sector, Anthony provides companies involved in public-private partnerships with unparalleled legal representation both for transactional matters and litigation. Anthony assists companies in structuring complex public-private deals that include elements of land use, zoning, and annexations. He also provides advice on economic development matters and incentives. His clients include corporations, developers, municipalities, and regulated industries. Anthony provides his clients with a sense of being connected by giving them access to his 30 years of vast experience and to key individuals at the local and state levels. In this way, he is often able to use creative strategies to help the public and private sectors come together to achieve their desired results.

Anthony is active in his community, having had local and state appointments from governors and mayors of both major political parties. He is a past president of the North Carolina Association of Municipal Attorneys and remains an active member in this organization. He also served as the sole attorney on the Federal Communication Commission’s Intergovernmental Advisory Committee and was appointed to the City of Charlotte Airport Commission.

Representative Experience

  • Represented municipal interests in the development of a convention center hotel and the relocation of a minor league baseball franchise, including site acquisition and operating agreements.
  • Represented private sector clients in zoning, land use, economic development, and expansion and relocation projects.
  • Challenged a statewide legislative enactment and succeeded in having it declared unconstitutional.
  • Successfully defended the largest involuntary annexation in North Carolina history.
  • Extensive experience in all aspects of municipal and governmental transactions and frequent work with clients on:
    • Public-private partnerships
    • Annexation, telecommunications, public finance, land use, transportation, and administrative law
    • Economic development and incentives
    • Litigation of matters on behalf of North Carolina cities, counties, schools, and governmental agencies and litigation of various regulatory matters
  • Represented the cable industry and is a former member of the FCC Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (IAC) where he advised the Federal Communications Commission on a range of telecommunications issues, particularly the country’s transition to digital television. He is the sole attorney representative on the IAC, which included a governor, a utility commission representative and legislative, county, tribal, and municipal representatives.

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Honors & Awards

  • The Best Lawyers in America in Land Use and Zoning Law, 2007-2025; Land Use and Zoning Litigation, 2011-2025; Municipal Law, 2018-2025
  • The Best Lawyers in America "Lawyer of the Year" in Charlotte for Land Use and Zoning Law, 2022
  • North Carolina Bar Association, Legal Legend of Color, 2020
  • North Carolina Super Lawyers, 2009-2010
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent™ in Municipalities & Counties; Government & Public Policy; Land Use & Zoning; Litigation; Eminent Domain & Condemnation

Memberships

  • Charlotte Airport Commission, Board Member, 2013-present
  • Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center, Chairman, Board of Directors, 2013-2015
  • North Carolina Association of Municipal Attorneys, Member, 1983-present; President, 2009-2010; Director, 2005-present
  • Belk Foundation, Board of Directors, 2017
  • Charlotte Citizens Review Board, Vice-Chair, 1997-2000
  • Charlotte City Partners, Director, 2001-2006
  • Queens University, Trustee, 2013-present
  • Mecklenburg County Bar Foundation, Director, 2004-2006
  • Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, Vice Chair, 2002-2010; Chair, 2010
  • National School Boards Association, Member, 2008-2012
  • New Arena Committee, Member, 1998-1999
  • North Carolina Banking Commission, Chair, Appellate Hearing Panel, 2005; Member, 2004-2006
  • Presbyterian Hospital, Board of Trustees, 2006-2015
  • North Carolina Central University, Board of Visitors, School of Law, 2006-present
  • North Carolina State Bar, Board of Continuing Legal Education, 1992-1999
  • North Carolina Turnpike Authority, Board of Directors, 2004-2013
  • United Way, Chairman, Board of Directors, Central Carolinas, 2002
  • Mecklenburg County Bar, Secretary, 1994-1995